A Remembrance of Robin Williams

We have an article in process on consumer finances and their role in the broader economy.  Even as we are working on that, we recognize that these days are full of heavy-weight events in the world.  In the last few weeks, we have written of praying for peace (July 18) and we have offered internet links to aid for the child immigrants in Texas (July 11).  Now, we also need to pause and remember a prominent man who has passed, Robin Williams.

There is much we could say about Williams.  We could choose the serious side of his passing, including his illnesses and the manner of his death.  But in this moment, we choose to be light-hearted and remember the fun he brought us.  For Episcopalians, perhaps the easiest and most sentimental expression of this is a recitation of the gift he gave to us in particular, "The Top 10 Reasons for Being Episcopalian", which he presented during an HBO special in 2002.  These have been making the rounds this past week and you may have seen them already.  There's even a tee shirt, which you can find here: https://www.episcopalbookstore.com/product.aspx?productid=3171.

The Top 10 Reasons for Being Episcopalian:

10. No snake handling.

9. You can believe in dinosaurs.

8. Male and female God created them; male and female we ordain them.

7. You don't have to check your brains at the door.

6. Pew aerobics.

5. Church year is color-coded.

4. Free wine on Sunday.

3. All of the pageantry - none of the guilt.

2. You don't have to know how to swim to get baptized.

And the Number One reason to be an Episcopalian:

1. No matter what you believe, there's bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you.

May Williams help us to laugh at ourselves, which we need to do often and especially right now!