The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece voted in Athens on Oct. 8, 2004, to restore the female diaconate. All the members of the Holy Synod -125 metropolitans and bishops and Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the church of Greece - had considered the topic. The decision does not directly affect the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Greek ecclesiastical provinces of the Ecumenical Patriarchate received their independence from Constantinople in 1850 and were proclaimed the Autocephalous Church of Greece.

A few weeks ago there was a religious dust-up in New York City. From 200 pounds of milk chocolate artist Cosimo Cavallaro sculpted a life-sized statue of Jesus with arms stretched out on an invisible cross. He called it my My Sweet Lord. The Lab Gallery in Manhattans Roger Smith Hotel had scheduled the sculpture to be displayed just before Easter. But all hell broke loose and it never happened.

Many years ago, my neighbors owned a basset hound with the unlikely name of “Courtney.” She was a wag-the-tail, people-friendly old pooch who seemed most content hanging out with kids and lying on her back getting her ample belly rubbed. With her distinctive physique (we never quite knew if she was sitting down or not) she was the kind of dog that made you smile just looking at her.

Abby rested her head on her princess pillow. It was 7:30 and time to wake her for school but the magic of the moment made me pause. It’s not often that a grandpa has an opportunity to see his little five year old sweetheart sleeping. I wasn’t about to hurry along.

Feast of the Nativity of the Lord
A Multitude of Angels
God's greatest miracles often go unnoticed unless there are messengers and angels to announce them. God's gifts of peace, and justice and reconciliation are hidden in the ordinariness and ugliness of human history; there must be angels to point them out. Perhaps that's one of the important lessons of Christmas, for all ages. This year, the Christmas moon and stars look down on a scene that looks very ordinary and, in many places, very ugly

Rev. William Sloane Coffin's strong heart stopped beating at his Vermont home on April 12. He was 81 and had been under hospice care. His was a wide-ranging, courageous and powerfully influential life. A Presbyterian minister as chaplain at Yale University and senior minister of The Riverside Church in New York City, he was a prophetic leader in the civil rights, nuclear freeze and anti-war movements. His rich pulpit baritone and creative, concrete writings gave voice to our national conscience. His words still nourish my soul. In the clich￩ beloved of eulogists he will be missed, but more importantly who will take his place?

I was listening to talk show host Pete Wilson yesterday on KGO discussing the torture and murder of a man named Tom Fox in Iraq.

It was mid-morning in Rome, on June 21, 1963, a radiant day and my first one in Europe. The traffic stopped. With most people on Bus #64, I ran to the Vatican to witness the white smoke that announced the election of Pope John XXIII's successor, Giovanni Cardinal Montini, Archbishop of Milan.