The Arrow's Path

He is a good coach  from my alma mater that turned down bigger programs and bigger money for years because he liked where he was and what he was doing. I remember him saying this, "I hate the term, 'Student-Athlete.' You are here to study, therefore you're a student. Period. Yes, an athletic student, but playing sports is a privilege. It's not primarily why you're here."

I usually try to avoid political stuff on this blog, but the following I think is worthwhile in terms of Christian theology. Fr Tim in Sioux Falls tipped me off as  to two bills that have been introduced in the South Dakota Legislature that are aimed at tackling usury and "Payday" lenders. Those Advance Payday loan/lenders are truly creepy organizations that prey on poor people. While some are probably somewhat more ethical than others, I have had to help parishioners at a previous parish who got sucked into those types of places. They are not quite the Mafia, but some of them are quite close. If you live in South Dakota, please consider talking to your legislators to support efforts such as this.

This week gears up into the major hoopla that is known as the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl has become the  quintessential American spectacle in all things related to sports, culture, media, and advertising. It is truly an interesting phenomemon to watch. I would argue that nothing else brainwashes unites the American people together quite like the Super Bowl.  The World Series does not any longer do that, though I think at one time it could be argued that the World Series did. Religion does not do that. Network TV programming does not do it. Politics does not do it (Compare voting rates or national TV ratings for election coverage for something like the State of the Union address with Super Bowl ratings, if you don't believe me on that one). The Super Bowl is just a cultural phenomenon. Last year, we did not have cable TV (and we still don't); so, for kicks, I was listening to the Super Bowl broadcast on the BBC Sports radio broadcast from Europe. (It is amaz...

Hat tip: Carson T Clark.

I love it .

"O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD." -Micah 6: 1-8

My friend found this children's book at the bookstore. I don't know what to make of it. I feel sad we live in a world that books like it exist, or need to exist.

Dilbert was great today if you enjoy the good pun . I might have to order a mug or something with this comic.

Apologizing for wealth is "almost an insult to God." I guess because "Blessed are the Poor..." is for suckers won't inherit the Kingdom of God.

I make no bones about the fact that I do not like the trial use Kalendar of Saints that the Episcopal Church is floating in the attempt to revise the Lesser Feasts and Fasts calendar. It is entitled Holy Women, Holy Men . You can find the daily blurbs here  at the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music blog. I think the very name of it belies the politically driven motivations behind it. They could just as easily have called it something like the Holy People of God or even the New Feast Day Calendar . That, combined with the fact that the blog headings include Resources for Same Sex Blessings and Hymnal Revision, I have to cringe at the thought that the powers that be may soon have enough political chips to tackle Prayerbook revision again, but that's neither here nor there for purposes on this blog entry. I did not like the way new saints were added to the liturgical calendar in a buckshot method at General Convention a few years back now. Heretofore each addi...

Very sad. (apologies for the commercial.)

In your mind's eye, place yourself in a cold study, or house office. Papers strewn about. Books from the bookshelf overturned. A lamp lies smashed on the floor. The time is April 1943, and the German Gestapo troops are leading a good looking but bespeckled middle aged man out of his house after roughing him and his house up a bit. What is left on the man's desk and the floor as he was hurried away is a series of manuscripts that, in the time since, have been published under the single-word title Ethics. It was wartime. The man had become an active participant in the German resistance. The man was a theologian, and of all the things for a theologian to write about, it would be of no surprise to anyone that ethics might have been his primary concern. The man is taken to headquarters and "processed" and ultimately finds himself in cell where he will spend most of his days in isolation, with occasional interruptions in the form of harassment from uniformed guards. Th...

What do you do in a situation like this ? (Warning: topic might not be appropriate for younger readers.)

A little Friday morning fun from the Man:

A friend of mine who is an Antiochian Orthodox Priest clued me into a tele-conference that he is presenting at. He is an absolutely hilarious public speaker and author that usually has to be booked months in advance; so, I have no doubt his segment of the teleconference will be well done. I love the idea of both concept and content of this proposed teleconference. The conference itself is on Christian education, primarily to children and young people. I think I am going to attend (if that is the proper verb for a teleconference), just to see what the Antiochians have going on in terms of resources for teachers and young people. This is something the Episcopal church has been utterly dreadful at for years. There has been a little resurgence in the past year or two with a Confirmation program that I actually tried and adapted for the youth group at this parish. The jury is still out on whether I would use it again, but it was at least something having to do with Confirmation that w...

Read to believe .

This is a musical take on MLK's speech. Something different to contemplate. Sadly, I grew up in the state King was shot, and I don't think I ever got a day off from school for MLK day. Here is the full speech, which if you have never listened to in its entirety is well worth the time. And now, a scant 8 years later, compare that with his last speech before his death. His face and voice appear to have aged 25 years: A lot of clergy talk about being prophetic, but true prophecy usually involves something like this: "I've seen the promise land, I may not get there with you..." Not too many Christians I know would be willing to be that kind of prophetic, if it meant giving up your cushy job in the Burbs in exchange for a bullet. Food for thought today.

I discovered today that in part of the 400th Anniversary of the King James Version, BBC Radio 4 has a fascinating 3 part series on the making of the King James Version. Part I: The Commissioning Part II: The Translation Part III: The Legacy Each Clip is about 45 minutes in length. It is well worth the time.

At my previous parish about 8 years before I started as the curate, the parish had a graduate student commissioned for a major sculpture for the courtyard. The parish church was right off the campus of a major university. It had this nice brick courtyard with a bench and all. When the artwork was finally finished, a huge winged lion sculpture graced the courtyard. It was a lovely depiction of the iconic image of St. Mark, which was the patron of the parish. The sculpture was life sized and faced outward toward the street where many students walked on a daily basis. What was interesting about the sculpture was how it was immediately understood and accepted as the beloved lion in the courtyard by the members of the congregation. They cared for it and polished it on a regular basis. They put hats on it during home football games and even a Santa hat during Advent. It quickly became the stock image that was used on the business cards and website of the parish. Ironically, those people ...

Father Tim touches on the meaning of the new South Sudan flag . Pretty neat stuff.

This is weird, but cool: a virtual wood lathe .

With all the political blustering and finger pointing about the level of civic discourse stemming from the awful Arizona shooting, the following story is an amazing contribution both to a grieving family and an incredibly positive civic contribution made solely out of Christian charity . For further information on the Trappist monastery involved, their website is here and here .

You'll never guess what's being re-considered .

Last fall, my wife and I on a date went to see the movie, Secretariat . I distinctly remember having blogged about it, but a search of my blog entries suggests otherwise. I do recall that I got a nasty cold shortly thereafter, so it may be that my false memory is a result of Nyquil and that I never actually got around to it. Secretariat was one of the few films that my wife and I both wanted to see and both ended up really liking. This does not happen too often because we usually have vastly different cinematic tastes. In fact, I don't think we actually went to a movie in the theatre together as a couple until after we were married. We both liked Secretariat better that Seabiscuit , which is a great horse film and novel in its own right. For whatever reason, Secretariat never seemed to be the major blockbuster that Seabiscuit was, probably at least in part because of the fact that Seabiscuit was also a best seller in book form before it became a film. Seabiscuit was also very ...

Al Jazeera News  (I still can't believe I've become a fan, but it is truly one of the best all around TV newscasts in the world) did this special on yesterday's news. The clip took up most of the newscast, which is impressive in itself. When was the last time on American news that an in depth segment was done for a majority of the news cast on a field of study like archaeology? In any event, this bit is like a mini-documentary on the issues involved with archaeology within the Holy Land, particularly between Palestinians and Israelis. The bit is pretty objective, but is slightly tilted towards the Palestinian perspective. That's the one Achilles' heel of Al Jazeera news that rears its head from time to time. This is apparently the full clip, of which only about 25 minutes of it was shown in the English Version newscast. I noticed the bias in full clip is more pronounced, which is a bit unfortunate because the actual news cast itself was pretty objective in its e...

YWCA drops "Christian" from its name." I will give them a few points for being intellectually honest...they stopped being a Christian organization years ago. But Platform 51? Is this like Area 51? If you are going to drop an iconic name (no pun intended), at least try to come up with a name that has some meaning and staying power.

One could say that these pilgrims "from the East" are attractive as images to Christians over the centuries because they stood before the manger of Christ for all of us. Over the centuries, I have my days where I think the worst possible thing that ever hit the Christian church was the idea of ordination of clergy. Clergy have had, over the centuries, this inclination to come in and do everything. Which is a blessing and curse, don't get me wrong. Its good to have leaders, and I do believe God does ordain leaders, but I think sometimes clergy forget that being a lay person in the church is a calling by God too. It's a different type of calling, but it is an important calling nonetheless. What I like about the image of the Wise Men, or Magi, or Magicians, or what ever you want to call them is that their gifts represent symbolically all that we, as followers of the Saviour, and what we bring to Christ and his Church. The gold signifies a type of material gift; the f...

Today is a day full of church words that most people don't understand and increasingly don't care to understand. Officially, at least in Western Christianity, we have something called "The Feast of The Epiphany of the Lord," this feast celebrates the epiphany (or manifestation) of Christ to the Gentiles, symbolized by Christ's manifestation to probably the group of the most curiously random characters to be found in the entire bible, but I will return to the We 3 Kings in moment. The feast originally was more closely connected to Jesus' baptism, the primary theme of the feast in Eastern Churches to this day. In Eastern Christianity, Epiphany is actually referred to as an even more obscurely churchy word called the Theophany, if you want to get really technical comes from Greek  theophania , meaning "appearance of God") . Eastern Christians also refer to this day as Theophany as "Holy Lights" because they baptize on this day, and baptism br...

To all those who helped make the bus trip possible for the local Sudanese community to make it to the referendum vote in Omaha, Fr. Tim has a few pictures of the bus here . Once again, thanks to everyone.

Read this story about a booster at Oregon. This is unethical for a number a reasons that make the Cam Newton thing pale in comparison.

 Apparently, it is the 10th anniversary of the Episcopal-Lutheran Concordat wherein the Episcopal Church USA and the ELCA entered into full Communion. There was initially much enthusiasm and idealism in the hope that the two denominations would usher in a new era of inter-denominational cooperation. The 10th Anniversary has gone largely unnoticed in either the Episcopal or Lutheran modes of communication as far as I can discern. The only reason I learned about it was from a seminary friend who posted the link above over on Facebook. I thought it might be an interesting topic to discuss here. The interim minister here at my current parish was actually a Lutheran. He was well thought of and did a good job at getting the parish back to a place to hire a full time priest (which turned out to be me.) Other than that, I, personally, have not seen much impact other that Lutheran bishops being involved in Episcopal bishop ordinations. There's been a lot of ecumenical dialog back and for...

Click here to see a flight of a model SR-71 remote controlled plane . Perfect take off (about 3 minutes into the clip) and landing. Hat tip: Sarah's Godfather, The Bobster.

This is a very thoughtful piece by CNNSI's Jeff Pearlman that deals with some of the ethical issues in voting for players into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame when such players are suspected of steroid usage. As the article points out, when does the American presumption of "innocent until proven guilty begin" to logically falter? He suggests that it becomes a farce when the evidence has been systemically eradicated such that it will be forever impossible to prove guilt because of a cover-up. I think there is some merit to that logic. I would be hesitant to apply that frame of thought to evidence that might lead to someone being sent to prison or being executed. I think if evidence is destroyed in a serious, capital case, then presumed innocence as a doctrine must rule the day. However, that is not an immutable rule, but that is neither here nor there. What is at issue here is eligibility and electablity to the Baseball Hall of Fame. On one level, I a...

This article is fascinating but tantalizingly brief. Click on the links to see what you make of it. Hat Tip: Frontier Orthodoxy

"Ohio State proved that it can match the SEC's best clubs in terms of speed, power, and questionable ethics..." - Andy Staples, CNNSI.com I would only add that it was truly ironic they were playing a team nicknamed the Razorbacks...and we all know what pigs wallow in.

An interesting editorial from a Christian brother here . While I applaud his goal of solidarity with the poor, is his attitude really being Christ-like? I mean, really ? Hat tip: Andrew S.

Pearls before Swine ...so subtle that sometimes the artist doesn't even get it.

I received this letter in my inbox this morning from ER-D . They do great work, and it was a good reminder to me of how quickly we forget. It's been a year in Haiti since the earthquake, and most people have already forgotten it. Keep that country and the workers there in your prayers. -The Archer E-mail reprinted with permission. ----------------------------------------------------- Dear Sir, It is hard to believe that almost a year has passed since the earth shook under Haiti, claiming over 217,000 lives and causing catastrophic damage. Yet in that year, much progress has been made. Because of your support, Episcopal Relief & Development has been able to partner with the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and its relief and development arm, CEDDISEC (Centre Diocésain de Développement Intégré et de Secours), to deliver services and help Haitians revitalize their communities. Guided by the vision and deep commitment of the Rt. Rev. Jean Zaché Duracin, the Church of Haiti...

I wish Archbishop Rowan Williams would do more stuff like this. When he actually speaks to people in understandable ways, he's quite the great communicator. Hat Tip: Father Tim

My daughter loves the loves the old Ant and Aardvark cartoons that came on after the Pink Panther cartoons, and we discovered this cartoon about the "Forest Lodge 202." This is the best depiction of life in a lodge and what lodge membership is all about that I've ever seen.

I have discovered with my Roku internet streamer, much to my utter surprise, that the English version Al Jazeera TV news is one of the best overall newscasts in the world. The only time you hear of it in American news is when its releasing some footage of Osama Bin Laden or something; so, my initial impression of Al Jazeera before I actually starting watching it was that it was some form of Islamicist propaganda TV or something. In some ways, it actually rivals even the BBC World News, which I also listen to on a regular basis. Al Jazeera, it turns out, is actually pretty objective news reporting. Perhaps the Arabic version is not, and the English version is more sanitized for Western audiences, but I can't speak to that. But my commentary on Al Jazeera is neither here nor there for purposes of this post. What is of importance is their coverage of the Sudanese Referendum vote. There is a treasure trove of information on South Sudan and the Referendum vote on th...

I happened to find a film on Netflix that I rented for Christmas. It was French, so I was immediately dubious. Most French films are a bunch of Nihilist garbage that have no point, no plot, and no discernible ending. Usually, such films have everybody die at which point the film stops, and the audience stumbles out of the theater, only to drive home feeling worse about life and not better. Now, I admit my American film tastes here. Europeans tend to like that kind of genre. I do differ somewhat from average American film goers in that I do not not necessarily have to have a happy ending. It can be a sad ending or even a bizarre ending, but I do ask that the film have a conclusion of some kind: good, bad, or otherwise. I like historical dramas, and Netflix recommended a film called Joyeux Noel . I had never heard of it, despite it having been nominated for a few Oscars back in 2006 in the Foreign Language category, though ironically, only part of the film is actually in a foreign la...