The Arrow's Path

I have just crossed over the half way point with my summer job out here on the ranch. It was hovering at 108 degrees all day. The drought level out here has been hovering at level 4, which is the highest its gets on the drought scale. The bad news is, we have not even begun the driest month of the year yet. I drove by the fire department today and both the engines were out. I saw one driving around frantically later in the day. No major brushfires as of yet in Rosebud or Mission. The governor officially announced today it was the hottest July on record and that conditions had officially not been this bad since the Dust Bowl. In fact, a few cows apparently died of heat exposure on a farm south of here. I didn't even know cows could get heat stroke. I got another e-mail from a friend of mine from Mississippi saying that the Gulf of Mexico is warmer this year than last year. That's really bad news. All the heat creates energy that a mild tropical storm can whip into a Hurricane in...

1. One book that changed your life: Costy of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Dune by Frank Herbert 3. One book you’d want on a desert island: The Bible 4. One book that made you laugh: The Dog who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat 5. One book that made you cry: Diary of Anne Frank 6. One book that you wish had been written: The final novel in the Dune series by Frank Herbert 7. One book that you wish had never been written: Anything by Stephen King 8. One book you’re currently reading: Systematic Theology, Vol II by Wolfhart Pannenberg 9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Book V of the Saga of Seven Suns by B. Anderson

For the last few weeks, I was more or less rented out to TEC (Thunderhead Episcopal Center) in the beautiful Black Hills as the program director for the middle school youth camps. Though I have been to the Black Hills a few times before, I have never been to TEC before. For those of you who have never been to TEC, I highly recommend going if a retreat is ever offered. The overall facility is really impressive, with several cabins and the main building dubbed “supertent.” Getting to watch the wild horses grazing and the occasional deer in the field below TEC is an added bonus. I have been to several Episcopal retreat centers over the years, and I believe I can say without hesitation that TEC is an asset that this diocese has to be very proud of. The first camp was the boys' camp, which had about ten campers. The co-ed camp came next with about 30 campers, and we ended with the girls' camp with about 20 or so. The camp ranged from 5th graders to 8th graders from all over the stat...

Since it was 100 degrees today, I decided to make some ice tea. (Being from the South, I make ice tea pretty much everyday, but that is beside the point.) I made it in the coffee pot like I usually do. I came back about a half hour later and poured it into my tea jug. It was not that hot, so I am not certain what caused this. My poor tea jug melted in what can only be described as a Chernobyl type meltdown. Tea-rnobyl if you will. If it glows in the dark, I won't drink it.

As I blogged yesterday, I returned to Rosebud. I made the rounds on the church circuit today. Most of the farmers around here were bailing hay this week, or were at least trying to. The warden at the church we went to this morning in Okreek said he harvested 1/3 of what he normally gets in hay. The draught here is severe. In fact, we were told by numerous folks today that if it does not rain here soon that with the spike in gas prices, most farmers are hardly breaking even as is. If they have to buy and haul hay, there are going to be quite a few farmers that will go under in within a year. It is not quite "dust bowl" conditions yet, but if we go another year the way we have been going, it might very well happen. There has not been a major range fire in Rosebud yet. There was one down in Valentine, Nebraska (about 30 miles south) yesterday that burned some houses. Fires will begin here if we do not get any rain. Please pray for rain.

Here are some pictures from Thunderhead Episcopal Center where I was helping as program director. There was a rainstorm last week, after which was the largest rainbow I have ever seen. Sorry, Pot o' Gold not included.

The Archer has finally returned to civilization (Mission, SD, is now apparently "civilization"...go figure). I was at the Thunderhead Episcopal Center in the Black Hills of South Dakota during the middle school camps. It was fun but tiring. I have worked 14 straight 12+ hour days without a break. Unlike last summer's CPE, at least this time I am getting paid. I have some pictures to upload at some point, but I am too tired now to fiddle with it. TEC is a beautiful place though. Its about 15 miles south of Deadwood up on a hill. Down the hill is a grassy valley of sorts that TEC rents out for grazing rights. There was a herd of about 40 wild mustangs running about. The title of this blog entry is "God is Pokey." We went on a nature hike with the kids one day. The goal was to get to the old outdoor chapel, at which point the kids were suppose to have picked up something along the way that reminded them of God. There was the usual stuff like flowers and pine cones....

I am going to be helping out at the Diocese of South Dakota's youth camp in the Black Hills for the next few weeks, so my blogging may be non-existent during that time. I promise to have some pictures and such when I return. -The Archer

You Are Rowlf the Dog Mellow and serious, you enjoy time alone cultivating your talents. You're a cool dog, and you always present a relaxed vibe. A talented pianist, you can play almost anything - especially songs by Beethoven. "My bark is worse than my bite, and my piano playing beats 'em both." The Muppet Personality Test Forget the Meyers-Briggs, this is much more awesome. Rowlf was always my favorite Muppet. I even had a Rowlf pillow back in the day. -The Archer+

In the previous blog entry, the topic came up about syncretism of Christianity and traditional Lakota religion/spirituality. I felt that my response was somewhat deflective of the question. I would like at this time to put down some thoughts on the subject in a more theological way. The Lakota/Dakota name for God, or more precisely translated as “great spirit,” is Wakantanka. As I have come to understand the traditional Lakota way of life in the last few weeks, religion apparently permeated every aspect of life. Life was all part of the “circle of Spirit.” This is not unique to the culture of the Lakota, but is found in various forms in many Native American traditional religions. The white man (and woman) brought the Lakota people into contact with a new religion that could have been both an affront to the culture but also had the ability to complement Lakota traditional culture incredibly well. I say that it was an affront, especially to the men, because men were expected to become wa...

Kyle posted a comment to a previous blog about Lakota funerals asking, "I wonder if you've thought about doing a little reflection on whether or how much "syncretism" is present in such "joint" rites...?" I have been thinking about that very question a bit in the last few days. I wanted to wait until I had done an entire Sunday proper, so here are my initial thoughts. Having preached 3 sermons today at 3 different churches, I feel I can say I have my feet wet in that regard. As an aside, my first service was at the Church of Jesus in Rosebud, SD. It is apparently the oldest church of any denomination on the reservation. Built just a year after the reservation was incorporated in 1884. I meant to bring my camera along and take a few photos, but I forgot. I will try to take some pictures next Sunday and post them. Interestingly, the are still small (probably 20 or so there this morning) but active and are having a priest ordained there next month. ...

Here's an interesting read about the Pope wanting to end the 1960's standard "Guitar Mass." Gregorian Chant and Latin...now that will fill the pews in Europe. Dust off the Latin missals...Vatican III is bringing 'em back.