The Arrow's Path

Yeah, Happy Halloween...try not to get into too much trouble while waiting for the Great Pumpkin. -The Archer

My search process for my next job is swinging into high gear. I've had to move the time table up a few months, given that my wife and I are expecting our first child in May, so we either need to be moved before Archer II arrives or else what until after in the summer time. I've been made one official offer so far, from a parish outside my diocese, which is a very promising parish I think. I'm still waiting to see if there is a viable option available in Nebraska. There's a few possible clusters available but nothing that looks too promising at present in terms of finances, but we shall see. I'd really prefer to stay in Nebraska, but I just don't see anything on the near horizon that fits my timeframe. I also have a few dark horse prospects down South, but nothing from them as of yet, other than a preliminary conversation with a chair of one search committee and a letter from another saying I am being considered. That might be just as well, as I am not sure my wi...

After reading the David McCullough book, John Adams, I finally broke down and got Netflix to send the HBO mini-series based on the book. I think the series aired something in the winter of last year, coming out on DVD in June. This is really quite an excellent miniseries in terms of acting and special effects. They really went out of their way to recreate colonial America. The cinematography was really incredible for a mini-series. Especially the Boston massacre and subsequent trial scenes as well as Pre-revolution France and the inauguration scene of George Washington. They had some incredible character actors doing most of the parts. A man named Paul Giamatti plays John Adams. In the beginning of the first episode, I was not initially sure what to make of Giamatti being cast as Adams, as he didn't particularly look like Adams as he had a shaved head in the first episode, offset, of course, by the period Courtly wigs. I did not recall ever having seen him in anything before, altho...

What Your Jack-o-Lantern Says You are a naturally cheerful, happy go lucky person. You're the type of person to see Halloween through the eyes of a child. This Halloween, dress up as something cute - like a bunny. The candy you should give out: candy corn The Jack-o-Lantern Quiz You Should Be a Ghost You are seen as shy and introverted. You like to blend in... or disappear. You see Halloween as the day you can sit back and enjoy what other people are doing. You don't scare all that easily on Halloween. If anything, you tend to scare people. You don't try to be scary, but you do tend to lurk around and catch people by surprise. What Classic Halloween Costume Should You Wear?

I have never quite known what to make of the "Study Bible" phenomenon. As I recall, they began cropping up in the mainstream in the 1980's, hitting their peek in popularity in the 1990's. While I am sure they still sell well among the bible collecting crowd, they have gotten out of hand. Currently if you enter "Study Bible" on the Amazon.com search engine, you get a list back of 79,615 choices. For instance, I give you the following examples: The " Power of Positive Prayer Bible " (I'm still waiting for the companion Power of Negative Prayer bible to come out.) the " Hope for Today Bible " which is apparently the latest fluffery from preacherman-meets-Dr.-Phil televangelist Joel Osteen. The " Apologetics Study Bible: Understand Why You Believe " edition by Chuck Colson and Norman Geisler (a truly interesting pairing of bible commentators), and which is not really the correct definition of apologetics. Of course, not all Stud...

I don't know about anybody else, but I am about ready for this ridiculous never-ending election season to be over. I can't turn on the TV, computer, or radio without hearing some smear, slam, or other lugubrious political ad of one kind or another. When I was up in South Dakota this weekend, I was having to listen to two sets of political ads, one from Minnesota and one from South Dakota, most of which was from politicians I had never heard of. Luckily, the church kept me busy enough that I had little time for politico-ad bombardment. And forget trying to read comments left by readers on any of the news websites. They've all gone beyond the petty, to outright nastiness. I'm just tired of this childishness.

I think I am finally back in blogging action. I think I finally kicked my cold and am back from a weekend job interview. Hopefully, I will have some more time to post more in the next few days. -The Archer

There is an interesting article entitled " Reinventing the Monastery ," on MSN Slate of all places. Its worth reading, which is more than I can say about 98% of the fluff on Slate.

The following is an e-mail that is actually helpful, non-partisan information (which is sometimes a novelty with EPPN) about voting, etc. -The Archer ---------------------------------------------------------------- With the final Presidential debate behind us and just 19 days until the election, it's time for us to vote! Have you registered? In some states the deadline may have passed, but in many you can register to vote up until election day! Check you registration status and registration deadlines here. Absentee Ballots & Early Voting. It can be hard to get to the polls on Election Day. In many states you can take advantage of opportunities to go ahead and vote before Election Day either by requesting and returning an absentee ballot or through early-voting where it is available. Find out if your state has early voting or if you can receive an absentee ballot, here. Know Your Ballot. You can learn more about the candidates on your ballot, here, or through your local Secreta...

I am constantly amazed at how well facebook enables procrastinators. Just when you think they couldn't come up with any more ways to be completely yet amusing wastes of time, they come up with something else that is so much fun but such a cosmic black hole of time wasting goodness. For instance, I finally got sucked into the "pieces of flair" application within facebook. I tried to hold off for about a month because I knew it was just another enticement from the dark side of the Force. Collecting pieces of flair is just so amusing and yet such an utter waste of time. And yet, I heeded not the warning of Yoda, "Forever will it dominate your destiny...consume you it will!"

I've been sick for about a week now, and I remember now why I am thankful that I do not get sick more often. Sitting around and coughing with a sore throat just isn't a lot of fun. I think I watched a movie of some kind but I can't remember what it was now to save my life. Then you have the added fun of drugs. The Sudafed Cold and Cough medicine will mess you up. You sit there and ponder at the meaning of the light socket in the ceiling. Oh yes, its fun being sick... or not.

Last Sunday in the afternoon, we had the annual St. Francis' Day Blessing of the Animals. The event is always fun for the kids, as well as the adults who often treat their pets like kids. It's also fun for clergy who don't normally get to wear cassock and surplice. This is not my golden retriever, but a retriever very similar to mine and about the same age. While usually cats and dogs, sometimes other critters show up, like this preying mantis. Here's my dog, Max. It's fun to bless your own pet, even if dog hair and slobber get on your stole. (luckily, its washable). Its also fun to bless cats, as long as Fluffy doesn't run away or hiss and spit at you. The pet above is a Beagle named Bailey. (Yes, it's Beagle Bailey...)

I've been battling a trifle of a head cold, mainly just scratchy throat and stuffiness, due to fall allergies. I took some drugs Sudafed Cold and Cough stuff before I went to bed. Taking that stuff is akin to what old detective novels used to refer to "slipping someone a mickey." I was basically in a stupor by 9PM, somehow just missing the Philadelphia Phillies comeback over the Dodgers. The dark side of that Sudafed, at least for me personally, is that after it wears off in about 4 hours, I usually wake up and am wired, I'm guessing because Sudafed has caffeine or some other stimulant in it. I woke up this morning and it was about 3 in the morning. I tossed and turned for a while and then got up for some water. I happened to turn on the TV, which is never advisable at 3 AM. Weird things are usually on. I mean, who wants to watch a Lou Dobbs rerun in the middle of the night? Creepy... Anyway, the news was on and it sent me back to bed in a hurry. In the glow of a 3:1...

Beautiful fall days outside and you're stuck in a 3 hour meeting and this happens... Hat tip: Arlo and Janis.

I got a call on Friday from a friend of mine who apparently had an ongoing couples card game once a month with some friends of theirs. It apparently apprised a normal group of 8 people, which worked out well for having two tables of 4. One of the couples had to cancel, and they had to find some alternates, and they called me and my wife. It was a Sunday evening, so I said, "Why not?" It had not occurred to me when my friend called to factor in the fact that she was legally blind but not totally blind. She could see a little with a magnifying glass if she holds up a book or a card up really close. My wife and I got there after a busy Sunday which included a Pet Blessing at St. Mark's. We sat down at a card table, and I suddenly realized that the group of people were all blind, except for me, my wife, and my friend's husband. I didn't know quite how to ask politely, but I was thinking, "How exactly do blind people play cards?" The cards came out and, lo a...

We do a food pantry here at St. Mark's that is part of a co-op of sorts. A lot of agencies like the Vet Center, the local Shelter for Battered Women, etc., have a pool of places to call to get "food baskets" for families of 1 or 2 (or sometimes 6.) They simply call us and we get the food bags ready and they have a social worker come and pick them up. I have been interested over the past 6 to 8 months with the economy going bad and the price of fuel going up to see a change in uptake. When I first started at St. Mark's we maybe did one or two families a week. I am guessing we are averaging 1 or 2 families a day now, possibly more. There seems to be an upswing at the beginning and end of the month. The end of the month makes sense, when government welfare checks and whatnot are running out. There's been a slight rise in requests for the beginning of the month. I suppse people are pooling their welfare checks and grocery bags from the pantry to make ends meet until t...

When I was in Charleston, SC, I ran across a Huguenot (French Protestant) Church that had been on the same site since 1681. It's still a functioning Huguenot church. I had no idea Huguenots were still in existence. I was not there on a Sunday, so I could only peek in the window, but I wrote down their website address (see link above). I also found when searching their website that they have a link to their prayer book, which can be found here . Its all online, and apparently was from the late 1700s. I took a gander at the Communion service, and it is similar but different in many respects to the Episcopal Prayerbook from about that same time. Take a gander at it, it's quite interesting.

There is a blog entry found here that has the most concise explanation of the sub-prime loan, Wall Street mess that I have found available. While I don't quite agree with everything his says, for those people who have no clue what's going on, I think this is a good place to start.

So my wife woke up a few mornings ago and told me about a weird dream she had. She said she dreamed she was at the Lambeth Conference and all the bishops where on the field in this soccer stadium and were dressed up and trying to create a living Santa Claus face. I guess like some churches will do the living Christmas tree during Advent or marching bands will make patterns on the field at a football game. They were apparently having problems filling out the beard of the Santa Claus face because some of the bishops had left early. So they ended up with a deformed, beardless Santa face on the field. My wife had no idea why she dreamed this. I thought it was funny as I am the one who is the Episcopal priest, and she was the one having bizarre dreams about Lambeth. (She's forbidden me from ever running for bishop, so that's not the issue.) I just found ironic that the dream was about the Lambeth conference trying to portray a unified imagine and failing miserably. Added to that was...

Congrats to the ChiSox, who managed to eek out the win against Minnesota and clinch the AL Central. The Sox are a scrappy team this year, but manage to win when the chips are down. I don't know how they will fair in the playoffs against the even more scrappy Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but at least I have some team to root for in the playoffs. Congrats also to the Mets for flushing another season down the tubes at the last minute. You gotta love it!