The Veritable Trumpet begins...

I created this blog today on October 18, 2007. My father-in-law, Keith Morical, left his earthly life for his heavenly home on this date 12 years ago. Shortly after his death, we conceived and our son James Keith was born 10 months later. Keith is a Celtic/Gaelic name meaning "warrior." I love the strength of this name. There are some great biblical images on this theme and some of my favorite biblical heroes were warriors for God like Joshua, Caleb, Gideon, and David.

We are told in Ephesians 6:10-20: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should" [like the Apostle Paul, I ask that you pray this for me].

My father-in-law loved to watch movies, documentaries, and listen to audio tapes on WWI & WWII. He was in the army and his brother Bill fought in WWII. Interestingly, I discovered this quote regarding WWI, which also mentions something about the veritable trumpet, the name of this blog:

“Had England rendered no other service than this of making the seas safe for freedom and dangerous for despotism, the debt of humanity to her would be incalculable. But she was doing far more than this. The utterances of her statesmen, like those of France, from the first of August, 1914, defined the issues at stake and set forth adequately the appalling gravity of the crisis. Not only were those utterances profoundly educative but they were veritable trumpet blasts, summoning to action, action, action, in the interest of all that men in Western Europe and in America had long held most precious. In the darkest hours, and there were many such in those first three years, there was no faltering in high places, no talk of compromise of right with wrong, no weakening of resolution, no abatement of demand that this world be made safe for civilized man” (excerpt from World War, 1914-1918 by Charles Downer Hazen).

I am a seminarian in the ordination process through the Episcopal Church, I mean the Anglican Communion...which is it? Actually, I'm not sure whether I'll end up being ordained as an Episcopal or an Anglican priest. Episcopalian..."to be or not to be: that is the question" [TBD]! The Lord knows, I don't. I'm trying to be obedient and praying I will be found faithful to the call.

So, what do warrior, Episcopalian, and veritable trumpet have in common? The above quote reminds me of our situation in The Episcopal Church. Many in the Church do not realize the gravity of the crisis. We are on High Alert! Our battle is not against flesh and blood and we must take action, action, action! I pray, in this dark hour, that statesmen (men and women of God) will rise up with profound utterances and will sound the veritable trumpet with 'no faltering in high places, no talk of compromise of right with wrong, no weakening of resolution, and no abatement'! However, this is not just a call to Episcopalians, this is a call to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Jesus said, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth" (Luke 18:8)? Let us be found to be faithful servants as we "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).