Herod and Pilate

This morning, I was the narrator at our 9am service for the reading of the Passion gospel from Luke. And, I admit, when I got to the line, "That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies," I had this picture of the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury in my head. I blame Mad Priest, or some of the clever people who correspond with the Mad Priest, for this. It was, by far, the best caption offered for the picture.

Think about it: Herod and Pilate joining in friendship in a common effort to route out the "one" who has been making things a little more difficult for those in the status quo in Jerusalem. Perhaps they shared stories of which insult hurled at Jesus was the most clever, the most cutting.

I don't know what these two men were saying at the moment of this photo. But the warmth of the embrace gave me pause. The leader of the Anglican Communion cupping the hand of the Pope? Ugh! Sure we've tried to reconcile differences that have been there since the 16th century with the Reformation in England. But when the smoke clears, I'm still thankful that I, as an Episcopalian, owe no allegiance to the Pope. And with the rot that is getting exposed with another round of priestly scandal, a rot that goes straight to the Pontiff himself, I'll add a "Hallelujah! I'm an Episcopalian!".

But that ++Rowan would give a warm embrace of the pope as seen in this picture makes me sigh. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised: ++Rowan would rather spout off against the legitimate election of a lesbian to the episcopate in Los Angeles than to face the seriously troubling issues of potential genocide of lesbians and gay men in Uganda. Every week, we pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury. And I do pray for him. Because I believe it is important for me to pray for those who I do NOT agree with... even more so than those with whom I do agree. What is gained by only offering prayers for those who I don't think are in need of a doctor? It's the ones I find difficult that I must ask God to play mediator and advocate as I continue along in my journey.

"That same day, Herod and Pilate became friends with each other..." Indeed!