The Arrow's Path

Talk about Fish n Chips ...

I had a rather rough on call Thursday night. The girl about 21 that came in about 5 AM, crushed face, leg was torn all to pieces. I've seen some nasty stuff and that really upset me more than the other traumas I had seen. I think maybe because it happened when she was less than a quarter mile from home that made me so sad. She just graduated college and I doubt she'll make it. Well, no, I take that back. I know exactly why it set me off. It reminded me of a good friend of mine who died the same way. That was years ago, I thought I'd gotten over that, but it all came back. This girl's parents came shortly thereafter and it was just one of those things where there was just nothing to say. I was tired from having been up most of the night, so I really could not think of anything to do other than just be there. I hope that was enough. I really just felt in a way almost angry because I was there and there was nothing I could do to fix the situation. There was nothing I could...

Sweet merciful Rock of Ages...I'm a Methodist. I think my heart is being strangely warmed because I was predestined to kick your butt, Paul Tillich. Puritans of the world...unite! You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan . You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Neo orthodox 82% Reformed Evangelical 75% Roman Catholic 57% Classical Liberal 46% Emergent/Postmodern 43% Modern Liberal 39% Charismatic/Pentecostal 39% Fundamentalist 29% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

I was wondering before I left the Seabury Pen how long it would take me to get my Southern accent back when I came back to Tennessee. I was surprised how quickly it all came back. I think I used "ain't" no less than 4 times today and actually said "ya'll." I think the kicker was when I was called into the ER for a trauma yesterday and some good ole boy had been brought in after a 4-wheeling accident. He reeked of alcohol and the doctors in the ER were trying to figure out what it was as I watched in amusement. They bantered for like ten minutes until I finally busted out laughing and said, "Its moonshine, fellers." All those degrees and they couldn't figure that out. Maybe that's a good thing they didn't know. Maybe I'm back in the South. Maybe I need to end this particular blog before I completely morph back into a redneck.

Well, I survived my first on call as a CPE chaplain yesterday. At my hospital there is always a chaplain on call for a 24 hour period. Some interesting things I learned working in a Trauma 1 center as an on call chaplain: 1. It is indeed amazing how many different ways the human body can be mangled. 2. I'm never owning another motorcycle. 3. I have a greater understanding of the dark humor in M*A*S*H. 4. The hospital cafeteria closes at 1 AM not 2 AM. 4.A. Because you did not have time to get dinner, 80 cent bags of chips from the vending machine do not go far. 5. CPR does not always work, in fact most of the time when someone goes into cardiac arrest, they die, even with the crash cart shock thing. 6. You can never tell how people are going to react when they are told that their loved one has died. Some scream, some get silent, some pass out. 7. In the South, its better to pray like a Methodist and not read a canned BCP prayer. 8. It's not about finding the right words when yo...

Alright, apparently I have been "tagged" for yet another blogging fad. So, here goes: How many books do you own? I'm in the 1000+ category What was the last book you bought? I bought 2 books at the Evanston library book sale right before I left. One was called Pita the Great , which was a cookbook with some interesting recipes for Hummus I had never seen (which says a lot). The other was a book on Trout Fishing, which I thought I might put to use sometime this summer, probably after CPE. What was the Last book I read? The Land that Time forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs The Five books that mean a lot to you (I am assuming this is excluding the Bible) : Dune (and series) by Frank Herbert Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer A Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 1984 by George Orwell Honorable Mention: Anything else by WIlliam Faulkner, All Quiet on the Western Front, Frankenstein, Billy Budd, Holy Sonnets by John Donne I guess I ca...

Just to keep my blogging public informed as to the whereabouts of the Archer, I am safely back in Tennessee doing CPE. Things are going better than expected actually. After hearing horror stories from the upper classmen at Seabury, my anxiety meter was running a bit high. But I have found my group of CPE people and the chaplain staff to be super thus far. Let's just hope it stays that way. My group has myself, a Baptist, 2 catholics (unusual for East Tennessee) a Lutheran (very unusual), a Congregationalist who is married to a Muslim (very, very unusual) and a Unitarian (I really feel sorry for her trying to explain to mountain folk what that is). I am the chaplain for 11 East at the hospital, which is a general floor, a step above trauma. So, that seems to be going fairly well. Again, let's hope it continues that way.

Well, maybe not The End , but rather the end of the school year here at Seabury-Western Theological Penitentiary. Another batch will be paroled tomorrow at St. Luke's Episcopal Church , Evanston at 10:30. I heard from the rehearsal today they are already behaving like priests (and/or cats) in need of herding. Congratulations, folks...remember your friends on the inside. The fate of Christendom is in your hands. And as my great uncle used to say, "if that don't scare ya', ain't nothin' will." In other news, I will be doing Clinical Pastoral Education (cue the sinister theme music) this summer at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. So, if for some reason you end up in the hospital there, ask for me. (If you end up at the Baptist Hospital up the street, ask for my mother, she's a nurse there as well as Parish Nurse at Rutherford Memorial Methodist in Corryton, TN.) Since I am going to be spending a little time back in my old stompi...

For those of you who are interested, the Vatican-Anglican dialog and agreement on Mary the Mother of Jesus has finally been posted online if you want to read it, click here . Today is my last exam, so I have not had time to read it yet, but ruminations will no doubt follow.

This is a composite photo of the dog that I got called in to help transport to the Illinois Doberman Rescue this weekend. I am just a volunteer but I got called in because its memorial weekend and animal control was done with the quarantine. (Apparently, the owner told animal control to come take the dog now or he was going to shoot it). Look at how incredibly starved this dog is. This is obviously not a purebred Dobie. I thought it had some Aussie Sheepdog or something, but we could not figure out what sort of a breed had paws that big. Look closely at his paws. They were as big as my entire palm. I have never seen anything like that before. But appeared to be a very sweet dog though, given his living conditions. He is now safe and sound in the Illinois Doberman Rescue, after a stay in the clinic at the local animal control. It will probably be a while before the dog is remotely ready to be adopted. He will need some remedial socialization training and serious nutrition supplements, b...

Here is the official logo of a place at which I volunteer 

I have rather shamelessly included some non-religious links onto my blog. However, it is something close to my heart. I (and my family as well) have for several years been active in supporting (and helping out when possible) Doberman rescue societies. These societies generally take in previously abused and neglected Doberman dogs, almost always in conjunction with local animal shelters. Occasionally they deal directly with the public in taking in strays/abandoned dogs, but that's usually the exception to the rule. I was involved in helping transport a Doberman rescue this weekend and the Illinois chapter people asked me if I would put a link to their site on my blog. I thought it was the least I could do. I have personally been involved in all three of the operations I am providing links for (East Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois). My family has personally adopted Dobermans from the East Tennessee Chapter, and I have personally done volunteer work for the other two chapters. I will pe...

Tonight at the annual awards night banquet at Seabury, I won the prestigious, if somewhat supercilious, John Calvin "Low Church" award. Ah, the humanity. I think my puritanical outbursts swayed the Academy, who I'd like to thank...

You have to read this and watch the video here. Clown eucharist...that's quite possibly the most horrendous thing I have ever seen. This news just in...we've hit rock bottom.

You gotta read this one. Can you imagine how much tartar sauce would go with that?

Editorial: Respect It is indeed good to note that Mr Blair must have been attending to our comments on social mores! He is surely right to note that ‘respect’ for people is on the slide, and that ‘anti-social behaviour’ grows apace. Whether a government can in fact inculcate moral renewal is a difficult question, but surely government policy can help erode what is still there. Failing to support marriage as the building block of society, the agency of handing on values of respect to the next generation, is a great example of this. Education policy likewise has eaten away at Christianity as the driver of social ethics, resulting in a commitment to relativism. This goes back to the 1944 Education Act, when the Church of England had to cede formative influence to the state, and 20 years later RA Butler, the architect of the changes, lamented: “The perfunctory and uninspired nature of the religious instruction provided in all too many local authority and controlled schools had begun to imp...

Father, part of his double interest Unto thy kingdom, thy Son gives to me, His jointure in the knotty Trinity He keeps, and gives to me his death’s conquest. This Lamb, whose death with life the world hath blest, Was from the world’s beginning slain, and he Hath made two Wills which with the Legacy Of his and thy kingdom do thy Sons invest. Yet such are thy laws that men argue yet Whether a man those statutes can fulfil; None doth; but all-healing grace and spirit Revive again what law and letter kill. Thy law’s abridgement, and thy last command Is all but love; Oh let this last Will stand! – John Donne (1572-1631), Holy Sonnets XVI

There was a question in my pastoral care class this morning about whether you would be civilly liable for not giving a good recommendation if a potential employer of someone you knew called you (a minister) and was doing a background/reference check. I summoned my powers of the force to think back to my law school days. I dug around and checked the Illinois statutes. I am not a member of the Illinois bar nor do I make any claim to giving competent legal advice. Here's the Illinois state law as it stands now, make your own conclusions: CHAPTER 745. CIVIL IMMUNITIES EMPLOYMENT RECORD DISCLOSURE ACT 745 ILCS 46/5 (2005) § 745 ILCS 46/5. Public purpose declaration Sec. 5. Public purpose declaration. The Legislature finds that it is in the public interest to protect from civil actions an employer that provides truthful, performance-related information about an employee or former employee to an employment reference inquiry. § 745 ILCS 46/10. No liability for providing truthful informatio...

I usually detest e-mail forwards, but I had to share this one. In my low church defense, I don't even understand a few of these. You may be an Anglo-Catholic if … If you believe that Sacraments are to be administered, not passed around. If you hold the doctrine that whatever is worth doing is worth overdoing. You think of the Wippel's catalog as liturgical porn. You get more exercise genuflecting, kneeling, and prostrating than running, jogging, or walking. Most of the volumes in your library have been out of print for over a century. The primary causes of your violating the Tenth Commandment are found on the pages of Wippell's. You'd consider going over to Rome if it didn't mean giving up being catholic. On hearing the parable of the Good Samaritan, you wonder what the priest and the Levite were wearing. On Easter morning, the men of your parish wear more lace than the women. You believe that the current controversies over the Bishopric of Jerusalem, the Open Pulpi...

I'm in heaven...check this out. If only I still got an allowance. Sigh... In other news, due to numerous customer complaints (OK, it was a pet peeve of a fellow blogger who shall remain nameless) I have arranged my Interesting Blogs links in some semblance of alphabetical order. I refuse to do that with my Religious Links, as they are arranged by order of relative importance. I also added YodaBeth to my Blog link list. So, welcome aboard. Try not to get lost in the Forest. I'd hate to have to unleash my Raven to go hunt for you.