Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Not Just Firehouses
Firehouses Raise Alarm Over Lack of Young Recruits
There is also a conspicuous absence of the young on municipal committees, in fund-raising organizations for charities and the arts, and, oh, yeah, in churches, too.
There is also a conspicuous absence of the young on municipal committees, in fund-raising organizations for charities and the arts, and, oh, yeah, in churches, too.
The Photo is an Example of Neither
Monday, February 27, 2017
Once Again, The Coracle is Prescient
We profiled Eric Hoffer last summer.
From the Wall Street Journal:
From the Wall Street Journal:
“Scratch an intellectual, and you find a would-be aristocrat who loathes the sight, the sound and the smell of common folk.” Those words might have been written last year, as an explanation for Donald Trump’s rise or a rejoinder to Hillary Clinton’s denunciation of “deplorables.”
In fact they were published in November 1970 and written by Eric Hoffer, the “longshoreman philosopher,” who was best known for his slender 1951 classic, “The True Believer: Thoughts on the nature of Mass Movements.” The 1970 essay, under the headline “Whose Country Is America?,” eerily anticipated not only the political events of 2016 but the tone and language of last year’s campaign and the anti-Trump hysteria since Election Day.
In Some Cases, There Might Be Nothing Left
Free Our Churches From the Ugly and Stupid
I have seen and heard enough. We must get rid of everything ugly and stupid from our churches, most of it visited upon them since the great iconoclasm of the 1960s. What’s needed is genuine art that stirs the imagination and pleases the eye, that entices the soul with beauty before a single word of a sermon is uttered.
America Go Crazy
But something important unites them. Both embrace a politics of fear over reason, fueled by a sense of siege. Both cleave to an unfounded belief that their nation and their lives have been overrun by a destructive, probably foreign force. And both fail to make a good fist of actually challenging the president. Just as paranoia over Obama led to the spreading of wild tales rather than to robust critiques of Obama's illiberalism and war-mongering, so too many in the Trump meltdown lobby are currently in the business of panic rather than clear political criticism of Trump's disregard for liberty and openness. Fear makes for lame opposition.If you're curious about the header, please read William Carlos William's poem, To Elsie.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Friday, February 24, 2017
Pretzel Logic
Proposal: California will secede from the union over the recent presidential election.
Riposte: California demands federal funds to fix its dam.
Riposte: California demands federal funds to fix its dam.
This is Hardly New
The BBC: Writing Christianity Out of History
It was particularly noticeable during the run of the popular crunchy gravel series, Downton Abbey. Although set mostly in the 1920's, it was extremely odd for there to be no mention of the liturgical year or the family's common relationship with the local vicar. After all, Lord Whatever, as the largest landowner, would have been the local vestry warden and chairman of the parish council. There would have always been a seat at the dinner table for the local clergy. Always.
That's history, though, and such things are "inconvenient" in this nihilistic age of spiritual cowards. Besides, back when I was a student in the U.K. in the early 1970's, the BBC was a well-known "safe space" for British Communists, who are hardly defenders of any faith.
It was particularly noticeable during the run of the popular crunchy gravel series, Downton Abbey. Although set mostly in the 1920's, it was extremely odd for there to be no mention of the liturgical year or the family's common relationship with the local vicar. After all, Lord Whatever, as the largest landowner, would have been the local vestry warden and chairman of the parish council. There would have always been a seat at the dinner table for the local clergy. Always.
That's history, though, and such things are "inconvenient" in this nihilistic age of spiritual cowards. Besides, back when I was a student in the U.K. in the early 1970's, the BBC was a well-known "safe space" for British Communists, who are hardly defenders of any faith.
This Gave Me Pause When I Heard It the Other Morning...
...but I thought I might be the only one. Fortunately, someone else did, too.
Brzezinski: ‘Our Job’ Is to Control ‘Exactly What People Think’
I appreciate that 1984 is currently the #1 best-seller on Amazon.com, but I don't think it's meant to be a "how-to" book.
Brzezinski: ‘Our Job’ Is to Control ‘Exactly What People Think’
I appreciate that 1984 is currently the #1 best-seller on Amazon.com, but I don't think it's meant to be a "how-to" book.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
It May Be Too Late
Why We Need a Return to Real Life
Although I find people who talk about their Moleskine to be pretentious, but that's just me.
Although I find people who talk about their Moleskine to be pretentious, but that's just me.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Hey, Save Me a Ribeye
NYPD In Pursuit of A COW In Queens, NY
Actually, escaped cattle are pretty common where I live. In New York, PANIC IN THE STREETS!
Actually, escaped cattle are pretty common where I live. In New York, PANIC IN THE STREETS!
Break Time
Sorry, all, but the Internet is filled with nothing but lamentations and sourness about the recent election: The end of all progressive dreams, the destruction of our civilization, the coming fascist age, and Nazis, Nazis, everywhere. Most of this is from my ordained colleagues, by the way. So much for hope and faith and whatnot. It's like they want to worship politicians instead of the Trinity.
The other day I overheard a conversation between two men in a cafe that went like this:
Guy #1: "My wife thinks we need to take the kids to a church. [Jokingly] Do you know any atheist churches?"
Guy #2: "Try the Episcopalians."
It's starting to make me a little funky so, with your permission, I'm going to shut down for a day or two. We'll be back.
No Kidding
College Illiteracy is Growing
The way to reverse this is for colleges to tighten their enrollment requirements, which will never happen as they need to fill as many slots as possible in order to stay in business. Of course, if they did address the rigidity of academic requirements, then high schools would be forced to do the same as would middle and lower schools. All schools would, thus, improve. Alas, we all know that won't happen.
The way to reverse this is for colleges to tighten their enrollment requirements, which will never happen as they need to fill as many slots as possible in order to stay in business. Of course, if they did address the rigidity of academic requirements, then high schools would be forced to do the same as would middle and lower schools. All schools would, thus, improve. Alas, we all know that won't happen.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Yep
It Shouldn't Matter Who the President Is
Government should be impervious to the whims and character of its temporary managers
This is Incomparably Sad
For Generation Z, ‘Live Chilling’ Replaces Hanging Out in Person
Teens are finding their friends via video chat, in apps such as Houseparty, Fam and Kik
More for a Happy Presidents Day
On December 26, 1862, Abraham Lincoln executed 38 "Indians and half-breeds" in Minnesota for the crime of attempting to feed themselves without relying on government hand-outs. [It's more complicated than that, of course, but I'm attempting to present the aboriginal view]. It was the largest mass hanging in U.S. history and explains why American tribal members have a rather low regard for the 16th president.
Save for one, the executed were all baptized Christians, most of them Episcopalians.
Then-bishop of Minnesota, The Rt. Rev. Henry Benjamin Whipple, had intervened in the proposed action and convinced Lincoln to execute the 38 instead of the over-300 who were originally to be hanged. Although his actions are generally regarded as heroic, there are some in the aboriginal community who fault him for not successfully saving all of the prisoners. This is a rather raw controversy in parts of the greater Church, as the reader may imagine.
The Rev. Robert Two Bulls, a contemporary Episcopal priest, is attempting to have the slain Episcopalians named as official martyrs with their own date on our calendar. My opinion in this matter is, for now, my own, although I'm rankled when some of the more conservative laity and clergy of the church are dismissive of this initiative as they think it mere political correctness or an example of tedious Episcopal trendiness.
The history of American Indian Episcopalians is largely unknown and rarely taught in any of the Church's seminaries. While a small body of scholars is attempting to address that curricular shortcoming, as we commonly open our regard to many, many of the marginalized groups within our communion, perhaps some consideration could be granted to a collection of people of color who have remained faithful, sometimes in the midst of great hardship and persecution.
As they walked to the gallows on their final day, the contemporary newspaper accounts reported that the condemned sang their tribal "death song". In reality, the Martyrs of Mankato were singing "Onward, Christian Soldiers" in the Dakota language of their tribe.
[*In regards to the term "American Indian", as opposed to that of "Native American" that is preferred by bi-coastal whites, I refer the reader to this.]
An Historical Fact
It wasn't until 1924 that American Indians [known as "Native Americans" by people on the East Coast] were given the right to vote in the United States. This is why the aboriginal community regards Calvin Coolidge as the president most effective in the promotion of civil rights.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Dear Sportscasters:
It's "take a different tack", not "tact" or "tax". Seriously, talk to the people who cover The America's Cup for your network. It's a sailing term. And, really, a different tax?
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Ecological News
North Dakota, feds address garbage left at pipeline protest
Since the protesters claimed to be concerned with the environment and tribal sovereignty, it would seem odd that they turned this portion of tribal lands into a toxic waste dump and then left it to the tribe to pay for its clean-up. It's almost as if they weren't concerned with these things, but wished to hold a layabouts' party dressed up as social action.
Since the Episcopal Church had a role in encouraging them, and with the active participation of clergy and lay leaders, it would seem reasonable that the Church would offer to pay for the environmental restoration. Now, that would be justice.
Since the protesters claimed to be concerned with the environment and tribal sovereignty, it would seem odd that they turned this portion of tribal lands into a toxic waste dump and then left it to the tribe to pay for its clean-up. It's almost as if they weren't concerned with these things, but wished to hold a layabouts' party dressed up as social action.
Since the Episcopal Church had a role in encouraging them, and with the active participation of clergy and lay leaders, it would seem reasonable that the Church would offer to pay for the environmental restoration. Now, that would be justice.
Friday, February 17, 2017
The Feast Of Janani Luwum
Above, on the right, is the statue to Luwum that is found in the martyr's corner at Westminster Abbey.
O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example, gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
He Has a Point
Academics seem to think that the business world is a feudal environment characterized by huge status differentials and abusive treatment of underlings. They think that because, to be honest, that’s a pretty good characterization of . . . the modern university, where serfs in the form of adjunct professors toil in the vineyards.I have worked as an adjunct at a college, a university, and a seminary. I was never poorly treated, but I was never paid very well and always had that "odd man out" feeling as adjuncts were never considered "real" faculty by those in the administration and tenured hierarchy. Eventually, I decided no longer to continue as the amount of time spent preparing and teaching was not compensated at a reasonable level.
These days, there are far, far more administrators than ever before, and far more than is necessary, but universities and other educational institutions continue to cut the schedules of faculty, creating more and more part-time and adjunct positions. Many adjuncts now have to work at two or more schools in order to make ends meet.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
From the Annals of Little-Known Feminist History
‘Chin up girls, I’m proud of you’. The Bangka Island Masssacre
The Less One Has, the More Cautious One Is
The prevailing wisdom from bankers and policy makers went like this: People who used alternative financial services — like check cashers and payday lenders — were making expensive and unwise decisions. If we could just educate the "unbanked" and "underbanked" and usher them into the modern financial system with a bank account, their fortunes would surely improve.
But Servon, a professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania and a former dean at the New School, spent 20 years studying low-income communities, and to her, that picture didn't add up. Most of the unbanked (the roughly 7% of US households without checking or savings accounts) and the underbanked (the nearly 20% that had such accounts but still used alternative financial services) that she encountered were neither naive nor irresponsible about money.
The usual assumption among the experts is often that "the other" is wrong, foolish, and dim and merely needs to be "educated". "Educated", in this sense, means "taught to think, speak, and act just like the experts".
But Servon, a professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania and a former dean at the New School, spent 20 years studying low-income communities, and to her, that picture didn't add up. Most of the unbanked (the roughly 7% of US households without checking or savings accounts) and the underbanked (the nearly 20% that had such accounts but still used alternative financial services) that she encountered were neither naive nor irresponsible about money.
The usual assumption among the experts is often that "the other" is wrong, foolish, and dim and merely needs to be "educated". "Educated", in this sense, means "taught to think, speak, and act just like the experts".
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
This Was Interesting, Especially as It Was Written by a Muslim
From the New York Times: What Jesus Can Teach Today’s Muslims
The Feast Of Thomas Bray
O God of compassion,
who opened the heart of your servant Thomas Bray to the needs of the
Church in the New World, and to found societies to relieve them: Make
the Church diligent at all times to propagate the Gospel, and to promote
the spread of Christian knowledge; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
Exciting News from an Alma Mater
Well, exciting to those of us who have been attached to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Penn Museum solves the mystery of the locked suitcase
Penn Museum solves the mystery of the locked suitcase
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Part of the Problem is Borrowing $250,000 to Receive a Degree in Druid Dance Studies Instead of Something That Makes One Employable. In the Long Run, Student Loans are Massively Damaging to One's Earnings.
This argument is all too familiar. In recent times, pensioners have been attacked for living too long and becoming a healthcare burden; they have been blamed for high house prices and rent inflation, with their critics even calling for the downsizing of pensioners’ homes; and they have been slammed in general for consuming more than is their rightful share. A 2015 report by the Intergenerational Foundation concluded: ‘While increasing longevity is to be welcomed, our changing national demographic and expectations of entitlement are placing increasingly heavy burdens on younger and future generations.’Pensioner = Senior Citizen, for those who don't speak English English. We hear this nonsense in our country, too, of course. While my case may be anecdotal, I still financially support members of the next two generations of my family, mainly because I've saved over the course of a lifetime, not because being a clergyman is so lucrative. A liberal arts degree only cost $16,000 in my day, mainly because we didn't need more administrators than faculty. We also didn't need luxury dormitories.
This demonisation of old people has got to stop. For a start, the idea that pensioners are thwarting younger generations’ chances at a good life is simply untrue. The Resolution Foundation report makes clear that pensioners’ income is higher than those of a working-age only after household costs. Before household costs, those of working age actually have a higher average income than pensioners. This is hardly surprising – pensioners have had the time to save and pay off mortgages while people of working age continue to spend money on housing costs.
It's as If It's More About the Union and Less About the Students; But, That's Crazy Talk
For example, with a little arithmetic, we learn that, as of the most recent year available (2014-15), among Connecticut's "poor" urban districts, Hartford got about $14,900 per student from the state; New Haven about $12,500; and Waterbury about $9700. Among its "rich" suburban districts, Greenwich got just over $1000 per student; Darien got about $950; New Canaan got under $600; and Fairfield got a big $535. Gap? Now, you may think that it is perfectly appropriate for Connecticut to give most to all of its state funding to its poorer districts, while leaving the richer districts mostly on their own. But really, to call this a "gap" in favor of the richer districts couldn't be more ridiculous.It is obvious to anyone sentient that simply providing more money doesn't improve the quality of education without there being a context for improvement. Having spent a fair portion of my life as an educational administrator, I can note that there are few institutions that can waste money with a greater pathological inefficiency than schools. My parents were staunch members of their respective teachers' unions when I was growing up, with my Dad also serving as union treasurer, and they would be appalled at how little of funding is actually used for the direct education of the student. Then, there's this:
Meanwhile, classic "blue" jurisdiction Connecticut is facing approximately its 30th annual budget "crisis." The additional money for these poor urban school districts will have to come from somewhere -- either from the (already meager) grants to the richer districts, or from other state spending, or from increased taxes. Any of these options will make Connecticut even less competitive in attracting new businesses and entrepreneurs, and in keeping its wealthy citizens from leaving for more attractive states. Given that it is absolutely certain that the additional money will not improve the schools, would Connecticut's poor be better off instead with a better business climate that might attract more businesses and jobs? Nobody in Connecticut thinks to ask such questions.
The Shape of the Waves
 | |||||
| Above is a photo of a Roman Catholic nun whose religious order hosts an annual charity surfing competition in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. |
Surfers know something about Valentine’s Day or, as it is known around our house, The Feast of St. Valentine. Valentine was an irregular saint, to be sure, dropped from the Roman martyrology for reasons that still seem unclear, but then I’ve never really understood the politics of canonization. For all of the candy hearts and increasingly expensive greeting cards, there is something that happens in his octave that is the portent for all good things to come. Namely, in mid-February, the shape of the waves begins to change.
There will be many who will dispute this, but those would be people who limit their understanding of nature to the sciences of meteorology or physics or astronomy. Some of us still use the ancient art, so liminal as to be pre-verbal, of rud a bheithsa dúchas agat to understand tides and gravity. We so often watch the waves, are so often immersed in them, observant of their nature and their potential for transport, that, in a crude translation from the Celtic above, “their nature is in our blood”. With the change in the waves, winter’s power is diminishing and, even if we should suffer still more snow and ice, it will be of shorter lease and far less strength. In short, we’re through the worst of it.
From The Dawn Patrol, by Don Winslow:
"The physicists call it a 'energy-transport phenomenon.'
The dictionary says it's 'a disturbance that travels through a medium from one location to another location.'
A disturbance. It's certainly that.
Something gets disturbed. That is, something strikes something else and sets off a vibrations. Clap your hands right now and you'll hear a sound. What you're actually hearing is a sound wave. Something struck something else and it set off a vibration that strikes your eardrum.
The vibration is energy. It's transported through the phenomenon of a wave from one location to the other.
The water itself doesn't actually move. What happens is one particle of water bumps into the next, which bumps into the next, and so on and so forth until it hits something. It's like that idiot wave at a sports event - the people don't move around the stadium, but the wave does. The energy flows from one person to another.
So when you're riding a wave, you're not riding water. The water is the medium, but what you're really riding is energy."
The Feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius
Almighty and
everlasting God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you moved your servant
Cyril and his brother Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to a
hostile and divided people: Overcome all bitterness and strife among us
by the love of Christ, and make us one united family under the banner of
the Prince of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Monday, February 13, 2017
This Made Me Laugh. Yeah, My Sense of Humor is a Little Bizarre.
My carry-on bag contains a rubber raft and a waterproof copy of Gilgamesh.
— Werner Twertzog (@WernerTwertzog) February 14, 2017
Archaeological News
New Masada expedition gets underway
Excavations were concluded about ten years ago when the archaeological team could find no evidence supporting the familiar tale of mass suicide on the the part of the Zealot rebels. Instead, they proffered that the Zealots escaped very slowly over a period of time. As this directly contradicts the prevailing myth that encourages Masada's important role in tourism, the supporting funds evaporated. We're glad to see the examination restored as, whatever is discovered, Masada is an important site with much left to reveal about the post-Temple world.
Excavations were concluded about ten years ago when the archaeological team could find no evidence supporting the familiar tale of mass suicide on the the part of the Zealot rebels. Instead, they proffered that the Zealots escaped very slowly over a period of time. As this directly contradicts the prevailing myth that encourages Masada's important role in tourism, the supporting funds evaporated. We're glad to see the examination restored as, whatever is discovered, Masada is an important site with much left to reveal about the post-Temple world.
Just in Time for the Oscars
What ‘La La Land’ Reveals About Millennials and Marriage
One year, I officiated at three weddings [there have been fewer church weddings in recent years], each of which ended within three years. Nowadays I refer the pre-marital conversations to a qualified family and marriage therapist, although her track record isn't much better than mine.
Clearly, it isn't an issue with money, but with an institutional regard.
At least in La La Land, Sebastian cooks Mia a nice dinner; nevertheless, they are very much like many young couples today at the start of their careers who feel like they must consequently keep marriage at bay. Study after study make plain that today’s millennials are delaying or forgoing marriage entirely at unprecedented rates, with economic and professional reasons as the primary cause. As one Washington Post article on the phenomenon put it, “Marriage is indeed a financial investment, which explains why people their 20s aren’t ready to take the plunge.”I mark with interest, not pride, that all of the weddings at which I officiated from 1985 to until 1999 are still intact. The record becomes a little shaky after that, despite my best efforts at discerning potential problems between the couple during the per-marital conversations. With the coming of age of the millenials, couples would be remarkably devoted to one another and to the institution of matrimony and then, within a very short time, decide that neither was worth the work any longer.
And yet that statement is a nonsequitur. People who have very little money can still invest and are constantly encouraged to do so. Today’s financial gurus will tell you the earlier you invest, the richer off you will be later; that a dollar today can turn into a million dollars after a few patient decades. And so on.
One year, I officiated at three weddings [there have been fewer church weddings in recent years], each of which ended within three years. Nowadays I refer the pre-marital conversations to a qualified family and marriage therapist, although her track record isn't much better than mine.
Clearly, it isn't an issue with money, but with an institutional regard.
Regrettably, Every World is Now a Province of Politics
The art world is now a province of politics, alas.
‘Beauty," Camille Paglia once wrote, "is our weapon against nature; by it we make objects, giving them limit, symmetry, proportion. Beauty halts and freezes the melting flux of nature." But as today's high-culture world descends into the morass of identity politics, beauty itself has surrendered to the politically correct nostrums of that world's masters, who in turn have distorted nature out of all symmetry and proportion....
Sunday, February 12, 2017
They Don't Understand Religion, Either
The people who believe that there can be no art, literature, culture, or life apart from politics are people who do not understand art, literature, culture, or politics, and whose lives are sad and sadly deficient.
A Buddhist writer once described two kinds of material unhappiness: the absence of what one desires and the presence of what one despises. But the Buddha was known to associate with worldly men and their unclean enthusiasms in much the same way that Jesus slummed around with prostitutes and tax collectors, instructing us by example to seek after lives that are as large as our love and not as small as our hatred. The people who close their doors against those who simply see the world in a different way, who scream profanities at Betsy DeVos or chant “You should die!” at Jewish musicians, are people who cannot rise far enough above their own pettiness to understand that the thing they fear is the thing they are.
[Reminder: We read everything at The Coracle, be it liberal, conservative, libertarian, etc., and quote from it from time to time. It's best to be aware of various perspectives as, to paraphrase John Donne, we are "involved in mankind". We try not to be ideologically synoptic.]
A Buddhist writer once described two kinds of material unhappiness: the absence of what one desires and the presence of what one despises. But the Buddha was known to associate with worldly men and their unclean enthusiasms in much the same way that Jesus slummed around with prostitutes and tax collectors, instructing us by example to seek after lives that are as large as our love and not as small as our hatred. The people who close their doors against those who simply see the world in a different way, who scream profanities at Betsy DeVos or chant “You should die!” at Jewish musicians, are people who cannot rise far enough above their own pettiness to understand that the thing they fear is the thing they are.
[Reminder: We read everything at The Coracle, be it liberal, conservative, libertarian, etc., and quote from it from time to time. It's best to be aware of various perspectives as, to paraphrase John Donne, we are "involved in mankind". We try not to be ideologically synoptic.]
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Friday, February 10, 2017
Again, Australia's the Best
Police hunt for unicorn after attempted servo smash and grab
["Servo" is Aussie for a convenience store or gas station mini-mart.]
["Servo" is Aussie for a convenience store or gas station mini-mart.]
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Tell the Folks in Berkeley
"Revolution doesn't have to do with smashing something; it has to do with bringing something forth. If you spend all your time thinking about that which you are attacking, then you are negatively bound to it. You have to find the zeal in yourself and bring that out." - Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss
Man, This is a Puzzle-Witted Century
MLB considering starting extra innings with runner on second base
No. Just no. Are they all going to get a trophy, too?
No. Just no. Are they all going to get a trophy, too?
Salmonella Destroys Cancer
A genetically modified bacterium destroys tumors by provoking an immune response, according to a study published Wednesday.
Using mice and cultures of human cancer cells, a South Korean-led scientific team demonstrated that Salmonella typhimurium engineered to make a foreign protein caused immune cells called macrophages and neutrophils to mobilize against the cancer.
Using mice and cultures of human cancer cells, a South Korean-led scientific team demonstrated that Salmonella typhimurium engineered to make a foreign protein caused immune cells called macrophages and neutrophils to mobilize against the cancer.
We'll Be Back When the Power's Back On
I'd rather run the generator to power the refrigerator, which is where the vermouth is, than to run the WiFi, so we'll check in later once the best and the brightest restore the Edison device.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Monday, February 6, 2017
A Piquant Observation from a Former Student
In regards to Lady Gaga and Tom Brady:
Katharine Lee Bates: Author of ‘America the Beautiful’
I’m thankful for both of them for being good at what they do. Sunday night, they showed art and sports and people can be so much more complex and surprising and enjoyable than politics allows them to be. It was pure fun, and in times like these, unifying.Personally, my only disquieting moment came via the slight re-writing of "America the Beautiful", as presented by a few Broadway chorus women. Works of art need to be respected, even when the meaning of words alters slightly over time. It is, after all, a poem written by a woman who was an early feminist and who carried other personal qualifiers respected in the 21st century. The biography linked below is courtesy of the Gay History Project:
Katharine Lee Bates: Author of ‘America the Beautiful’
Institutionally? Yes, Some Time Ago.
Has Christianity Become a Coward’s Religion?
Fortunately, Christianity isn't an institution. It's a living expression of the relationship between God and the human race with all of its inherent courage.
Fortunately, Christianity isn't an institution. It's a living expression of the relationship between God and the human race with all of its inherent courage.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Saturday, February 4, 2017
February 4: Cornelius the Centurion
There are moments in great literature that always cause me to pause, if only for a moment, regardless of how many times I've read that particular sacred or secular work. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is the moment when Huck, who has been taught that to defy authority is a mortal sin, decides that he would rather go to Hell than to turn in Jim, the runaway slave who has become his friend. In sacred literature, it is the moment when Peter, who has understood that Christianity is for Jews and Jews only, realizes in the tenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles that, "Truly, God shows no partiality." This moment of revelation is what opens Christianity to all, in fulfillment of Jesus' teaching.
Peter's revelation is made known through his work with Cornelius the Centurion and Cornelius' family. All we know of today's feast day honoree is captured in two chapters of Acts,
that Cornelius lived in Caesarea, the capital of Judea under Herod, and would have been in charge of 100 Roman soldiers [The title "Centurion" is the root word for the military rank of "captain".] This reference gives us a window into that moment when Peter, and the other surviving apostles, were able to internalize and live the teachings of their rabbi, thus opening Christianity to the large influx of gentiles that would fill its ranks by the end of the 1st century.
O God, by your Spirit you called Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles; Grant to your Church such a ready will to go where you send and to do what you command, that under your guidance it may welcome all who turn to you in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I Was Reminded of This the Other Day
The Coddling of the American Mind
In the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like. Here’s why that’s disastrous for education—and mental health.
Friday, February 3, 2017
Editorial Note
The photo to the right has been in place for over sixteen years and, really, I'm no longer in my early forties [something I realized when, after lifting moving boxes for several days, I could no longer bend over or walk without making a sound similar to those made by my grandfather], so it has been updated.
Old photo:
New photo:
What did I do in the evenings when in Sydney? Review lecture notes? Meet with colleagues? Compose a new theology?
Nah, I sat in the Quay with a Carlton Draught and an Aussie Works burger and reflected on the halcyon days of youth, the health and positivism of Australians, the beauty of that city, what kind of surfboard would be best for the east coast of the continent, and gave thanks that one of their 1012 super-deadly insects, animals, and mammals hadn't made me cease to be mortal on that particular day.
Mainly, I relished the life I've enjoyed and planned for even more adventure. God is good; all the time.
[For those wondering, I still have the truck that's pictured in the old photo. Three more years and it can bear classic license plates.]
Old photo:
New photo:
What did I do in the evenings when in Sydney? Review lecture notes? Meet with colleagues? Compose a new theology?
Nah, I sat in the Quay with a Carlton Draught and an Aussie Works burger and reflected on the halcyon days of youth, the health and positivism of Australians, the beauty of that city, what kind of surfboard would be best for the east coast of the continent, and gave thanks that one of their 1012 super-deadly insects, animals, and mammals hadn't made me cease to be mortal on that particular day.
Mainly, I relished the life I've enjoyed and planned for even more adventure. God is good; all the time.
[For those wondering, I still have the truck that's pictured in the old photo. Three more years and it can bear classic license plates.]
The Feast Of Anskar
Saint Anskar, (September 8, 801 – February 3, 865), was the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen known as the "Apostle of the North" and is the patron saint of Scandinavia.
A native of France, Anskar devoted himself to a spiritual life while still a boy after seeing a vision of his deceased mother with the Virgin Mary. In his twenties he became a missionary, first to Denmark and then Sweden, where he met with mixed success among the native pagan population. In 831 he was appointed archbishop. Political divisions of the Frankish lands and the sack of Hamburg by the Danes dealt him severe setbacks in the early 840s. Later, he was able to establish amicable relations with certain Scandinavian monarchs and succeeded in establishing a number of churches. He died in Bremen in 865.
Anskar is remembered on the Episcopal Church calendar as his ministry serves as a reverent connection between Anglicanism and Swedish Lutheranism [the latter sharing a belief in the "apostolic succession" of bishops, a theological point not shared in the rest of Lutheranism].
Almighty and everlasting God, you sent your servant Anskar as an apostle to the people of Scandinavia, and enabled him to lay a firm foundation for their conversion, though he did not see the results of his labors: Keep your Church from discouragement in the day of small things, knowing that when you have begun a good work you will bring it to a fruitful conclusion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Clearly, Lawrence Would Feel a Bit Lost on a 21st Century University Campus
"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted." — D.H. Lawrence
Archaeological News
Ancient Mayan Superhighways Found in the Guatemala Jungle
Expect more such discoveries as we are entering a golden age of tech-archaeology.
Expect more such discoveries as we are entering a golden age of tech-archaeology.
Cats
An acquaintance sent this along. His cat received a brand new catnip toy, apparently with some real whammy to it, and played to intoxicated exhaustion, eventually falling asleep in the kitchen sink. [Seriously, who hasn't done that?] This is her waking up and trying to figure out what happened.
[What? Cat photos? Yes, especially since the news is nothing but people getting angry at one another about...well...everything under the sun. Yeesh.]
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Weird Times
Black clad thugs smash windows at Berkeley because a Jew was to make a speech and they call themselves "anti-fascist". I'm thinking they must have skipped Kristallnacht in high school history.