The Arrow's Path

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So, my secretary administrative assistant just answered the phone in the office. After a short pause, she says, "One moment...I will put you on hold. I have a phone call for someone asking for one of the pastors, but not the tall one." We were amused.

Equal in God's sight: when power is abused Almighty God,from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed:kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace,and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdomthose who take counsel for the nations of the earth,that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward,till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love;through Jesus Christ our Lord. The Book of Common Prayer (Church of Ireland), Collect for Mission

I remembered that I posted some pictures of Canterbury when I was there on Guy Fawkes Day about 2 years ago. If you want to see where the Bishops are clowning around at, you can see my original post here . I also recalled that I visited St. Augustine of Canterbury's monastery ruins, the pictures of which can be seen here . I was also quite fond of the following picture, which has not been manipulated in any way. Somehow I took a crooked picture of Canterbury Cathedral, which is quite amusing. Canterbury is leaning, but I can't tell you in what direction...

To add a little humor to the Canterbury Lambeth Conference of Bishops that has been going on these past few weeks, I recalled a picture I took in Canterbury a year or so ago when I was at Westcott House. I took this picture in Canterbury. I still have no idea what it means, but it seems as appropriate now as it did then: (Notice what the sign at the bottom reads.) Now there's irony for ya...

I just returned from a working vacation. I was up again for the week at the Thunderhead Episcopal Center youth camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota. That is such a great place, I enjoy using vacation time to go work there. We had a blast, even though 7th and 8th grade boys are continually a handful. What was cool was that a good number of boys remembered me from when I was there two years ago, and they were at the 5th and 6th grade camp. They were just taller now. One boy in fact had literally grown a foot since the last time I saw him. I guess I should go answer the 300 e-mails awaiting me... -The Archer

So I came across a bizarre new junk food yesterday. Caramel-flavored Bugles. I always liked Bugles growing up, so I was morbidly curious. "Sweet and salty," the bag said. At first I was repulsed at the idea. Perverting such good and wholesome junk food as bugles. Again, I was morbidly curious. I succumbed and tried a bag. I still don't know what I think about them, and I ate the whole bag. At first I was like, "Man, this is nasty!" Then I was like, "Well, maybe this is okay." So, I either like them or hate them, the jury is still out.

I have a lounge chair recliner in my living room. My wife calls it "the Man Chair," and in my defense that particular chair is in fairly good taste as lounge chairs go. It is an older model that has hefty springs on the foot rest that you can let out to recline. I want a foot rest that has some kick so when the parents visit with their little irritating ratdog, I can catapult the little bugger across the room if he acts up. I have rarely found a newer model that has the hefty springs, so you have to sit daintily lest your feet gradually start pushing the foot rest back down. My wife tolerates the "man chair" (I have offered more than once to get rid of it), but it has to reside beside the couch next to the far wall in outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth . The space is actually good because it has a good view not only of the TV, but also out the front window, across our driveway and down the street. Because it is an older model, it does not h...

So my wife sent me on a mission to Walgreens last night. (Someone has to actually go work in the family...) And so I wrote down precisely what she was wanting, brand name, type, package description, etc. Granted, sending a man to buy a cosmetic product was probably the first mistake, but I had to get a few other things for myself, so I figured I could manage. So I got there, and after wallowing around like a bull in a china shop, I finally tracked down the item. But there were two of the same item but in different packaging. One said, "Improved new look." I am always skeptical when they try to "improve" any product, regardless of type, because that can only mean they've ruined it. They usually accomplish this by one of the following means: cheaper way of making and/or they've added something to it, usually some unnecessary attachment or more sugar. For example, when they ruined my favorite type of peanut butter a while back by making it too sweet. (I have s...

The following is my article from the August edition of the newsletter, some of which I recycled from a previous blog entry. -The Archer ------------------------------------------------- "Who believes in Aslan anymore?" As a gift to the people being confirmed when the bishop visited in April, I decided to give copies of C.S. Lewis' classic children's book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . I think that book is particularly appropriate for such an occasion because it tells a great story, is a perfectly succinct yet rich Christian allegory for adults as well as children, and was written by perhaps the most famous Anglican of the 20th Century. And last but not least, I think it is always a bit humorous to remind people who are officially joining the Episcopal Church that joining the Church is not all that unlike stepping through the wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia. Since people now know that I am a big fan of C.S. Lewis, many have asked me what I think of t...

I suppose another anniversary of sorts has rolled around. I happened to catch that this will be my 1100th blog entry to this blog. It has been a long ride, and there is no end in sight. I don't blog as much these days as I did in days of yore, mainly because I am now married and have a full time job, neither was which was the case way back at the beginning. I have been pondering what sort of post I should make for my 1100th blog, so I guess I will rant. About the only thing I can think of is to rant about grits. Yes, grits, that fine edition to American cuisine brought to you by the American South. I am originally from the South, so I love grits. I have found that they are hard to find here in the Mid-West. I went to Cracker Barrel last night and was reminded of the awful nature of the grits in that otherwise fine dining establishment. I luckily remembered not to patronage their grit business because they have to serve them soupy. I complained one time about them, and they explain...

You Are Pumpkin Being a dyed in the wool Tennessee fan, I was morbidly curious...-The Archer Realistic and practical, you see the world for how it is. You know what it takes to succeed in life... And you're happy to help others reach their goals. What Color Orange Are You?

Inspired by this phone conversation . Thanks to Raisin for getting me drawing again on this one.

I was a supply priest out in Grand Island today as well as last Sunday. I decided since it was my last supply gig for a while that I would go out with a bang. I broke out my maniple and biretta. It was a full Anglo-catholic monty day. Oh yes!

I will refrain from comment and simply relate the following phone I received a few days back at church one morning before the secretary got there with a Gnomer. (yes, a Gnomer) -The Archer Anglican General's Warning: Hilarity ensues... {phone rings} Archer: Good morning, St Mark's on the Campus... Voice: Hello? Is this the church? Archer: Yes, this is St Mark's on the Campus. Can I help you? Voice: Yes, I was wondering if the church needed some gnomes? Archer: Well, let me think...wait...uh, what now? {slight awkward pause} Voice: Gnomes. Archer: Gnomes...you mean like those small elf things? Voice: NO, not elves. Gnomes. I'm a Gnomer. {another awkward pause} Archer: So you want to give a church...some gnomes. Voice: Yes, I have a ceramic Gnome collection and I'm having to move and need to find a home for them. {a third awkward pause} Archer: What would a church do with gnomes? Voice: Lots of things. They make jolly good manger scenes. I have several in liturgical c...

The Major League Baseball season is officially half over. As I take time on occasion to commentate on sports, I suppose I should give my three cents (price adjusted for inflation) on the baseball season. I'll start with the obvious. Perhaps the strangest thing thus far in the season is how well the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are doing. As of this writing, they have the best record in either league of baseball. That's truly shocking, given their horrible concrete sombrero they call a baseball stadium and their penchant for fielding horrible teams. Good for them, though, its good to see someone give the usual suspects (Red Sox, Yankees, et al ) a run for their money. The jury is still out on whether they are a flash in the pan or not. The Cubs are doing as well as most people suspected. 1st place, one of the better winning percentages in the National League. I do not believe the Cubs are all they are cracked up to be. While they are nearly unbeatable at home in the friendly confines of...

I have to give points for originality in this e-mail spam message I just got. The dear-old-Nigerian-widow-who-needs-to-put-money-in-your-bank-account-because-her-husband-was-killed-in-a-plane-crash SPAM dodge is no longer enough. I found this particular gem waiting on me in my inbox (my peanut gallery comments after each paragraph): Attention .... Greetings to you! I am Colonel Isah Ali...a Uganda Army Officer in Darfur Sudan under African Union Peace Keeping Force.As you may Know,there are several cases of insurgents attacks and bombing going on here.However We managed to move funds belonging to some deceased persons who were attacked and killed through insurgent attacks.The total amount is US$15 Million dollars in cash. (Ugandans in Sudan...sketchy, but I will refrain from comment. I love the bit about the moving of funds from deceased persons. While I am not an international legal expert, I believe that's called looting.) We want to move this money to you so that you may keep ou...

As some of you know, I have become a big fan of a series of books by Kevin J. Anderson called the Saga of Seven Suns . I wrote a review of the ones I had read some time back, which can be read here . About a week or so ago, I got the advance copy of the 7th and final novel in the series. I am about halfway through it, as of this writing. It has certainly lived up to the hype thus far. No doubt, there will be a review of the entire series when I finish it. (Sorry, my father has dibs on it after I am done reading it.) Each novel is over 400 pages, so they are a bit hefty, especially with as comple a cast of characters and aliens as I have read since the original Dune novels. Coincidentally, Anderson paired with Frank Herbert's son to write several Dune prequels. The Saga of Seven Suns is a space opera. I won't make any bones about that. But its good and very colorful. If you are into science fiction, I highly recommend you try the series. The first one is a bit slow until you g...

I was the supply priest out in Grand Island, Nebraska this weekend. Grand Island is close enough to where my wife grew up, so we have spent the night at her parents' house, which saves me getting up at 3 AM to drive for an hour and a half on a Sunday morning. Her parents, largely on my recommendation, got a new Golden Retriever. I have done a little work the the Golden Retriever Rescue here in Lincoln. I was urging them to get a dog that was a bit older, but they wanted a puppy. And a puppy is what they got. He was a cute little bugger, but he was still a puppy. Puppies are fun, but they love to chew and to bark at 5 AM. Fun, but I think I will adopt an adult, now that the yard is fenced in.

Here is my supply priest sermon I gave at St. Stephen's-Grand Island Proper 8, RCL Year A “The Gods Must Be Angry” Genesis 22:1-14 Psalm 13 Romans 6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42 I was here earlier in the month, and I know some of you were not here at that time because it the weekend of the big rain and some of you were home pumping water out of your basements. I joked the week after when folks in my home parish asked me how my “supply priest” gig went, that I did not actually expect the town of Grand Island to actually live up to its name, but with all the water that weekend, I think you did. Perhaps it is fitting then that like the inexplicable deluge of rain we have had lately, the Sunday readings the past few weeks have included some Old Testament stories that have, likewise, included some seemingly inexplicable events. Last week, if you will recall, the Genesis story that was read involved a rather sordid affair between Abraham and Sarah, who had schemed up to a rather horrific idea ...