The Arrow's Path

Commencing tomorrow morning, my Lenten labor of love will begin. As I have talked about on this blog a few times over the past few weeks, one of my Lenten devotions this year was to draw the Stations of the Cross. To learn more about the Stations of the Cross and its historical origins, there is an excellent article from the Catholic Encyclopedia here . In this pre-Holy Week commentary, I am now going to lay out my reasons for doing this. In the fall, when I was at Westcott House, I took a class on Jewish-Christian relations. I was basically doing it as an independent study, so I was pretty free to do whatever I wanted on the research project. I ended up doing a research paper on Bach's St. John's Passion in light of Christian Relations. To make a long story short, I really had to confront the fact that Christianity, or at least Christendom, historically has treated the Jewish people absolutely dreadfully. Jews were everything from tortured to segregated to outright expelled f

I finally finished my series of the Stations of the Cross. I was beginning to doubt I was going to make it. I got bogged down in the middle, and truth be told, a little depressed. But all systems are go, assuming I can get the scanner to cooperate.

Spending a whirlwind weekend in Lincoln (for my British readers, that's Lincoln, Nebraska, not Lincolnshire), I feel like I lost a Sunday. I completely forgot that this Sunday is Palm Sunday. That, of course, means that Holy Week is next week . How is this possible? Oh Lent, where art thou? Luckily I have been pretty diligent on my Lenten disciplines. I gave up beer. I believe in the old school differentiation between a discipline and a fast (see the definition in the Augustine prayerbook if you don't believe me). A discipline is where you give something up or take something on. A fast is when you don't eat (or watch TV or whatever) and use that time that would otherwise be engaged to pray or meditate. You can give up fasts on Sunday, but disciplines cease to be disciplines if you intentionally fall off the wagon every 7th day. I am also almost done with my drawn series of the Stations of the Cross, which is why my usual Archer Comics have taken something of a hiatus. The

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand. Gamer/Computer Nerd Musician Science/Math Nerd Drama Nerd Social Nerd Artistic Nerd Anime Nerd What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace Wow...I'm all kinds of nerd. -The Archer

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I had a whirlwind tour and interview at St. Mark's on the Campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, this weekend. It was actually spring there...yes, you remember what spring is, don't you? You could see the state capitol building from the parking lot. Nebraska has a unicameral legislature. Ah, bad 1960's architecture...it seems to be my lot in life. I also had my own office and a mug with my name on it waiting for me. Cool, but sort of a weird feeling.

I hate having to pack for a weekend plane trip. I really do not like having to check a suitcase through FAA Gestapo checkpoints the airlines if it is only the small amount needed for three days. You also have to wait for what seems like an hour after you land while the ground crew unloads all the luggage and brings them on those conveyors to the main luggage retrieval carousels. Although, I guess it is one of life's little ironies that they are called carousels, considering the entire airport scene these days is, in fact, a clown circus. Have you ever noticed those overhead bins are round at the top due to the shape of the fuselage? I also hate having to try to cram something larger than a true carry-on into those overhead bins. Square pegs into round holes. It didn't work in pre-school, and it ain't working now. Although, now that I come to think of it, being on a plane is not unlike kindergarten. You get the federally mandated insult to your intelligence where they feel

We started the new quarter today, and I am in the class called Practicum in Liturgical Celebration, commonly referred to as "Play Church" where we dress up in vestments and such and practice saying the mass, etc. I guess I really am a senior now. Play Church was the class I sat in on as a prospective student when I visited Seabury back in my John Calvin award low church days four years ago. So "Play church" has always been the bench mark in my mind of "you will do this when you are a wise Jedi well versed in the ways of the Force about to graduate." I never thought it would get here, but it has. So now I am a High Church Lord of the Sith or at least the Biretta really about to graduate. The End is Near. Repent...and all that jazz (or at least get a cool red light saber).

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Book Snob You like to think you're one of the literati, but actually you're just a snob who can read. You read mostly for the social credit you can get out of it. Literate Good Citizen Fad Reader Dedicated Reader Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm Non-Reader What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

The so-called "spring break" ended today. I don't count Sundays. I was finishing up field ed and also had a class across the street at Garrett "anything but" Evangelical Seminary, which is on semesters. I guess I just don't get a spring break. Of course, I guess that is my just desserts. I spent fall quarter gallavanting around Europe, and this quarter doing full time as a goof off field education. Yeah, I shouldn't complain...but you know me better than that.

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So I discovered a part of Netflix today that I had browsed before but never ordered anything from. They sell the used DVDs for cheap, and I had always assumed you just got the disc and that it was a pain in the noggin to order one. They had Capote and Hotel Rwanda on sale for 5 dollars each, and they came with the DVD case as well and free shipping. In a moment of materialistic weakness, I thought, "What the hey!" I ordered both. It took all of 3 clicks, and I didn't have to enter a credit card number or anything. It was so easy, it was just plain evil. Evil...evil I tell you!

My mother in Tennessee keeps telling me that she is constantly outside in 70+ degree weather. From the sound of it, she's frolicking in blooming irises and joniquils. After almost two months of continuous snow, I was beginning to think that spring time was much like a yeti, with alleged sightings which I could not confirm or deny. Today was a breath of fresh air...so to speak. I was actually awoken by birds chirping out in the courtyard. The sun (I think that's what they call that yellow disc thing that floats in the sky) was shining. I walked all the way down to the drugstore for a Dr. Pepper (They stopped stocking RC Cola...the jerks!) without a coat. First time that has happened in months. Spring is here...at least temporarily. In Chicago, you never know, but I will take what I can get. Take that, old man winter!

I was in charge of hosting coffee hour after church today. Being a culinary snob cook, I decided to make some Baklava and 4 Cheese Pate, amongst other things. I even made some chocolate covered strawberries for the kids. For the pate, I had set out some of those fancy vegetable crackers, but only having one box, I also broke up some matza crackers into smaller squares. You would have thought I had served candy bars. The kids loved the Matza crackers, coming up three and four times to get more, leaving over half the strawberries. If I had known that, I wouldn't have messed with melting chocolate at 6 AM. Who'd have thought...

One of things I am doing as Lenten discipline is drawing the Stations of the Cross. I got a really good idea, an inspiration you might say, about the series a few weeks ago. These won't be your typical Stations of the Cross. You know me. They will basically be in cartoon-like style because I am a political cartoonist by artistic trade. They will not be in any way the humorous Archer Comics. The plan, hopefully, is to finish them and post them one by one during Holy Week. I wanted to keep this a surprise, but I need to announce them publicly to keep me on task with a deadline because I have found these to be much more emotionally draining that I imagined they would be. 14 full frames is a lot. More to come on this later. -The Archer+

The winter quarter has officially come to a close. Having been on field education at St. Paul's full time, spring break feels more like business as usual. Since I have a class across the street at Garrett, which is on semesters, I don't really get a break. I will also probably be at my field ed parish on Friday evenings and Sundays anyway, as well. I must be getting old because this is spring break...sort of.

I finally broke down and bought my class ring. I never actually got an undergraduate class ring because I thought they were too expensive. So when I heard that the Seabury rings (silver instead of gold) were a whopping 69 dollars, I snapped one up since it was my size. This was another feeling almost as weird as having to check the "Check here if this is your last quarter of the program" on the registration form for Spring Quarter. I still like my Bishop's Ring better...

So my field education priest and I went out to lunch at a hole in the wall Mexican place in Rogers Park known for their "futbol sized burritos" in pork , chicken, or beef. (Remember the pork.) We were about the only white people in the place, but as there was a priest in clericals no one asked questions. I am also constantly amazed at how well known my field ed supervisor is known in places you would not expect. Halfway through our meal, in walks these six Hasidic Jews: curly Mutton Chops, black hats, and all. (No, I am not making this up...) The place sort of stops. The following conversation ensues with the guy behind the counter. Rabbi 1: "Yah, veed like to make a place out order..." Guy behind the counter: "You hombres know we no kosher, si?" Rabbi 1: "Yah" Rabbis 2 through 5 nod heads up and down. Guy behind counter: "(awkward pause)...and we serve pork." Rabbi 3: "Yah...and zit smells delicious." Alrighty then...only in

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I finally got around to renting Good Night, and Good Luck thanks to Netflix . I was really quite impressed, and not just because the movie was in the correct cinematography colors (black and white). The film was also rated PG, proving yet again that Hollyweird can, in fact, still make edgy and well-made films without gratuitous amounts of sex, foul language, and violence. The acting was phenomenal, especially David Strathairn (I had to double check the spelling on that) who played the lead Edward R. Murrow. I had never seen Strathairn in a movie that I recall, but he was dead on. Others in the star studded cast were George Clooney (who also wrote the screen play), Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey, Jr., and Patricia Clarkson. For those of you not familiar with the plot, the basic premise is based on the real life face off between newsman Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee for Un-American Activities during the height of the Red Scare in the early 1950s. The movie of c

In what must possibly be a liturgical first for the whole of Christendom, my field education site decided to have a guitar accompaniment to the usual chants used in Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament for our Friday night Lenten Stations of the Cross and Soup dinner. Low Church Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. With Guitars. Played by the Senior Church Warden who is originally from the Congo. You know you want it in your church ...

I think we should make use of Biretta Headlamps during the Order of Light... -The Archer+