Frances Perkins Wins Lent Madness 2013 Golden Halo!

Congratulations to 2013 Golden Halo Winner -- Frances Perkins!

FP_GH_V4

Statement Released by Frances Perkins
(As told to the Supreme Executive Committee)

I must say I feel very much at home even though I just arrived. I feel at home because Lent Madness has, ever since it was established, been a sort of special concern of mine, although by the chicanery of politics it was not placed in the Department of Labor. I, of course, thought it should be.

I remember seeing ladies climbing up on great high stepladders and getting files out of shelves -- dusty, dirty -- many wearing gloves so they wouldn't get their hands dirty while hunting through the files for information about saints. A terrific problem of recordkeeping! You don't do that today.

Before I was elected, I had a little conversation with the SEC in which I said perhaps they didn't want me to be the Golden Halo winner, because if I were, I should want to do this, and this, and this. Among the things I wanted to do was find a way of getting health insurance for the living and voter fraud insurance for the dead. I remember they looked so startled, and they said, "Well, do you think it can be done?" I said, "I don't know." They said, "Well, there are theological problems, aren't there?" "Yes, very severe theological problems," I said. "But what have we been elected for except to solve the theological problems? Lots of other problems have been solved by the people of Lent Madness, and there is no reason why this one shouldn't be solved."

Seems pretty similar to a famous speech she gave discussing the roots of Social Security. But then, when you've won the Golden Halo, who's to question you?

Subscribe

* indicates required

Recent Posts

Archive

Archive

120 comments on “Frances Perkins Wins Lent Madness 2013 Golden Halo!”

  1. Congratulations to Heidi for shepherding Frances thorough to the Golden Halo Big Lobster rocks.

  2. Although they never voted, of course, our Sanctuary House cats have opinions:
    Francine and Francis say YES!
    Luke says . . . maybe another year.
    Hilda says Blessed be . . .
    and everyone else says Meow, it's time for breakfast!

  3. Our saint might win a halo, loose a halo--
    But still we helped to choose the halo.
    That's the gladness of,
    That's the Madness of Lent.
    We got to laugh a little, cry a little,
    And let the comments fly a little.
    That's gladness of,
    That's the Madness of Lent.
    And thanks to Maple Anglican,
    We got the cool Clairvoyatron.
    Miss P's an able Anglican--
    It's appropos she won.
    And so I thank the writers, thank the fighters.
    Thanks, SEC--you're such delighters--
    For the gladness of, for the Madness of Lent--
    For the stories of and all the glories of Lent.

    And so I thank the writers, thank the fighters

      1. But...but...she's not a SAINT! Are you trying to start another LM scandal?

        Seriously, nice poem Peg!

        1. Ah, but, through Jesus' death and resurrection are we not all (at the same time) Saint and Sinner?

      2. Maybe if you learned how to spell her name you'd understand better.

        (Note that the detractors are the ones who don't know how to spell the female form of Frances.)

        1. Quite a few of those who supported Perkins also misspelled her name. As Professor Kirke says in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," "What do they teach them in these schools?"

  4. I can just see imagine the party the folks at the Department of Labor will be throwing tonight.

        1. As a retired "public servant" I do have to say that if there is any celebration (and there should be) it will definitely be at the revelers' personal expense. They will enjoy the joy of this victory, but not at the expense of any of us. Why not celebrate? I certainly would if I were there.

  5. Thank you SEC, bloggers, Maple Anglican and the Archbishops. A great Lent Madness. Happy Easter.

  6. As a proud member of St. Luke's Church I'm a little disappointed however once again I've thoroughly enjoyed the Madness. Can't wait until next year.

  7. I'm stunned but thrilled too. Now I know my alma mater (SU) is going to beat Indiana tonight. The spirit of Frances is going to lift them to victory. As a result, after they win, they'll do work to help homeless kids in Syracuse. I'm really praying they do that.

  8. My parents came of age in the Great Depression and I remember both of them talking about Frances Perkins. Now I know how much we have for which to thank her and, more importantly, the God with whom she lived and breathed and had her being.

  9. Thanks for the great song, Peg! And thank you, celebrity bloggers and SEC for making my Lent a bit deeper this year, learning about these saints. I am intrigued enough to spend a bit of time each day actually reading my volume of HWHM, which I bought with such good intentions some time back. Finally, yay for Frances. Astonishing. And isn't that apropos for Holy Week. I bet things were pretty astonishing back then.

  10. What an interesting Lent this has been. As I have moved through the match ups I was prompted to think about how each person informed who we are in 2013 and how we can live into God's kingdom more fully. Each of the people on the bracket has formed and informed us. Sometimes we have listened better than others. Some voices seemed particularly important to hear again; those were the ones that got my vote. I have had mixed emotions about the saintly kitch round, but have come to value it because it sheds light on how the world notices and perceives each person; and provides some good laughs too. I look forward to meeting more fascinating people next year. I am thrilled that Frances earned the Golden Halo this year because her message seems particularly apropos right now, again.

  11. Thank you so much for a fun and wonderful Lent Madness. I am so delighted by our surprise winner. I can't wait for the Frances Perkins mug. Maybe you should start making them early this year?

  12. Yeay, Frances! But guys, surely you could have found a "halo" picture/photo in which she's smiling.

    1. Dear Maple, thanks for all the hard work with the Archbishops this year. I do hope you will be able to secure the Clairvoyatron (or as Archbishop John always put it, the 'ClairvoyATron') next year, and that you will have time to produce the videos, or find help producing them. They have been a pleasure to watch!

  13. Sigh. I don't understand the whole Francis Perkins "thing." Especially when compared to my heroes Dorothy Day and Oscar Romero. I guess there's always next year. Is the SEC going to be taking nominations for next year's bracket?

  14. True madness emerged. It has been a moast interesting and diabolical Lent. Great way to learn and appreciate a lot of not too well known Holy Folks. We thank you and congratulate all of the behind the webpage laborers. Go get your feet washed today!! Many Blessings for a glorious Easter!!

  15. I am dancing in my heart at Frances' victory. She is exactly the right one to bare the standard for the current time. This has been a wonderful journey. Thank you to all!

  16. So glad that Frances Perkins won! Such a good Christian saint. Thank you for your time and talent in doing this great Lenten discipline. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to next year!

  17. Yay! She has run the good race. Thank you SEC for the fun opportunity to learn about such fine examples of Christianity.
    Happy Easter, everyone.

  18. Thank you SEC, Celebrity Bloggers, Maple Anglican, and the Most-Fabulous Bracket Czar, for another meaningful and humorous Lent. Now 343 days of the more sedate Calendar of Saints, LF&F, and HMHW for my hagiography. When will the play in rounds begin? And how about t-shirts next year? Easter Blessings to all.

  19. 2009 Convention's faux-saint, patroness of DNC political hackery, takes the halo.

    Miserere nobis.

      1. To the contrary - I understand both Lent Madness and, I suppose as well as any great sinner can, sainthood. But... My understanding of sainthood is formed in the context of catholic tradition rather than in the partisan and highly politicized progressive TEC zeitgeist, and the canonization of Frances Perkins 4 years ago is, in my view at best premature, and largely an injection of rather provincial American partisanship into the process of determining who is a saint.

        As well, for those of us who are not so enamored of social welfare ideas, but have other visions of what constitutes a just social order, Perkins' standing as ringmaster of what Dorothy Day called Roosevelt's "platform of Cake and Circuses" does not equal sanctity.

        Some of us echo Dorothy Day's assessment that "social security legislation, now balled as a great victory for the poor and for the worker, is a great defeat for Christianity. It is an acceptance of the Idea of force and compulsion. It is an acceptance of Cain’s statement, on the part of the employer. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

        Of course, such words might make us, and her (recall, she was another of the saints in this contest), sound like lost souls like unto evil Republicans, but there you go again.

        1. Dorothy Day's ideas were more in the revolutionary anarchist tradition than Frances's approach, to be sure. We need them all--hairshirt prophets, church-builders, poets, theologians, evangelists ... and architects of a more gracious society.

          1. What Sarah said.
            That's how we keep one another honest. Which, yes, sometimes involves some sinner-to-sinner 'compelling' rather than leaving things up to our sometimes shaky good graces.

        2. Paranoia manifests as LMW closes in....I don't think even SEC is the SEC anymore. The voice of "Scott Gunn" in the final official announcement video never once says, "That's exactly right!". Clearly an imposter!!

          As for Maple Anglican, I am given to understand that anonymity is part of his schtick even outside LM so we may never know. As the contemporary hymn goes, "You don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with [him]".

        3. Yes, we are to be our brother's and sister's keepers.

          Acts 4:32-35
          Acts 11:29

          But, some of those who have wealth are like the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. And then you have the fact that not everyone is a Christian. A modern secular state needs to provide a social safety net or end up with massive numbers of poor starving homeless people who might be very accepting of the idea of overthrowing the government.

          My mother has worked hard her entire life, but without Social Security she would have to work the rest of her life and never be able to retire. And without Medicare she would never have access to health insurance. (I'm finally close to finishing college after taking a "gap decade" after high school plus I'm single and childless and sibling-less too, so I'm in no position to help my mother.)

  20. Thank you for enlighenting my Lent! I enjoyed your "saintly" history lessons
    greatly.

  21. Wow, I am surprised! Now going back and research, read and delve into Francis Perkins life..Any golden halo saint deserves that attention. Thank you, Lent Madness, for such fun learning..loved meeting you all on line and stretching the theological roots! Happy Easter!