Drew Kadel

@drewkadel.bsky.social

1591 Followers 1145 Following

Long-time Episcopal Priest and Long-time academic librarian. Author of How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion https://wipfandstock.com/9798385256204/how-do-you-baptize-a-whale/ Blog: https://drewkadel.wordpress.com/

Book Cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Dark blue cover transitioning at the top into a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Dark blue cover with a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Dark blue cover with a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Dark blue cover with a photograph of two whales underwater near the top with light shining from above.
Book Cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion. by Andrew Kadel, foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Dark blue with a photograph near the top of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Preface I have been a priest for a very long time, by far the majority of my life. In the Christian church, the word “priest” is used interchangeably with the word “presbyter.” That word presbyter means old. For a twenty-seven-year-old, that was a somewhat puzzling and, frankly, difficult burden to bear, but now that I’ve passed the mark of “three score and ten,” it’s just who I am. At my ordination, as in the ordination of all priests in the Episcopal Church, the bishop read a text explaining the obligations of a presbyter, so I knew what I was signing on for. In short, together with the bishop and fellow presbyters, I was undertaking to: proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ; be a pastor, a priest, a teacher; and to take my share in the councils of the church. Sometimes, I think certain church authorities would rather that I didn’t understand that last part as an obligation to call problems with our church to their attention. But, again, that’s who I am, and I have been living with that burden for a very long time. This is a book written from the perspective of an old priest reflecting on and teaching what I’ve learned as a pastor, preacher, and participant in the world that includes the church. I spent a large part of my career as a theological librarian, so I’m acquainted with scholars and scholarship, but, though I sometimes resort to footnotes, this is not meant to be a scholarly kind of work. Rather, it’s meant as an encouragement for people to live truly as we are meant to live: as compassionate and decent human beings, in a world that isn’t just about us. Humility has been a major interest of mine, especially as I came to appreciate the painful consequences of my own arrogance and grandiosity. As I’ve reflected on this, it became clear that arrogance characterizes much of humanity, which can lead to disastrous effects on fellow human beings and the world as a whole. I have come to believe that this arrogance isn’t merely a fault in individual
Sandra Schneiders examined this passage closely. She traced out every reference to the word meaning “hold fast” (κρατεω [krateo]) in every Greek lexicon and found that the definition “retain the sins” of someone, only occurs in those who infer it from this single sentence in John among all of written Greek. The parallel construction in this sentence is better understood as the Holy Spirit enables the disciples to forgive others and to hold those same people close. In the next paragraph, Thomas arrives and has a controversy with them about the resurrection, and they hold him with them until the next week when he encounters Jesus at the same place. The inference that it is giving authority to the apostles to retain people’s sins is best understood as reflecting the authoritarian preferences of later church authorities.
Photo of Dong Zhang in front of a colorful poster
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman At top a photo of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Photo of seashells forming the numerals 8 6 4 7. Which is probably old-timey diner speak to cancel Donald Trump's order for #47 on the menu, a McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder with extra bacon and cheese.
One remedy is to keep fighting, expel the craven Republicans (and some Democrats) supporting Trump, then expel Trump himself. The remedy is to make certain that nobody involved in this travesty is ever respected or trusted or accepted again. That means among others W. Ellis Boyle, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and Matthew R. Petracca, the assistant United States Attorney responsible for this jurisprudential prolapse. Never trust them again, and never trust or tolerate again anyone who treats them as acceptable.
Wikipedia entry on 86, from the beginning: Eighty-six or 86 is American English slang, generally meaning to "get rid of" someone or something. In the hospitality industry, it is used to indicate that an item is no longer available, traditionally from a food or drinks establishment, or referring to a person or people who are not welcome on the premises. Its etymology is unknown, but the term seems to have been coined in the 1920s or 1930s. Etymology The address of Chumley's—86 Bedford Street, West Village—is one of several origin stories of the term There are many theories about the origin of the term. Possible origins include: Rhyming slang for nix.[1] Part of the jargon used by soda jerks. Walter Winchell wrote about this in 1933, in his syndicated On Broadway column.[2] In this, the code 13 meant that a boss was around, 81 was a glass of water and 86 meant "all out of it".[3] In 1936, Professor Harold Bentley of Columbia University studied soda jerk jargon and reported other numeric codes such as 95 for a customer leaving without paying.[4] Author Jef Klein theorized that the bar Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street in the West Village of Lower Manhattan was the source. His book The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York claims that the police would call Chumley's bar during Prohibition before making a raid and tell the bartender to "86" his customers, meaning that they should exit out the 86 Bedford Street door, while the police would come to the Pamela Court entrance.[5]
Rockland Collaboration Book Event The Rev. Andrew Kadel - Author and Chaplain for St John's New City How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion Saturday, May 2 10 am-12 St John's Episcopal Church 365 Strawtown Rd. New City, NY Rev Drew will offer a reading and lead discussion. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Cover of book: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel Foreword by Rebecca Lyman
All wars are horrible and this is no exception. However the US-Iran War of 2026 will never be the most horrible war in US history, the longest, the most destructive, etc. That is a good thing. However, something pretty horrible is unfolding in front of us. The US government is being used as a tool to corruptly enrich certain people, to a tune of billions of $’s. And that means US service personnel and Iranian civilians (the people who are suffering the most in this war) are being sacrificed so that others who have enriched themselves through their loss can enrich themselves further.
It’s true that the early Christian world produced what is now known as the just-war tradition, a body of thought that serves as the foundation of much of American and international law about when countries may go to war, and how they should conduct themselves in combat. One of the first and most important of these thinkers was Saint Augustine. Indeed, Leo knows this because he was the leader of the Augustinian order for more than a decade, and so Vance might have paused for just one more nanosecond to realize he was lecturing the first Augustinian pope about the just-war tradition.
Cover of book: How do you baptize a whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel Foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Dark blue cover transitioning into a photo of 2 whales underwater with light coming from above.
Book cover for: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel Foreword by Rebecca Lyman At top: Photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Flyer text: ROCKLAND COLLABORATION BOOK EVENT THE REV. ANDREW KADEL Author and Chaplain for St. John's, New City HOW DO YOU BAPTIZE A WHALE? An Encouragement to Compassion Saturday May 2 10 - 12 St. John's Episcopal Church 365 Strawtown Rd. HOW DO YOU BAPTIZE A WHALE? An Encouragement to Compassion ANDREW KADEL REBECCA LYMAN New City NY Rev. Drew will offer a reading and lead discussion. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Iconic photograph of the Stars and Stripes being raised near the end of the battle for the Island of Iwo Jima
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale: An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel
A war is a time when we will be told not to ask questions. But a war is actually when questions must be asked. And they must be asked in light of what we already know. The presumption created by the surrounding evidence is that this war could very well be about (1) subverting US democracy, (2) enriching the president, or both. These are presumptions, not proof — but they provide the solid lines of inquiry as we learn more about the war.
Book Cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman Dark blue transitioning to a photograph of two whales near the top-underwater with light coming from above.
Conspiracy theories are addressing something very real that is being suppressed. We do live in a world where conspiracies exist. One where a group of people get away with a lot, while the rest of us look on. But the story there is both simpler and more complicated than it appears. That group of people are the rich and powerful. Not one segment. A diverse array of anyone who has the ability to avoid being held accountable. Trump, Bill Gates, Prince Andrew, Musk, the Duchess of York, Richard Branson, Bill Clinton, Steve Bannon, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and on and on. The list includes not just non-Jews but antisemites. The thing they all have in common is that they benefit from inequality. They get away with countless crimes, not just child sexual abuse. Because that’s the world we live in.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Blue and white letters on a dark background transitioning toward the top to a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion. by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman Dark blue cover transitioning to a photograph of two whales near the top, underwater with light coming from above.
A large, long, irregularly shaped loaf of brown home made bread, cooling by a kitchen stove.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel. A dark cover transitioning to a photograph of two whales underwater in a blue ocean with light coming from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel. A dark cover transitioning to blue at the top, with a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Pope Leo XIV on an airplane holding a baseball bat
Cover of book: How do you Baptize a Whale: An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel
way of blessing or happiness is not simply a trivial default setting but an alternative to ordinary things that we see regularly. Walking the way with the unambiguously wicked and criminal is not usually the most common problem for churchgoing and seminary type people, and our personal accounts of loitering with sinners and partaking of sinfulness usually put them safely in the past, even if we enhance them for dramatic effect. But after working in various seminaries for twenty-four years and hanging out with clergy for much longer—sitting in the seats of the scoffers—that’s prime real estate. We could probably solve our financial problems by charging sky-box rates for the seats of the scornful. I’ll get back to what I mean in a minute.
Book Cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion. by Andrew Kadel. light blue and white lettering over a dark cover that resolves at the top into a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale: an Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel Cover is dark at the bottom fading into a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above at the top.
V. Favorably with mercy hear our prayers; R. O Son of David, have mercy upon us. V. Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us, O Christ; R. Graciously hear us, O Christ; graciously hear us, O Lord Christ. The Officiant concludes Let us pray. We humbly beseech thee, O Father, mercifully to look upon our infirmities; and, for the glory of thy Name, turn from us all those evils that we most justly have deserved; and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living, to thy honor and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Supplication For use in the Litany in place of the Versicle and Collect which follows the Lord's Prayer; or at the end or Morning or Evening Prayer; or as a separate devotion; especially in times of war, or of national anxiety, or of disaster. O Lord, arise, help us; And deliver us for thy Name's sake. O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble works that thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them. O Lord, arise, help us; and deliver us for thy Name's sake. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O Lord, arise, help us; and deliver us for thy Name's sake. V. From our enemies defend us, O Christ; R. Graciously behold our afflictions. V. With pity behold the sorrows of our hearts; R. Mercifully forgive the sins of thy people.
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee; The Father, of an infinite Majesty; Thine adorable, true, and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, t hou didst humble thyself to be born of a Virgin. When thou had overcome the sharpness of death, t hou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge. We therefore
The Te Deum Laudamus with the first verse set in musical notation. We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud; the Heavens, and all the Powers therein: To the Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory. The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion. by Andrew Kadel lower portion of the cover is dark, with the upper portion a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
You only are immortal, the creator and maker of mankind; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and to earth shall we return. For so did you ordain when you created me, saying, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
I have been a priest for a very long time, by far the majority of my life. In the Christian church, the word “priest” is used interchangeably with the word “presbyter.” That word presbyter means old. For a twenty-seven-year-old, that was a somewhat puzzling and, frankly, difficult burden to bear, but now that I’ve passed the mark of “three score and ten,” it’s just who I am.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion. by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman. The top half has a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming in from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel photograph toward the top shows two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Book Cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion. by Andrew Kadel The top of the cover is a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
The Romans would have thought the guillotine totally inappropriate, since it was too efficient to accomplish the death by public torture—the entire point of crucifixion. For whales, all of this would be entirely meaningless. They live the bulk of their life under water—it’s the source of sustenance for them, not death. Not only do they not make tools in their regular habitat, but a cross wouldn’t achieve anything like its purpose underwater—bodies, whether cetacean or human, are too buoyant for gravity to succeed in its torture. Whales have their own joys and their own problems, I’m sure, but human stories, symbols, concepts, or sacraments are of no use to them. The ways in which the love of God is worked out among them is entirely their own and just as incomprehensible to us as ours are to them.
Baptism is being buried with Christ in his death (an image de-rived from Paul in Rom 6:3–4). The death of Jesus is very specific—he was crucified by the Romans on a cross. That cross has been the chief sym-bol of Christianity throughout its existence. As simple in appearance as a cross might be, it is a very intentional and sophisticated tool. The victim is fixed to the crossbar by tying or nailing and suspended from it. The feet were usually secured to prevent kicking and moving around, but they were given no foothold. The force of gravity would eventually cause the victim’s chest to collapse down on their lungs resulting in death by suffocation.
The title of this book is a question: how do you baptize a whale? Un-like a zen koan, it does have an answer—you can’t baptize a whale. The fact that they are already immersed in water is only a small part of the problem.
The Romans would have thought the guillotine totally inappropriate, since it was too efficient to accomplish the death by public torture—the entire point of crucifixion. For whales, all of this would be entirely meaningless. They live the bulk of their life under water—it’s the source of sustenance for them, not death. Not only do they not make tools in their regular habitat, but a cross wouldn’t achieve anything like its purpose underwater—bodies, whether cetacean or human, are too buoyant for gravity to succeed in its torture. Whales have their own joys and their own problems, I’m sure, but human stories, symbols, concepts, or sacraments are of no use to them. The ways in which the love of God is worked out among them is entirely their own and just as incomprehensible to us as ours are to them
more meaningful than our self-assertion that we are.7 The title of this book is a question: how do you baptize a whale? Unlike a zen koan, it does have an answer—you can’t baptize a whale. The fact that they are already immersed in water is only a small part of the problem.
Photo of two copies of the book: How do you Baptize a Whale: An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel, foreword by Rebecca Lyman. The top half is a photograph of two whales with light coming from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? by Andrew Kadel, foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Photograph near the top shows two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Cover of book: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion. by Andrew Kadel Foreword by Rebecca Lyman. The top of the cover is a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming in from above.
Book cover: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Photograph at top is of two whales underwater with light coming from above.
Cover of Book with a photograph of two whales underwater with light coming from the surface. Title: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion Author: Andrew Kadel Foreword by Rebecca Lyman
New York Times map of mayoral election results, showing Cuomo (Brown) winning the Upper East Side and Battery Park City while Mamdani wins the rest of Manhattan.
How Do You Baptize a Whale? raises the question of why humans believe they rule the universe-especially, when they, share planet Earth with amazing creatures like whales and elephants. Episcopal priest Drew Kadel’s argument is that it’s not tools or technology that make humans great; it’s their ability to show compassion toward fellow humans, and indeed all of God’s creation. He also explores how religion has been misused to justify power, colonialism and racism and invites readers to rethink what it really means to live faithfully and ethically. "Situatmg humankind within a vast universe as we shed our arrogance in discovering, for example, that functional objects are used by monkeys, dolphins, crows, humpback whales, and even bees, Drew Kadel urges us on—through experiences, reflections and listening—into a more compassionate and joyful life in which we ponder what might it mean to baptize a whale.” -DEIRDRE GOOD, Emerita Professor of New Testament Studies, General Theologica! Seminary "The Silicon Valley-led assault on the specialness of being human-embodied in technologies that bid to replace human workers while offering only an insulting facsimile of human speech—is tempting many of us toward an embrace of old-fashioned human exceptionalism. Andrew Kadel's winsome and theologically informed treatise reminds us why we can't solve our cultural problems by retreating into our usual Master of Creation pose. This man’s project is to love both God and dogs, and to help the rest of us to better do the same.” -PHILIP CHRISTMAN, Lecturer, University of Michigan DREW KADEL is an Episcopal priest and Professor Emeritus of the General Theological Seminary, where he was director of the library. For the past decade he's preached at churches in the Bronx and elsewhere. His sermons can be found at drewkadel.wordpress.com. His previous book, Matrology: A Bibliography of Writings by Christian Women from the First to the Fifteenth Centuries, was published in 1995.
Cover of book: How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion, by Andrew Kadel, foreword by Rebecca Lyman
How Do You Baptize a Whale? raises the question of why humans believe they rule the universe-especially, when they, share planet Earth with amazing creatures like whales and elephants. Episcopal priest Drew Kadel’s argument is that it’s not tools or technology that make humans great; it’s their ability to show compassion toward fellow humans, and indeed all of God’s creation. He also explores how religion has been misused to justify power, colonialism and racism and invites readers to rethink what it really means to live faithfully and ethically. "S1tuatmg humankind within a vast universe as we shed our arrogance in discovering, for example, that functional objects are used by monkeys, dolphins, crows, humpback whales, and even bees, Drew Kadel urges us on—through experiences, reflections and listening—into a more compassionate and joyful life in which we ponder what might it mean to baptize a whale.” -DEIRDRE GOOD, Emerita Professor of New Testament Studies, General Theologica! Seminary "The Silicon Valley-led assault on the specialness of being human-embodied in technologies that bid to replace human workers while offering only: an insulting facsimile of human speech—is tempting many of us toward an embrace of old-fashioned human exceptionalism. Andrew Kadel's winsome and theologically informed treatise reminds us why we can't solve our cultural problems by retreating into our usual Master of Creation pose. This man’s project is to love both God and dogs, and to help the rest of us to better do the same.” -PHILIP CHRISTMAN, Lecturer, University of Michigan DREW KADEL is an Episcopal priest and Professor Emeritus of the General Theological Seminary, where he was director of the library. For the past decade he's preached at churches in the Bronx and elsewhere. His sermons can be found at drewkadel.wordpress.com. His previous book, Matrology: A Bibliography of Writings by Christian Women from the First to the Fifteenth Centuries, was published in 1995.
How Do You Baptize a Whale? raises the question of why humans believe they rule the universe-especially, when they, share planet Earth with amazing creatures like whales and elephants. Episcopal priest Drew Kadel’s argument is that it’s not tools or technology that make humans great; it’s their ability to show compassion toward fellow humans, and indeed all of God’s creation. He also explores how religion has been misused to justify power, colonialism and racism and invites readers to rethink what it really means to live faithfully and ethically. "S1tuatmg humankind within a vast universe as we shed our arrogance in discovering, for example, that functional objects are used by monkeys, dolphins, crows, humpback whales, and even bees, Drew Kadel urges us on—through experiences, reflections and listening—into a more compassionate and joyful life in which we ponder what might it mean to baptize a whale.” -DEIRDRE GOOD, Emerita Professor of New Testament Studies, General Theologica! Seminary "The Silicon Valley-led assault on the specialness of being human-embodied in technologies that bid to replace human workers while offering only: an insulting facsimile of human speech—is tempting many of us toward an embrace of old-fashioned human exceptionalism. Andrew Kadel's winsome and theologically informed treatise reminds us why we can't solve our cultural problems by retreating into our usual Master of Creation pose. This man’s project is to love both God and dogs, and to help the rest of us to better do the same.” -PHILIP CHRISTMAN, Lecturer, University of Michigan DREW KADEL is an Episcopal priest and Professor Emeritus of the General Theological Seminary, where he was director of the library. For the past decade he's preached at churches in the Bronx and elsewhere. His sermons can be found at drewkadel.wordpress.com. His previous book, Matrology: A Bibliography of Writings by Christian Women from the First to the Fifteenth Centuries, was published in 1995.
Book Cover for How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion by Andrew Kadel; foreword by Rebecca Lyman. Text from back cover: How Do You Baptize a Whale? raises the question of why humans believe they rule the universe-especially, when they, share planet Earth with amazing creatures like whales and elephants. Episcopal priest Drew Kadel’s argument is that it’s not tools or technology that make humans great; it’s their ability to show compassion toward fellow humans, and indeed all of God’s creation. He also explores how religion has been misused to justify power, colonialism and racism and invites readers to rethink what it really means to live faithfully and ethically. "S1tuatmg humankind within a vast universe as we shed our arrogance in discovering, for example, that functional objects are used by monkeys, dolphins, crows, humpback whales, and even bees, Drew Kadel urges us on—through experiences, reflections and listening—into a more compassionate and joyful life in which we ponder what might it mean to baptize a whale.” -DEIRDRE GOOD, Emerita Professor of New Testament Studies, General Theologica! Seminary "The Silicon Valley-led assault on the specialness of being human-embodied in technologies that bid to replace human workers while offering only: an insulting facsimile of human speech—is tempting many of us toward an embrace of old-fashioned human exceptionalism. Andrew Kadel's winsome and theologically informed treatise reminds us why we can't solve our cultural problems by retreating into our usual Master of Creation pose. This man’s project is to love both God and dogs, and to help the rest of us to better do the same.” -PHILIP CHRISTMAN, Lecturer, University of Michigan DREW KADEL is an Episcopal priest and Professor Emeritus of the General Theological Seminary, where he was director of the library. For the past decade he's preached at churches in the Bronx and elsewhere. His sermons can be found at drewkadel.wordpress.com.