Following up on what was excerpted here on the Feast of St Mary, The Anglican Scotist has a very good post on Mary's role in the church. Here's the final paragraph:

It seems to me that the Anglican Communion could contribute something here, even now. On the one hand, its members have succeeded here and there in drawing mainline Protestant fragments together....To that extent, modest Anglican devotion to Mary has an opportunity to grow in other mainline churches. And to the extent that succeeds, the right time, the kairos, for promulgation draws nearer. To the extent, however, the AC is drawn over into a modern, Calvinist orbit, one wherein Marian devotions are dismissed with scorn, that day recedes further away.

And, over at The Topmost Apple, bls has a few pithy remarks about clergy and (or vs) laity:

Could we please kneel when we like, and enjoy a bit of peaceful contemplation in our pews--rather than being told we're not doing enough to suit you, and being forced to do whatever nutty things you've dreamed up now? This is just another avoidance mechanism, if you ask me--a way not to have to sit still with oneself and think too hard about anything.

A way to keep busy, rather than having to deal with feelings and with life. Typically American and typically shallow.