Lenten Wave #39

"God walls the sea with sand. God clears the air with storms. God warms the earth with snow. He exalts us to heaven by the stumbling-block of the cross." - Christopher Wordsworth

Lenten Wave #38

"God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand. If you understand you have failed." - St. Aurelius Augustine

Speaking Of Waves, An Obituary Of Note

Heart attack claims surfing great

MP battled not just the waves, but also schizophrenia.  The fellow thought to be the world's greatest surfer actually considers MP to be the world's greatest surfer.  He was only 59.

Lenten Wave #37

"Wanna find the perfect wave?  Stop looking for it." - Hoodoo Bob, who is always good for some wisdom.

And Again. This Is Getting Monotonous.

A Guitar for the Record Books ... er, Record PLAYER

And, As Related To The Post Just Below...

May the chords be with you: Man makes guitar out of Millennium Falcon

The Making Of A Solid Body Electric Guitar

In this case, a Fender Stratocaster with a sunburst finish.



They speed up the video so it only takes four minutes or so.

Lenten Wave #36

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.
- Martin Luther

Lenten Wave #35

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. - Mahatma Gandhi

Amazing What Gems Are Found In A Book Review

And I guess it ought to be mentioned, quite apart from the question of whether anything Krauss says turns out to be true or false, that the whole business of approaching the struggle with religion as if it were a card game, or a horse race, or some kind of battle of wits, just feels all wrong - or it does, at any rate, to me. When I was growing up, where I was growing up, there was a critique of religion according to which religion was cruel, and a lie, and a mechanism of enslavement, and something full of loathing and contempt for everything essentially human. Maybe that was true and maybe it wasn't, but it had to do with important things - it had to do, that is, with history, and with suffering, and with the hope of a better world - and it seems like a pity, and more than a pity, and worse than a pity, with all that in the back of one's head, to think that all that gets offered to us now, by guys like these, in books like this, is the pale, small, silly, nerdy accusation that religion is, I don't know, dumb.

A hat-tip to Jack Gilpin for the link.

What A Secular Easter Looks Like

Easter egg hunt canceled because of aggressive parents

This Washed Up In South Carolina

Yikes!

Lenten Wave #34

"How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?" - Oscar Wilde

Speaking Of Waves

Fishing boat lost in Japan tsunami reaches Canada

Lenten Wave #33

I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They will know me firsthand.... - Jeremiah 31:33 [from today's lections].

Lenten Wave #32

"The soul…is audible, not visible." – Longfellow

The Fifth Sunday In Lent

Jeremiah offers prophecy as to the new covenant to come, the Hebrews learn of who appointed Jesus, and the Greeks get interested in this new rabbi who is both anarchic and orthodox at the same time. All this plus what happens when you paint a hearse blue instead of black.

The lections may be found here.

The Feast Of Gregory The Illuminator

When I attended the General Theological Seminary in New York City, beginning thirty years ago [!], the institution also served as the eastern seminary for the Armenian Orthodox Church in the US. Due to the many similarities between our branches of Christianity [Celtic Christianity is older than the Church of Rome; Armenia was the first nation to convert, before the Roman Empire did], it was a handsome fit. Also, the Armenians, many of whom were enjoying their first stay in the United States, were great friends and classmates as they were gregarious, generous, and full of life.

Two things I learned about them: they have a remarkably low regard for the Turks [see "Armenian Genocide"] and a terrific veneration for St. Gregory the Illuminator. The former is a matter of history, the latter of history and faith:

In the 3rd Century, Armenia served as a buffer state between the empires of Rome and Persia, and was often caught between the empires' competing needs and wants. Gregory was born circa 257. While an infant, his father pro-actively participated in politics by assassinating the King of Persia; family friends carried Gregory away for his protection to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he was baptized and raised as a Christian.

About 280 he returned to Armenia as a missionary and anchorite, where he was originally treated severely. Eventually, by patience and through sound preaching and example, he brought King Tiridates III and his people to the Christian faith.

A generation later, Gregory was consecrated as the first bishop of Armenia. He died about 332.

Almighty God, whose will it is to be glorified in your saints, and who raised up your servant Gregory the Illuminator to be a light in the world, and to preach the Gospel to the people of Armenia: Shine, we pray, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth your praise, who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lenten Wave #31

I said to my soul, be still, and wait...So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing. - T.S. Eliot

Jesus Sighting! Again!

Woman sees image of Jesus in power meter