The Test for the Times

 Last week was a milestone in our trip to our cottage to PEI.  We arrived at the cottage on September 3^rd but in many ways the trip was not over.  We had to go into quarantine for fourteen day.  They take quarantining very seriously here and people in that state are phoned every day by an official from the PEI Health Department to confirm that you are still home.

We know of one couple who missed a call and were visited by the RCMP to check on them.  No harm done but their dog thought it would make a break for it and jumped unnoticed into the back seat of the cruiser and was taken for a ride to quarantine freedom.  However, the canine escapee was discovered and brought back to quarantine prison.   

To be honest being in quarantine has not seemed like being in prison for either Lorna or me.  We have enjoyed the days filled with few commitments and we were able to hunker down to the things which we enjoy doing; for me it is being in the bunkie playing guitar and spending time on the computer and doing my daily spiritual exercises as well as reading and having another kind of spirit at 4:00 in the afternoon.  Lorna on the other hand has thrown herself into her favourite activity-gardening.  I have said for many years that the people who devised house arrest as a punishment were definitely not introverts which is what Lorna and I definitely are.  Of course being in quarantine was possible due to help form friends particularly one who brought us our groceries during this time of isolation. 

I was given one opportunity to break out of quarantine which I took.  We were asked by the PEI official if either of us would be willing to take a COVID-19 test.  I agreed as I thought it was my civic duty to help the officials to gain a better understanding of the scope of the pandemic.  I’m not sure if I would have agreed if I had known I would have to drive to Charlottetown by myself – Lorna wasn’t allowed to accompany me.  She is usually my navigator when travelling to uncharted territory, and sometimes even in charted ones.  I once had a dream where she was a back-seat driver but she was in the front seat.  I am actually grateful for her navigational skills and depend on them as I am directionally challenged which I put down to my type with my sensing function in the Myers Briggs scale being my weakest or inferior one (see last weeks edition for more on types).  We don’t have GPS in the car which I am beginning to wonder if we should reconsider.

In any case, last Monday I set off to the uncharted territory in deepest darkest Charlottetown.  All was well until I took a wrong turn or, rather, the highway too a wrong turn which I didn’t follow and I had to go to plan B which was to phone Lorna on our antiquated cell phone and she bailed me out and got me to my destination only a few minutes late which wasn’t a problem.  Once I arrived the process went very smoothly and the test itself was not a problem.  I phoned in for the results last Thursday and yes, I am COVID negative. 

So, we are now out of quarantine and free to fully enjoy the all that PEI has to offer this time of year which will include hurricane Teddy (a most inappropriate name for a hurricane in my view).  Teddy is scheduled to arrive early Wednesday and we can hunker down once more to ride it out if it arrives and the power goes out as predicted.  We were able to attend a church worship service at St. George’s Anglican in Montague on Sunday.  It was a joy to reconnect with some Island friends and to worship with other people.  I will be presiding at the service there next Sunday, Teddy permitting. 

My journey continues – blessings on yours.  

Happy Pride

This week, I am dipping my toe into waters that can be troubled at times.  This is something that I do not do easily as it is against my nature to be controversial.  However, sometimes that is where I am called to journey. 

Last Saturday, Lorna and I marched in what was the first Gay Pride Parade that we have participated in.  This one marked the twenty-fifth Gay Pride Parade in Charlottetown, PEI, so, it was an occasion we both wanted to participate in.  We both found it to be a lot of fun and very positive. 

We joined the contingent of parishioners from St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Charlottetown which has been represented in the parade for quite a few years.  Our participation was welcomed by them and I felt quite at home as part of that group which was led by Archdeacon John Clarke.  I inquired about the history of the parade and found out that the first one was more of a protest rather than a parade, protesting unjust laws in Canada and PEI.  I wasn’t able to find out much about the first 

parade/protest, however, I’m sure this year’s event was in sharp contrast.  There were approximately one thousand people who marched in the parade with participants which seemed to cover many aspects of life on PEI including community groups, businesses, political parties including the newly elected Progressive Conservative Premier Dennis King, and of course churches.

Police were included in the event, with the RCMP, who do much of the policing on the Island, ensured things went smoothly for participants, and traffic control on the streets was handled by the Charlottetown Police – a division of duties that seemed to work well.  I asked Archdeacon John about the relationship between the Parade organizers and the police and he informed me that it was a positive one.  This is, unfortunately, different from the relationship between the Pride Parade in Toronto and the police who have had a less than positive relationship with the parade over the years. 

The general atmosphere was one of joy and celebration with a very positive feeling between those in the parade and the bystanders who lined the route.  There was no one along the route who seemed to be in active opposition to the event.  I’m sure this would have been a sharp contrast to the parade twenty-five years ago.

I was very glad to have been part of the contingent from St. Paul’s Church and equally glad that the participants of churches were welcomed by the Parade organizers.  The relationship between organized religion and the Gay and Lesbian Community (as I first knew it) or 2SLGBTQIA as they inclusively self-identify – has been and continues to be a troubled one.  The Anglican Church of Canada continues to struggle with the issue of same-sex marriage/blessing.  The national meeting, General Synod, recently did not pass an amendment to the Marriage Canon (law) which would have included same-sex couples.  This failed by the slimmest of margins passing with strong majorities in two of three houses of Laity and Clergy but barely failing to reach the required two-thirds majority in the House of Bishops.  However, General Synod also passed a motion which allowed for a “local option” for Dioceses to permit same-sex marriage with the agreement of the Bishop.  Perhaps this was the latest example of Anglican middle way.

This continues to be trouble waters and perhaps it is a case of a fool rushing in whether or not angels fear to tread.  To make my position clear, I have strongly supported enabling same-sex couples to marry both civilly and in the church based on many years of knowing gay and lesbian people and their struggles to live full and fulfilled and God-filled lives in our culture.  Same sex marriage has been allowed civilly in Canada since 2005 and the results of this has been, in my view, very positive for those involved and for the country.  It is indeed still an issue which generates strong feelings on all sides of the issue.  My hope and prayer is that we in the Anglican Church and beyond can strive to “disagree in love” as our just retired Primate (head of the Canadian Church), Archbishop Fred Hiltz called for us to do.  Perhaps if we take this approach, we can find that bridge over those troubled waters that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sang about so beautifully. 

Blessings on your journey