|
This is yet another of my poems on developments
in The Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. The Rev. Canon Mary
Douglas Glasspool and the Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce were each elected
suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. They were
consecrated in a single ceremony on May 15, 2010.
Although Glasspool and Bruce are the first
women bishops in the Diocese of Los Angeles, that is not why their
consecration has occasioned special interest. Glasspool is the first
partnered lesbian to become an Anglican Communion bishop. As of May 15,
Gene Robinson is no longer the sole active homosexual bishop in the
House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church.
Glasspool’s consecration, I think, is a clear
indication that The Episcopal Church is not going to retreat from its
move to a more inclusive church, despite what elements of the Anglican
Communion may think about it. It is now time for Bishop Glasspool to
show that she can be a good bishop, not simply a lesbian bishop. I have
no doubt that she will do that.
I had been wanting to write a poem for or about
Mary Glasspool, but nothing much was coming to mind. On the day of
Glasspool’s consecration, the first line of “Poem for Mary” came to
me. I was, of course, inspired by the nursery rhyme:
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
Once I began writing, I finished the poem
quickly, in time to post it on my
blog
before the consecration began in Long Beach, California.
— LED, 5/15/2010
|
