More on Ford

I've already made my comment on the elaborate funeral rituals surrounding the death of President Gerald Ford. And I take some comfort that in NPR's Weekend Edition this past weekend, one of the commentators noted that the funeral observances were going to be full of the kind of pomp and ceremony that he had explicitly eschewed. So please, hear that I was not the only one struck by the dissonance of his life vs. his funeral rituals.

I did not realize what an active Episcopalian he was, until ENS highlighted that fact.

But like many bloggers today, I was struck by this portion of the Rev. Robert Certain's homily at the National Cathedral. He shared this recollection:

Early this past summer, as I prepared to leave for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, President Ford’s concern was for the church he loved. He asked me if we would face schism. After we discussed the various issues we would consider, particularly concerns about human sexuality and the leadership of women, he said he did not think they should be divisive for anyone who lived by the Great Commandments to love God and neighbor. He then asked me to work for reconciliation within the Church. I assured him I would, just as he had worked for reconciliation within the nation thirty years ago.

The full text of the Rev. Certain's funeral homily is available here.

Would that Gerald Ford's passion for reconciliation take hold in the Episcopal Church today!