The Arrow's Path

I am so going to be haunted by the ghost of Charles Schultz... Happy Halloween everyone!

I sure hope it was tasty .

Of all the things to see while riding to work, I never expected to see an elephant's rear end. But I did. (The circus is back in town.)

Eucharistic theology created with QuizFarm.com You scored as Catholic You are a Catholic. You believe that the bread and wine are transformed by the priest and become the Body and Blood of Christ. Though the accidents, or appearance, of bread and wine remain, the substance has been changed. The Eucharist remains the Body and Blood of Christ after the celebration, and is reserved in the Tabernacle; Eucharistic devotions are proper. As the whole Christ is present under either species, you partake fully of the Eucharist even if you receive only one. Orthodox 88% Catholic 88% Luther 44% Calvin 38% Zwingli 13% Unitarian 6%

I have always been amazed at how well the Episcopalians in Nebraska get along at annual council. There are certainly differences of opinion on some things, but not that really transpired at Annual Council raised too many hackles about things. Everything passed unanimously, but then nothing was really presented this year that was all that controversial. This is the 3rd annual council that I have been involved in with this diocese, and this is the third one which is more like a family reunion than a three day business meeting. I have my days when I scratch my head and wonder why I am an Episcopalian, but then I come to Nebraska's annual council and realize that the church family does love each other, even with differences of opinion on things. Unfortunately this is not the case in most places in the Episcopal Church, but at least in my little slice of it, the Church is doing ok. One thing I really like about this diocese is its commitment to mission work, both at home and abroad. We ...

But any day Tennessee beats Steve Spurrier is still a good day.

My diocese is having its Annual Council this weekend. I drove to the metropolis that is Kearney, Nebraska after lunch. That's pronounced Karn-ee for those not familiar with Nebraskan pronunciations. I am somewhat bemused that this town with its pronunciation that sounds peculiarly like carny. Annual Councils are much like a flying circus, and the people who attend them show up in clerical attire, no doubt looking as odd as the carnies from the bigtop that blow in when the circus is in town. At least clergy tend to bathe (although I do know a few who have tattoos and smoke.)

So we decided to complete the second place we wanted to create a bridal registry. This place didn't have the Cap'n Kirk phaser scanner but this thing that looked like a calculator. This was just not as much fun to begin with. We also tried this in the evening after a long day at work that consisted of a funeral and 2 hour Freshstart meeting about Family Systems Theory. I personally have a lot of issues with the psychological construct of Friedman's family systems theory if for no other reason than the old fashioned gag reflex because it was force fed down our throats at seminary. To that end, I do not think I had quite the energy or the patience of our first attempt at a bridal registry. The saving grace was that this particular store had a lot of cooking gadgetry. I like to cook, so at least I was able to scan some things I might actually use. I still do not need that salad shooter, but the toaster oven with no preset timer would be nice to broil those sauteed chicken live...

Desmond Tutu, retired Anglican archbishop of South Africa, was in Omaha yesterday to support the Girls' Inc. group . It helps to have Warren Buffett's wife (and money) on their board to attract such big name folk. The Diocese of Nebraska is also a big supporter. All the clergy got priority seating to the event, so I got to sit with the big wigs. Bishop Tutu gave quite possibly one of the best sermons I have ever heard on the meaning of forgiveness. Some preachers like to harp on that, but when it comes from someone like Desmond Tutu, he means what he says. He understands how hard and yet how powerful forgiveness could be. Sometimes I have my own personal issues with the Anglican church and all the goings on, but then I remember folks like Desmond Tutu. I am like, "Yeah, I'm cool with this..."

"In my opinion, honor and money almost always go together; anyone who wants honor does not despise money, and anyone who despises money does not care much about honor. Let this be clearly understood, for it seems to me that the desire for honor always brings with it some interest in money or income. It would be a wonder if any poor person were honored in the world; on the contrary, even though he may be worthy of honor, he is little esteemed. True poverty brings with it overwhelming honor. Poverty that is chosen for God alone has no need of pleasing anyone but Him. It is certain that in having need of no one a person has many friends. I have come clearly aware of this in my experiences." -Saint Theresa of Avila. The Way of Perfection .

On of the ignominious things that has to be done for weddings is sign up for Bridal Registries. For those guys like myself who were not well versed in the ways of the Force Wedding, a Bridal registry is when you go into store and create a list of stuff the people might consider buying for you as a wedding present. I had heard of such mysterious things before, but only in some very esoteric sense. I always just assumed it was another rampant capitalism "we want stuff" crock. (That's crock as in sham, and not crock as in crockpot. I already have one of those...) I had never actually looked at a Bridal registry, as usually if I have to buy a wedding present for someone I make or pick out myself. In case you haven't clued in from my blog over the past 3+ years, I can't do anything normally. I have been known to carve a wooden jewelry box or fly in some exotic piece of art or something from Egypt. I admit its not practical, but, as I have been learning, since when are...

Bride sues florist for $400000 dollars I'm so glad my fiancee doesn't want to spend $27000 on flowers...

Be disturbed... be very disturbed . Just what we need, a Frankenstein bacterium.

The University of Nebraska, after the Football game debacle on homecoming, has fired athletic director Steve Pederson . Some are wondering if head coach Bill Callahan and the coaching staff will be out at the end of the season as well. Stewart Mandel over at cnnsi.com had this write up as well. I think the defensive coordinator is gone (as well he should be). I am not sure if Callahan will be canned. He might be, but some booster is going to have to pony up the money to payoff Callahan's five year contract he just signed earlier in the year. He might very well be gone, but I think they will give him another year to right the ship. Former Coach Frank Solich had to do that and went 9-3 his last season. And he got canned anyway. I always liked Frank Solich and really thought he got the short end of the stick on that deal. He wasn't the best coach in the world, but he had a career winning percentage well over .600. I mean the man had the foresight to bring in Bo Pelini as defensiv...

I managed to scrounge a ticket to the Nebraska-Oklahoma State game debacle last Saturday. For those who missed it, apparently Bill Callahan likes playing in the heat. It was homecoming, and the entire 1997 national championship team was being honored before the game. (How things can change in 1o years!) The second quarter came to a merciful end. Nebraska on homecoming was down 38-0 at halftime. I never thought I would see the day when things were so bad in Nebraska football land that even the student section was speechless. No cussing, no nothing...they were just shocked. Two frat boys were sitting behind and had been bantering most of the game. They were really quite amusing. So much so that they were about the only reason I stayed through the 3rd quarter. The team is trucking it to the locker room for half time before people can start booing. One frat boy turns to the other and says in quite possibly the best analogy I have heard, "Dude...its like when you're driving on the...

A friend of mine e-mailed me this article . I predicted at the time that when the University of Nebraska fired then coach Frank Solich, the defensive coordinator should have been hired on as the head coach. Nebraska let Pelini slip through their fingers and hired that goofball Bill Callahan instead. I said that 4 or 5 years down the road we were going to regret it. And what do you know...the Archer was right. Bo Pelini is now the defensive coordinator at LSU and working on a national championship. I said at the time he was going to go somewhere and win someone a national championship. The year he was in Lincoln the defense made incredible improvements. There was an article in the Omaha paper a few days ago about the number of games Nebraska has lost in the Callahan era by 17 points or more. He's already at 8 (Tom Osborne had 9 over a 25 year career). I imagine this will go up by at least 2 by season's end. If Pelini had stayed, I guarantee that would not be the case. (609 yar...

I looked at my pre-playoff predictions for Major League Baseball. I'm batting .250 which might be good in terms of baseball batting average. Predictions on baseball games...not so much. I got the Red Sox right, but that was about it. So...No Chicago, LA, or New York teams advance to the LCS. I predict this may be the lowest watched League Championship series in history. Red Sox/Indians Identical regular season records (96-66 for a .593 winning percentage). Both won 51 games at home and 45 games on the road. Both ended the last 10 games of the regular season at 6-4. Red Sox have slightly more post season seasoning over the last few years, as Cleveland lost 5 of 7 games to the Bean Towners this year. However, Cleveland played Boston earlier in the season before they hit their stride. Cleveland likewise lost most of the regular season games to the Yankees, and that didn't save Joe Torre. Cleveland is pretty good at "small ball" this year, which is a good thing considerin...

Ever notice that when you microwave coffee or tea to heat it up and then put Splenda in it, the Splenda dissolves in a very disturbing way? It gets all fizzy and almost creates a foam on top of the coffee. This can't be good for you...

A Brief Reflection on the Recent Statement from the House of Bishops The Rt. Rev. Joe G. Burnett At the conclusion of our recent meeting in New Orleans, some one hundred and fifty bishops approved a document entitled Response to Questions and Concerns Raised by our Anglican Communion Partners. This approval came on a voice vote with only one audible dissenting vote. Anytime such a document receives this level of support in our diverse community of bishops, you can be sure that it either represents a wide consensus, or that it reflects the fact that most, if not all, of those present and voting are not completely happy with the results, but have chosen to compromise on one or more elements. My own sense is that the latter reality is in play here. And my guess is that individual members of our own diocese will find themselves in a similar place, i.e., in agreement with some parts of the statement, but not with others. As I think about what we said in New Orleans, I am reminded of an old ...

I confess I take after my parents, who religiously tried to avoid going to or being involved in weddings. They are nice events, do not get me wrong. But weddings really are a major hassle. People to feed (can't you eat before you come?), liturgies to plan (You heard me correctly: unity candles are the work of the devil and his minions), flowers to buy (You want how much for roses?), and bridal registries (what's that about?) Honestly...no wonder anyone in Europe bothers to get married anymore.

Wow, that was the best non-Bowl game I have seen in years. Sorry, Urban. This is the year of the Tiger. And think to Nebraska could have hired Bo Pelini as their head coach. I said at the time he was going to go somewhere and win someone a national championship with his defense. My prediction may well be coming true.

Top Ten Tidbits of Wisdom that have been passed on to me on Marriage: 10. "I'll give you ten reasons you shouldn't..." 9. (By a woman married to No. 10): "Will you hush?" 8. "I think marriage is a miracle, not that people get married, but that they stay married." 7. "Sweet Jesus, boy" 6. "Remember, you gotta share power. Any marriage where one side takes over is not good." 5. "As long as you are based on God and Jesus, it will be fine." 4. (From the divorced man with a handle-bar mustache:) "Let me give you some advice..." 3. "Why do people buy diamond engagement rings? I mean...dude...its a rock!" 2. "Run!" 1. OMG...Like...no way!...The Archer's getting hitched!

The Playoffs are mercifully upon us. This has been a rather lackluster Major League Baseball season. I say that partially because none of my teams did much after the All Star Break. I also say that because it really was a rather boring season, especially for us National Leaguers at heart. I mean, no NL team with more than 90 wins. What's with that? The most exciting thing down the stretch in the NL was watching the Mets collapse, and you knew that was going to happen. (Hey! It's the Mets...You gotta Bereave!) The Central and West were divisions no one seemed to want to win, and the East...well, I've already gloated about the Mets enough. The AL was a little better, but even then, the White Sox were battling the Royals for the cellar. No team finished below .400 but none about a .600 winning mark either. I'm reminded of both that all Stealer's Wheel song, "Stuck in the Middle with You" and that great but truly bizarre scene with Salieri at the end of the mo...

David Fleener (an ELCA type who hang out at St Paul's by the Lake for kicks) has a blog now. Check it out .