The Arrow's Path

I have officially hit the 36 hour mark until my ordination to the priesthood. (Tomorrow at 7PM for those of you scoring at home.) I am not nearly as nervous as I thought I would be. I think I was a little more up tight about my diaconal ordination than this, which surprises me. I do not know quite what to make of that. Everyone is carrying on more about it than I am. Perhaps that will change tomorrow or this evening even, as I am going to drive to the airport to pick up my field education supervisor from seminary who is going to be the preacher. He has promised me a "good catholic sermon" I would expect nothing less from him, as he is more catholic than the Pope and will probably be wearing his biretta. I believe his exact words in the e-mail were "have biretta, will travel." I am curious to see how he is going to go over at my current parish. This parish is not exactly Anglo-catholic. They do a higher liturgy than is probably normative in the Episcopal church, but ...

The week begins the marathon ordination run, and I have found myself being the liaison for the coming circus. It is turning into a great ecumenical hodge podge of visitors, ecumenical and otherwise. Since I am an officer in the chaplains associate at the University of Nebraska, there will be all sorts processing with the clergy, not the least of which is two Ukrainian Orthodox clergy that I have befriended in my time in Lincoln. My parents arrived yesterday, so there is that elements. I love my parents, but family in town is always drama of one sort or another, regardless of how well one gets along with the fam. Then, there are also a few folks coming from my field education parish in Chicago; one of whom is the preacher. That should be interesting, given that he will no doubt be wearing his biretta and other Anglo-catholic garb. I requested that he do such. I am curious as to how St. Mark's will respond. It will be a hoot...that is for sure.

I think my upcoming ordination to the priesthood finally hit me after the 10:30 mass today. I've been in this ordination process for about 6 years now, and the last month, since the ordination has been set in stone, has been somewhat surreal. It is almost as if the ordination is something in the abstract, what CS Lewis referred to as "a dream of a dream." But the time is actually here (Thursday to be precise). Heretofore, the fact had not really "sunk in." I think it finally hit me today as I was in the sacristy. I took off the deacon's stole, and I realized it would probably be the last time I wore one, since the Episcopal Church frowns on ordained priests vesting as deacons of the mass. Only transitional or vocational deacons are supposed to wear a deacon's stole. I took it off and held it in my hand for a few moments, until the altar guild literally came in and needed to start the post-mass busy work of cleaning chalices, etc. The feeling was weird, n...

I have been desperately trying to find some blue jeans that actually fit my body. I was down to one functional pair that looked halfway descent. All other pairs have disintegrated except the one other pair that has paint all over them and are only good for yard work or to scare off house guests who have overstayed a welcome. (Although I must say, that pair complements my fuzzy Uncle Buck hat nicely.) I have never understood the perverse world of women's clothing sizes. I sort of understand the overall general sizing scheme, like one person wearing a size 6 or another wearing a Size 2. Proportionality makes a little sense, as that would seem somewhat logical to have a system where the larger the woman corresponds to the larger the clothing size. Who and/or what dictates what makes up a size 6 is a mystery, but, for sake of this article, I will assume it is not "The Man" nor some other conspiratorial masonic legion of doom trying to take over the world by controlling the wo...

to ME! Whee, if only every Anglican Priest could share a birthday with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the world would be a better place.

Here is my latest editorial musings... -The Archer ---------------------------------------------------------- "The Process" There is a scene from the end of the movie, Shawshank Redemption, where the corrupt and abusive prison warden realizes he has finally been caught in the act. The camera pans around his office and brings into focus a framed needle-point wall hanging that his wife had made that reads, “His Judgment cometh, and that right soon…” I have had that scene in my mind for the last month or so. This is not because of some morbid fire and brimstone view of God that I harbor, but simply because the day that I thought would never come is finally upon me. As most of you know, my ordination to the priesthood is scheduled for May 1st, which is the Feast of the Ascension. As I have to write my Roar articles in advance, my ordination will likely have already happened by the time this edition of the Roar is printed, mailed, and read, but I thought I would take a moment to r...

So I had my pre-ordination happy hour consultation with the Bishop this morning. It was more of a courtesy call, which contained the following opening dialogue: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Bishop: Be right with you, Ryan. [pause while I read all the diocesan newsletters on the waiting room table] Bishop: Now then, thanks for coming. Long time no see. Ryan: No kidding. Bishop: Yeah, its been...what? 48 hours? ------------------------------------------------------------------ In all seriousness, the Bishop was pleased with the large slate of Confirmands that I presented to him for Reception/Confirmation on Sunday. He was also still raving about the Star Quilt a local Lakota parishioner presented him as a gift during his visitation. I snapped this picture afterwards: I thought it was cool. She made it with Bishop's colors to boot. How neat is that?

So, the Bishop is making his annual visitation to St. Mark's on Sunday for 10 confirmations and a baptism. This week's amended check list: Cold, Raining, Chance of Snow in mid-April (See: Southern Curate-digging in closet to find sweaters he had hoped had gone into summer hibernation) CHECK! Realize we neglected to get any Confirmation gifts on Monday for aforementioned 10 Confirmands. (See: Thank goodness for overnight shipping.) CHECK! Rector is in bed sick for 2 days this week. (See: Just plain yuckie.) CHECK! Realize we have no remaining Vigil Lamps for the Reserve Sacrament and the one we have is burning on fumes (See: Holy Empty Vigil Lamps, Batman!) CHECK! Running in the aforementioned freezing rain to aforementioned Holy Hardware to get case of aforementioned Vigil Lamps. (See: Cardboard Boxes-soaked) CHECK! Heavy rain creates huge leak, which deposits plaster goop on the floor in the chapel. (See: Curate-Jobs as Assigned; Altar Guild-freak out.) CHECK! One empty pew pa...

Tennessee Lady Vols win back to back National Titles . Can we say Number 8? This is about the only basketball I watch. I have found the women's game to be the way basketball is actually supposed to be played. Not a bunch of too-tall thugs who think they have to slam dunk basketball rims. There's a reason the hoop is high up in the air...

Today is the feast day of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the patron saint of this blog and from whom comes the name of this blog. The collect from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts says more than I could ever ramble on about: Gracious God, the Beyond in the midst of our life, you gave grace to your servant Dietrich Bonhoeffer to know and to teach the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, and to bear the cost of following him; Grant that we, strengthened by his teaching and example, may receive your word and embrace its call with an undivided heart; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I got this in an e-mail from a Catholic friend of mine. -The Archer ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This information is for Catholics only. It should not be divulged to non-Catholics. The less they know about our rituals and code words, the better off they are. AMEN: The only part of a prayer that everyone knows. BULLETIN: Your receipt for attending Mass. CHOIR: A group of people whose singing allows the rest of the Parish tolip-sync. HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is H2OLY. HYMN: A song of praise usually sung in a key three octaves higher than thatof the congregation's range. RECESSIONAL HYMN: The last song at Mass often su ng a little more quietly, since most of the people have already left. INCENSE: Holy Smoke! JESUITS: An order of priests known for their ability to find colleges with good basketball teams. JONAH: The original "Jaws" story. JUSTICE: When kids have kids of their own. KYRIE ELEISON: The only...

It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to post a Shameless Dobie Pic. Dog and owner happened to stop and rest in our courtyard at St. Mark's. I immediately peeked out the window and ran out with my camera. The owner probably thought I was nuts, but April, the dober(wo)man basked in the camera lights.

The Bishop is coming on Sunday. Neither myself or the rector has seen a bishop's visit with both baptisms and confirmations. We've got a boatload of confirmands and a baptism. We had to check the Book of Common Prayer on how to arrange the bulletin for both. It actually works out pretty nicely, as it all sort of gravitated around the Baptismal Covenant. BCPs are wonderful things. Now I just have to go to Holy Hardware and find some sort of Confirmation gifts.

A Bishop's Visitation, an Ordination, and an Ecumenical Baptism on Pentecost all within a month. Three Complete Bulletins all with in a month. Yeah...life is busy.

[a voice from the kitchen...] Rector: Man, is this the Communion bread the altar guild left for Sunday? It's huge! Archer: No, that's my lunch. It's a homemade Calzone. [awkward pause] Rector: Oh...I guess a Sauce and Pepperoni filled body of Christ would be sort of weird. Archer: A heretically tasty treat! [awkward pause] Archer: Wait...how did you know it had Pepperoni and Sauce? [munching sound] [awkward pause] [munching sound] Rector: I don't [w]oe... [munching sound] Rector: Guess I'm buying [w]unch.

I know I have occasionally raved about the new Battlestar Galactica . Season 4 is about to start, but I have had to force march my way through Season 3 because I had had the show in my queue for about 2 years to watch at some point, but finally started to work my way through back in the fall. Last night, I happened to be up to episode 5 of season 3 and I was completely blown away. They did a South African Apartheid allegory, even surrepticiously quoting from Desmond Tutu at the end of the episode before the President created a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" to pardon all the humans who collaborated with the cylons during the occupation. I was about to hyperventilate because I did not see it coming because the writing was so good. The very last scene was a particular collaborator who was somewhat darked skinned and had just been pardoned and sitting uneasily next to the deck chief who was white and had sat down as a token of friendship. And then the credits rolled. That...

So I was chalice bearer for the Noon mass, and I caught a weird reflection of myself in the chalice as I was administering the sacrament. I was wearing a collar and looking all priestly as I held the chalice. The image had a surreal look like like something out of a dream or an M.C. Escher drawing. It took me aback. I don't know quite what to make of it.