Drew Kadel

@drewkadel

Long-time Episcopal Priest and Long-time academic librarian. Author of How do you Baptize a Whale? An Encouragement to Compassion Blog:

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Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Jul 11

Gwen Snyder is one of the most insightful people I follow. A like intuition is why I wrote this book: to assist people to have the courage to come out with the compassion they know is their foundation: wipfandstock.com/979838525620...

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· May 20

It's basically this dynamic that is the reason I wrote this book. People need the courage to have compassion and fight against nihilism and despair: wipfandstock.com/979838525620... It's a critique of the arrogance of humanity with an exploration of real world compassion with all its costs.

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· May 19

Happy Birthday! With regards to getting old, here's the preface to my recent book:

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

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· May 14

Agreed. There's a lot about that in the little book. Those that really promote church expansionism as opposed to reflection on living a compassionate (& repentant) life tend toward domination and authoritarianism. Since the beginning of the church. See the mistranslation of John 20:22-23

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· May 2

Thanks to Dong Zhang for organizing this very successful event.

Photo of Dong Zhang in front of a colorful poster

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 28

I just watched Todd Blanche, who desperately wants Donald Trump to make him a real boy, er, I mean Attorney General, say that this picture is a threat against Donald Trump and the DOJ will investigate ANYONE who posts it. I don't like James Comey, but let them call 100,000 citizen posters:

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 28

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 28

So. It appears that Jim Comey's seashell arranging friend either meant that the order for #47 on the diner's menu was cancelled, or that Trump should exit through the Bedford Street door. (I actually ate at Chumley's in the Village before it closed btw)-it was hard to find

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]

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 27

Come to my book event in Rockland County this Saturday morning at 10 am! (see alt text for details) New City is close to New Jersey & Westchester. ⚓

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 22

A pretty damning assessment of Trump's war from a non-partisan specialist in military strategy. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 16

@radiofreetom.bsky.social has it right: Leo XIV is the first and only Augustinian to be pope, and St. Augustine is the font of just war theory. JD Vance poses as somebody who knows things, but his head's as much up his own ass as Trump's.

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 5

Hi I wrote this good book, which could definitely use a boost. No, it's not practical advice on whale baptisms and yes, compassion is something that makes a difference right now. wipfandstock.com/979838525620...

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Apr 2

Something that's coming up in about a month. ⚓

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Mar 19

Over 26,000 American casualties, including nearly 7,000 dead on a little island called Iwo Jima.

Iconic photograph of the Stars and Stripes being raised near the end of the battle for the Island of Iwo Jima

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Feb 28

A thoughtful piece for today. snyder.substack.com/p/why-attack...

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Feb 28

This post by @eladn.bsky.social is very important because it is accurate and founded on compassion. A good read. eladnehorai.substack.com/p/heres-why-...?

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Feb 13

This is what I was up to when I was writing this long thread this afternoon: bsky.app/profile/drew...

A large, long, irregularly shaped loaf of brown home made bread, cooling by a kitchen stove.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Feb 6

Pope Leo XIV on an airplane holding a baseball bat

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Jan 5

I knew these folk pretty well, my views about stuffiness in the church are well known. This is an excerpt from a sermon I gave at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd in March of 2014:

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.

Drew Kadel@drewkadel· Dec 18

To do a bit of shameless self-promotion here. After a long life of trying to reconcile conflicting values and self-interest, I've realized that compassion is the only value that I can live or die for. That's what my book is about. How do you Baptize a Whale? wipfandstock.com/979838525620...