The Arrow's Path

My daughter decided to spruce up the manger scene with a visit from Sir Topham Hatt. (Devotees of Thomas the Tank Engine will understand.)

I ran across this historical tidbit today in a book on the history of radio: Guess who was the first person and denomination to use radio for evangelism? Scroll Down for the Answer: On January 2nd, 1921, the first known religious broadcast on radio was heard, as Dr. E.J. Van Etten of Calvary Episcopal Church preached on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

but it still tickled my funny bone  because A Christmas Story is one of the few comedy movies that makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. (In fact, I maintain the Santa scene in that movie is the funniest scene ever filmed . )

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Pass a law today that says if we go over the "fiscal cliff," then no one in Washington is eligible for re-election.

This is my other favorite TV Christmas episode: If you want to go old school, the original radio version was even better  in my opinion. (Though it is not really in play in this episode, Jack Webb could do a lot more with Dragnet on radio than the TV censors would ever let him get away with.)

I am not usually a sappy Christmas TV special kind of person, but I do love this episode of the Andy Griffith Show:  

Good stuff here . Also, how we can know where Jesus was born  (Some of the logic is circular, but the images of the Basilica in Bethlehem are worth the time.)

Latin: O Tu es medium unum, Magister Grinch.  Vos vere sunt calcaneum.  Tute sicut GRATUS quasi cactus, Tute sicut venustus ut anguilla. Mr Grinch.  English: You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You really are a heel. You're as cuddly as a cactus, You're as charming as an eel. Mr. Grinch.  (Just Kidding, there really is no O Antiphon for December 24th, but I made you look!)

O Emmanuel (courtesy: Wikipedia): Latin: O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster. English: O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God. Isaiah had prophesied: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14 (Emmanuel means God is with us).

Latin: (From Wikipedia:) O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti. English: O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay. Isaiah had prophesied: "For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 "He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4 Also compare Isaiah 28:16 and Ephesians 2:14

O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis. O Dawn of the East, Brightness of the Light Eternal and Sun of Justice, come and enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

I took these last week when we were having our snow storm:

I live in an historic old rectory, which has many virtues. One of them is old door knobs. I had a closet that was simply not shutting, as the latch seemed to be stuck in the retracted position. It appeared to be a simple enough door knob with an old skeleton key locking mechanism. How hard could it be to fix, right?  There is actually a large, rectangular hole chiseled into the door with this cast iron monstrosity  mechanism inside: The spring had broken and would not release the latching mechanism. I tried to jury rig it, but it is such a contraption that it still doesn't work well. Short of drilling a second door knob or replacing the door, I don't see there is much I can do. The casing around it won't really accommodate a bolt latch.  Luckily, it is just a closet door. 

(From Wikipedia:) Latin: O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis. English: O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Isaiah had prophesied: "I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open." Isaiah 22:22 "His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore." Isaiah 9:7 "...To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison ho

From Today's Daily Office Reading: 2 Peter 2:1-10a (NRSV) 1But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned. 3And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly; 6and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to

(From Wikipedia:) Latin: O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare. English: O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer. Isaiah had prophesied: "A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."  Isaiah 11:1 "On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious."  Isaiah 11:10 Jesse  was the father of King David, and  Micah  had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city,  Bethlehem  ( Micah 5:2 ). Also compare  Isaiah 45:14 ,  Isaiah 52:15  and  Romans 15:12 .

Reality shows might not actually be "reality"??

O Adonai Latin: O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento. English: O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm. This is from the Book of Isaiah who had prophesied: "[...] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins." Isaiah 11:4-5 "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us." Isaiah 33:22

It's that time again:

Kudos to the BBC for this very interesting and well written little article about internet safety through the lens of the Christian 7 Deadly Sins.

A great reflection on one of my favorite saints .

I had to memorize this when I was in school, way back when students had to memorize stuff of substance: ------------------------------------------------ ‎"My friend has been killed," Gilgamesh said. Utnapishtim nodded. "Yes. I know." "That is all? You know? He will never walk with me on the dark paths or fight beside me in the wild forests or drink deeply at my table. I will never hear his voice again." "It is a hard thing, death. But only for the living." "What god allows this? What god created this?" "Why do you assume God is responsible? First, you cry for freedom. Then you rage against God for granting it to all. You can't have one without the other. Do you want freedom, Gilgamesh?" "Yes. Of course." "So do killers." "I will hide all the spears and weapons." "They will find more. And then how will you defend yourself and your people?" "I will make laws."

that Jesus had a red beard. Best we throw him out of our darts tournament , lest he start turning our wine back into water.

In wake of the horrific events of today in Connecticut, I appreciate the beauty of the litany known as the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. It is here in two parts:

in the Wall Street Journal no less.

When was the last time your heard theodicy discussed by the head football coach at a press conference at your Alma Mater? They just don't make football head coaches like this anymore.

This will certainly add some zip to my blog (if not the parish website):  

I saw this floating around Facebook: 

I received the following note from Fr. Andrew White, the Vicar of Baghdad, this morning:  We seriously need your prayers. Every aspect of Iraqi life seems to have stopped working. Our Bishop was due here today but the visa office is not working so his not coming. Our huge need at the moment is for our money for the church , clinic and school. We have all the money but it has not come through to the bank here. All money to our Bank in the IZ has to go via JP Morgan in the US and they have ceased the money for fear of us money laundering in Iraq. We are now in a real crisis. We don't need your money we need our money and your prayer.

I was amused at this retro ad: I immediately thought of this iconic scene from the end of Dr. Strangelove:  YES...it's been that kind of a day.

I found this little blog entry here with some interesting thoughts , if perhaps a bit cliché, to keep Christmas gift giving perspective. I would also argue that one needs to keep one's budget in perspective. If you are spending $5 regularly on a cup of coffee from St. Arbucks in the Plaza, maybe that money is best used elsewhere. A once in a while treat is fine, but if it is a regular habit... There are other options as well. Donating the money to charity in someone's honor is always a good way of giving. ER-D gifts for life or Heifer International  or Food for the Hungry allow you to invest in micro-economy by getting a needy family anything from a chicken to a water buffalo. ER-D has several options for under $25 .  One can also sponsor a child in honor of someone else. I have had good experiences with World Vision , having sponsored a child in Armenia for several years now. I am sure there are several other fine organizations out there that do the same thing.   O

If the whole Mayan Calendar end of the world thing is freaking you out, Archaeology Magazine has a great series of articles explaining it all. In short, the Mayan calendar does not end, it simply resets itself like an old car odometer rolling over from 999999 to 000000.

"DON'T eat the snow off my boots!"

I saw this floating around Facebook. I thought it was hilarious.

For St. Nicholas Day...

There is a convent near Kansas City  called the Benedictines of Mary that just released an Advent Music album. Apparently, the record label decided to take it international, and it has been something of a sensation. You can order it directly from their website or you can get it in MP3 format from Amazon . I have been absolutely blown away but how utterly beautiful this album is. It is quite possibly the best collection of Advent music I have ever heard. I highly recommend it, especially if you are sick of elevator Christmas schmaltz already. This is the video promo they put out:

I saw him in concert a few times, as I did his son, Chris Brubeck, when I was in college. Dave Brubeck died today at the age of 91. He was performing concerts until the very end. If you are familiar with musical theory, this staple work of his, Unsquare Dance, is truly hilarious if you understand the meter he's using on this.

World's Oldest Woman dies at 116 . "Sidney Cooper said his mother always said her best years were when she was in her 80s." Of course she was a native East Tennessean.

This article on the 42 worst Nativity sets made the 435 e-mails I had to wade through this morning worth it. Hat tip: Jay V.

I was at a conference in Houston, Texas, this weekend. The weather was spectacular. It got up to 84 degrees on Sunday afternoon, which apparently set the heat record for the day. I got to the hotel on Thursday evening, and for dinner I walked around the corner to the Sonic drive in (It was either that or the Waffle House). I was sitting at a picnic table under a palm tree that was lighted for Christmas, and it was 70 degrees after the sun had gone down. That was a truly unique experience, particularly with the Hispanic Christmas carols they were playing over the loud speaker. Luckily, my culinary adventures went uphill from there. I had a good Italian dinner, some sort of seafood tostada from a street vendor, and some excellent pork brisket. On my first layover in Chicago, I had some Deep Dish pizza (there's a Pizzeria Uno in the Hilton hotel next to O'Hare Airport if you go out of the terminal and walk towards the L train terminal). On my return flight layover in Chicago, wh