From New York-
Nearly a week after Occupy Wall Street protesters attempted to takeover Duarte Square -- a Trinity Wall Street-owned piece of real estate -- an Episcopal minister in the city received some strange mail.
The mail was sent to the minister's home and it was addressed with his full name (including his middle name and his church title).
In the envelope, there were three superimposed photographs of Occupy Wall Street protesters being arrested at Duarte Square.
The captions on the pictures said, "Jim Cooper's Legacy," "The Trinity Episcopal Church Welcomes You" and "Do not forget the trust you committed to you as a priest of the Church of God," which is from the rite for the Ordination of a Priest in the Book of Common Prayer, p. 534.
There was no return address, but there appears to be a New York City postmark. What's more is there was no letter or note enclosed, just the superimposed pictures.
It's unclear who sent the mail or if other Episcopalians have received similar packets.
"Receiving it made me think, 'Is this a joke?' but then I couldn't think of who would send such a thing," the minister, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, told Business Insider.
"While the note wasn't threatening, I still wondered how someone got my home address and even knew my middle name," he said.
Read more:
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-22/wall_street/30545601_1_episcopal-parishes-duarte-square-business-insider#ixzz1hMS1S6ac
Re Occupy & Trinity Church: You don’t need to be religious to understand -and embrace- the idea that "Whatsoever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." But many of the 1%, in blind greed and endless schemes, have forgotten this. They have closed their eyes to what the word "society" should really mean, what it can mean. But due to Occupy Wall Street, we are finally talking less about CUTS and more about BLEEDING. Instead of demanding m-o-r-e budget cuts -to be borne by the middle class and poor- we are FINALLY focusing on the shameful bleeding that the poor and middle class has endured, for all too long. Instead of talking about even m-o-r-e cuts in the taxes of millionaires....we are now talking about fairness and justice - about an economy and a political system that is increasingly run for the rich, and by the rich. Instead of talking about LESS government, we are talking about a government that WORKS FOR ALL OF US, not just a favored few. Thank you OWS, for reminding us that people -ordinary working people- really DO matter, and for helping open our eyes to what’s going on in this country, and why. The attempt by OWS to occupy Duarte Square (the empty lot owned by Trinity Church) is much more than a plea for sanctuary. For like Zuccotti Park, it’s an attempt to carve out a protected space, a living conscience for the city, amid the repression. A refuge...in a city where control-freaks would sweep us under the rug, and out of the way. In a city where they would pen us in, and permit us to death. In a city that tells us to “move on, move on”..... you don’t belong, you don’t count, you don’t have a right to be here...don’t assemble, don’t block the street, don’t trespass, don’t EXIST! They would deny us, deny our lives, deny our very futures. IF WE LET THEM. But OWS responds, both in word and in DEED: it says we’ve had ENOUGH - we BELONG, we STAND our ground, and we DO matter! This IS our land, and we want it BACK! The word OCCUPY...says it all! That’s why OWS has captured our imagination. That’s why a living breathing OCCUPIED public space is important for OWS. Like Lady Liberty’s never extinguished torch that burns in our harbor, OWS needs to have a concrete, persistent, in-your-face presence.. ..to continually remind us of what we’ve lost, of what we are, and what we can be; a protected place to affirm, to illuminate, to defy...and to inspire. Trinity Church, with its oft-proclaimed ideals (and its huge land holdings), should look deep into its collective soul, do the right thing, and help OWS secure a sanctuary. Not merely a space of refuge but one of hope, non-violent change, and compassion. And dare I say: a space of love - love of country, love of your fellow man and woman, love for the poor and oppressed. Can thoughtful Christians argue with these simple Christian / human values? For if Christ were physically with us today, as He was 2000 years ago, He would be among the FIRST to climb those fences, and occupy Trinity’s Duarte Square. Of this I am certain. Let us pray that Trinity Church -and others -hear the call, and respond. For the old ways are not working....
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