women bishops (again)
Rosalind pointed out in the comments yesterday that encouraging women's vocations is a double edged sword. I know that so well. No woman should enter the ministry, especially in the CofE, unless she is prepared to put up with a hell of a lot of bullying, and strong enough to maintain self esteem swimming against the tide of a deeply negative and often misogynistic culture.
I never like to be excessively negative, because the bad stuff has to be balanced against those excellent people (including a number of male bishops) who don't support those dreadful attitudes and who actively work for change. All the same, it would be untruthful only ever to say the "nice" things. There's an ugly underbelly and it shouldn't be left lurking in the dark as if we are too afraid to mention it.
Which leads me to link to this post by John "Woebegone Brother" Griffiths which includes a piece of Episcopal artwork by Banksy. It's very rude so if you are sensitive don't look, But it's also subversive and makes a point. John's daughter thought it was very funny, but it's also a sad reflection of the downside of the institution.
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author musician theologian
Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
In an increasingly secularised society few people have a good working knowledge of the Bible. Yet a great deal of our culture is built on stories or ideas that come from the Bible. Literature, art, music, language and even the fabric of our society - such as our justice system - are built on Christian concepts and biblical references. The Writing on the Wall provides a fascinating introduction to the Bible's best-known, and most influential, stories. Each chapter gives some background to the text of the Bible, and shows how the stories have become enmeshed in Western culture. Adam and Eve, the ten plagues of Egypt, The Prodigal Son and Mary Magdalene all feature - along with how the Bible has influenced everyone from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and Caravaggio to Banksy. 
Giving It Up explores the Lenten idea of 'giving up', taking it beyond the traditional idea of simply abstaining from something, and suggesting instead that what we need to give up is our existing ideas about God. With a daily readings for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it follows the heroes of the Bible who had to give up their own too-small ideas about God.
This is Maggi’s bestselling book of daily readings for each day of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Advent is the beginning of the Church year, and marks the anticipation of the coming Messiah. These readings explore how beginnings and endings in our own lives are illuminated by the different Gospel narratives of Christ's coming.
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