The Arrow's Path

Some thoughts I shared with parishioners in the current parish newsletter... “Summer time is busy time.” Even though the Christmas and Easter holiday seasons are behind us and school classes are largely over for the summer break, I am constantly amazed at how busy summer time can be. Gardening in the community garden, mowing lawns, working on building projects, and vacations never cease to end their constant drain on our precious summer time before the South Dakota winter returns all too soon. Life in the church is not much better. Ironically, church leaders often are the last to heed the advice of our Saviour when he says, “Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.” This month the triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church will be in full swing in Anaheim, California. As one delegate to General Convention once told me upon his return, “It ain't for the faint of heart.” Trying to fit in three years of national church business int...

A Sermon preached on the 28 th of June in the Year of Our Lord, 2009, being the 4 th Sunday after Pentecost, RCL Year B Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24 Psalm 30 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Mark 5:21-43 “Strange notions” Some people have really peculiar notions about things upon which they get totally fixated. They think Elvis is alive (or for that matter that Elvis is dead, depending on what side of that issue you are on concerning Elvis' present whereabouts...) and that Aliens crash landed in Roswell, NM in the 1940's. (and having driven through New Mexico, I have no earthly idea, no pun intended, why technologically advanced aliens would travel half way across the galaxy to visit there, but that's a notion that has no bearing on this sermon.) People also tend to get fixated on the subject of death. People in the Victorian era in the late 1800's were ...

Unless you have been living in a cave the last day or so, you have no doubt heard about the death of Michael Jackson, "the King of Pop." Yes, "Jacko" as he was called in the tabloids was a pop music genius. I am not a person to affix the label of "genius" to too many folks. I never really cared for his music. I never owned an MJ album, nor ever had any desire to. But the fact is, he really was a genius in the popular music genre. He wrote most of his own songs and choreographed all his own dance moves. Most teenagers today only knew Michael Jackson in his creepy "Wacko Jacko" persona, but go to any high school sporting event that has cheerleaders. I guarantee over half the moves the cheerleaders do are copies or elaborations of stuff Michael Jackson invented. It's truly amazing how much he influenced culture in that sense. Quite a difference from the canned fluff most Boy Bands and Pop Tart sensations of the last 15 years have done. Britney ...

I hate having to deal with bureaucracy. I am just enough of a "problem solver" personality type that I could not function in an environment where the Three R's (rules, regulations, and red tape) rule the day every day. I was brought up in the school of thought that if we have no idea why we have to do something one way, especially if there is a better way of doing it (and if it makes more logical sense that's a double bonus), then why not do it a more efficient way? I will also admit that this is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, as I work in a Church denomination whose motto is often, "But, Father, we've never done it that way!!" and that also has multiple layers of redundant bureaucracy and titles in its own right. But, that having been said, I generally do not have to deal with Church bureaucracy everyday. South Dakota is upping the application fee for driver's licenses on July first by more than double. I had been putting off going to th...

I find it hard to believe that next week is the 4th of July. I had to have my fireplace going less that 14 days ago. Even though the Christmas and Easter holiday seasons are behind us and school classes are largely over for the summer break, I am constantly amazed at how busy summer time can be. Gardening in the community garden, mowing lawns, working on building projects, and vacations never cease to end their constant drain on precious summer time before the South Dakota winter returns all too soon. Life in the church is not much better. We have summer camps and Masses in the Grasses, etc. Why is it that church leaders often are the last to heed the advice of our Saviour when he says, “Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.”? Food for thought...

So, I just got off the phone with the Bishop-elect of South Dakota involving a minor matter that he had to make a decision on. He made the executive decision without flinching or waffling, even while knowing there could be a few naysayers. I think we will be in good hands in this diocese.

[sound of bacon frying] "Oh, I love the smell of the bacon!" "Yeah, everybody loves the smell of bacon!...Well, except Jews...and probably Muslims...and Sikhs and Buddhists...an Hindus for that matter." [pregnant pause] "So, basically nobody except white Christians from the West." "So...basically...yeah."

Father Alexander and Tim Fountain , both Anglican bloggers, have posted over the past few months about the proposed change in the Calendar of Saints that the Episcopal Church uses that is being presented to General Convention. Basically what we have currently is a calendar called Lesser Feasts and Fasts that largely follows, with a some differences, the major and lesser Church of England calendar of saints . The fad in the Church of England when the Common Worship series came out was also to have a list of completely optional "commemorations" along with the Greater and Lesser feasts. Taking a cue from all that dialogue, the Episcopal Church liturgical commission is submitting something for approval from General Convention something called Holy Women, Holy Men, which can be downloaded here . It is a massive PDF file, but worth a read if you have not yet examined it. From the preface of the proposal, the project was derived from "The 74th General Convention in Resolution...

June 11th is the Feast Day of St. Barnabas. I was ordained a transitional deacon on this day, so I thoroughly enjoy St. Barnabas Day. I never got a saint for my priestly ordination, since it was the Feast of the Ascension, so St. Barnabas does double duty at my patron saint. I'm okay with that.

I came across this little gem as I was installing iTunes. I'm glad I found it in case I was going to use the iTunes program to make an Anthrax dirty bomb. (?!?!?!) You may have to click on the image to read the fine print, but its worth the time. And people wonder why Windows users don't like Apple/Mac products...

A Sermon for Trinity Sunday Today is the day in the church year which I like to refer to as “National Bad Preaching Sunday.” Officially, this is Trinity Sunday, and everything, at least in theory, has to do with the Trinity in some way, shape, or form. One definition I have heard for insanity is the doing of the same thing over and over again in the hopes that the end result will somehow be different. I believe this is the case for Trinity Sunday because many a preacher every year falls into the trap of trying to explain the whole of the Trinity, and as is often the case when one tries to define something that is infinite into a finite sermon of ten minutes or so, the preacher will always fail. I realized as I was researching for this sermon that this fixation that clergy have to try and explain the whole of the Trinity in single sermons goes back for centuries. I read one such sermon from a monk named Evagrius of Pontus, of whom I had never heard of, who lived in the 4th cen...

Never too early to start reading to baby, especially if it's Narnia...

Not just for Rednecks anymore...

So I got tagged over on Facebook with a meme entitled "15 Books." The directions were as follows: Don't take too long to think about it. List fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you, the first fifteen you can recall. Tag 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends came up with. I am going to amend the rules because I can. I don't tag people, so I won't. I am defining this as general books of nonfiction and literature. I am also adding a bit of commentary as to why I picked a work. I am also picking books that stick out in my mind from when I was little to my early teenage years, not necessarily because I recommend them, but because I remember them for whatever reason, be that good, bad, or indifferent. 15. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH . (Read it in 4th grade, great little fiction book about a mouse who comes across these advanced rats that have escaped from a laboratory.) 14. The Green Door . (I th...

One of the better ballgames I have listened to in quite a while. The Braves were no hit through 7, then Chipper Jones broke that up. Then they came roaring back with 3 runs in the 8th and 2 runs with two outs in the 9th to tie it up. Escobar steals 2nd base, and Chipper wins it with a hit in the bottom of the 12th. Mark Lemke was even in the booth. Felt like old times with the Braves of old.

I usually don't dabble in politics on this blog, if for no other reason than the simple fact that few people can talk politics anymore in a civil tone of voice. There has been much bewailing of vice, avarice, lobbying, misuse of public funds, and pork barrel spending by both the US Congress and the House of Commons in Britain, if you have been following that saga, of late. For while we might agree with Cromwell's sentiments, and even his actions, in our most cynical moments, it is still our calling to pray for our leaders. For as the prayerbook offers on page 821, those completely disgruntled and pessimistic about the course of government, I offer you the following thought for the day. Though probably the most hated man in British history, Oliver Cromwell once felt the same way about Parliament. In his words in the Dissolution of the Long Parliament, Oliver Cromwell gave the following address to the House of Commons on 20 April 1653. -------------------------------------------...

I posted this on Facebook earlier in the week, but I wanted to post it on my blog as well. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, did a wonderful 3 minute blurb on Pentecost that really stuck with me. Its worth the time if you didn't see it the first time around.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I have a plot at the community garden here in Brookings. This year was largely an experiment, as I have never had to plant anything garden wise this far north. One thing I am learning about weather and planting in South Dakota climates is the need to start with seedlings. Other than lettuce and greens which grow about anywhere, I have not had hardly anything come up from seed. The window of opportunity for planting from seeds is very narrow. There is frost danger until mid-May at least, and by June 1st, there has already been 2 days in the 90's. Neither of which is really good for growing from seed. Starting indoors and then translating the seedlings is apparently the way to go in this climate. I'll know better next year.