"O Joy Unbounded...

With wealth surrounded, the knell is sounded on grief and woe." Well that's the way Gilbert and Sullivan wrote the end of Trial by Jury. It was looking more and more like Lameth 2008 was cranking up to be a real pain and a trial for many. It still may be. Still good news from England, where the church still seems able to rise to the occasion and quietly laugh at itself a bit.

Dave Walker of Cartoon Church has just announced that he will be the cartoonist in residence at Lambeth, with offices just down the hall (one supposes) from court jester. Dave has a wonderfully gentle way of whispering in the ear of various clergy types, prelates, vicars and the like, reminding them that they forgot to tie a shoelace, or left their sanity in the vanity.

In celebration of this wonderful news, not to be confused with the Good News, etc, Dave drew this cartoon:

Please not that Dave has a keen eye, seeing not only the mundane bishops at tea, but the really miraculous and rare bishops defying the laws of gravity. Standing on their hands is regular paid up gravity stuff. Crosses continue to hang down. They have to turn their heads in order to see correctly, etc. But how in the world do their cassocks stay covering their knees and less seemly parts without falling down as gravity would dictate?

This of course is the proof of the miracle of bishops exercising proper behavior. The outward and visible sign of tea time well taken is accompanied by an inward and spiritual grace by which they are never left uncovered.

We may suppose that Dave will exercise his role as cartoonist in residence with continued gifts, always noticing the inward and spirutal grace availabe in what otherwise might be seen as an outward and visible snooze of a conference.

On the other hand, if things outward and visible get unruly, I am sure Dave will bring us a greater reality in which the foolishness of princes is seen to bring miracles in its own right.

Congratulations Dave. May ideas flow and your pen never slip.