Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Surfboard Tales: I’ve Always Wanted To Try That
Click on the stanza below to go to the full story.
As there will always be those who seek the safe cocoon of homogeneity, their counterparts will be challenging any notion that limits human activity and endeavor by prejudices about age, culture, gender, ideology, and spirituality. I recognized that kind of defiance immediately as it was and is a strong part of surfing, an activity that, in those days, was beginning to reclaim my attention and activity.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Has There Ever Been An Identified Haggis?
Unidentified haggis causes security meltdown in Scottish railway station
Hey, I think I used to play bass for the Unidentified Haggis.
Hey, I think I used to play bass for the Unidentified Haggis.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Website Re-design!
As the kids say, "Check it!" Actually, do they still say that? I still say "groovy" sometimes and everyone looks at me like I have lobsters coming out of my ears.
Anyway, the link may be found at the bottom of this page along with other goodness.
Now if we could just get the December 2010 newsletter off of there.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
What Literature Owes The Bible
The Book of Books: What Literature Owes the Bible
From the New York Times before Christmas. I meant to post it then, but got distracted by the season, then was reminded by our parish treasurer, to whom you may give thanks for sending this link forward.
From the New York Times before Christmas. I meant to post it then, but got distracted by the season, then was reminded by our parish treasurer, to whom you may give thanks for sending this link forward.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Another OC Conversion Experience
Stonington surfboarder never gives up on passion
Yep, he started surfing on the same New Jersey beach that I did. Or, as the media appear to phrase it, "surfboarding".
[No, AJ, I don't know what "surfboarding" is, either.]
Yep, he started surfing on the same New Jersey beach that I did. Or, as the media appear to phrase it, "surfboarding".
[No, AJ, I don't know what "surfboarding" is, either.]
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A Quotation
"The Bible is fundamentally a story of a people’s journey with God. Scripture is an account of human existence as told by God. In scripture, we see that God is taking the disconnected elements of our lives and pulling them together into a coherent story that means something. When we lack such a truthful, coherent account, life is likely to be perceived as disconnected, ad hoc. In trying to make sense of life, when we lack a coherent narrative, life is little more than a lurch to the left, a lurch to the right....No wonder modern humanity, even as it loudly proclaims its freedom and power to choose, is really an impotent herd driven this way and that, paralyzed by the disconnectedness of it all."
Hauerwas, Stanley (1989-10-01). Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony (pp. 53-54). Abingdon Press.
Hauerwas, Stanley (1989-10-01). Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony (pp. 53-54). Abingdon Press.
It Was Never About "Sacrifice" For The Wealthy And Powerful
Countering Climate Change With Practicality Ahead of Sacrifice
After all, they kept buying more mansions, more private jets, while lecturing the rest of us on how we should live. Oh, and suckering church leaders into supporting "sacrifice" for their middle-class, poor, or elderly parishioners. [Whenever a church leader speaks of sacrifice, my response is "You first."]
It's remarkable how much the post-modern West resembles Rome in its twilight.
[The article linked to above is from the New York Times, so you can read it if you are registered.]
After all, they kept buying more mansions, more private jets, while lecturing the rest of us on how we should live. Oh, and suckering church leaders into supporting "sacrifice" for their middle-class, poor, or elderly parishioners. [Whenever a church leader speaks of sacrifice, my response is "You first."]
It's remarkable how much the post-modern West resembles Rome in its twilight.
[The article linked to above is from the New York Times, so you can read it if you are registered.]
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Dear Media, Allow Me To Correct You, Please
Cruise captain pleaded not to reboard ship
and
Cruise disaster: crew of Costa Concordia 'mutinied' against captain
This time it's not about church matters, though, but about the oft-repeated understanding that the unwritten rule of the sea is "women and children first" and "the captain goes down with the ship" and similar examples of nautical phlem. While these practices are part of the "immemorial tradition of the sea"*, they are British in origin. Those merchant services related to the British tradition through formation, history, and royal relations [such as Germany, the United States, Scandinavian and other Northern European nations, etc.] maintain that tradition and practice, but it is not by any means universal. Speaking as the veteran of four different sinkings in three different nations [long stories; not all that interesting], the only universal practice seems to be "every man for himself".
I imagine the notion of who goes first and the terminal responsibility of the ship's captain comes from the fate of the RMS Titanic and the legends created through that event. However, as anyone who has ever driven a vehicle in both the UK and Italy can testify, ideas of orderliness can be very, very different from culture to culture.
*"Immemorial tradition of the sea" is also a British idea, generally used to justify things that may not make sense when on land, but are ultimately life-saving when on water.
and
Cruise disaster: crew of Costa Concordia 'mutinied' against captain
This time it's not about church matters, though, but about the oft-repeated understanding that the unwritten rule of the sea is "women and children first" and "the captain goes down with the ship" and similar examples of nautical phlem. While these practices are part of the "immemorial tradition of the sea"*, they are British in origin. Those merchant services related to the British tradition through formation, history, and royal relations [such as Germany, the United States, Scandinavian and other Northern European nations, etc.] maintain that tradition and practice, but it is not by any means universal. Speaking as the veteran of four different sinkings in three different nations [long stories; not all that interesting], the only universal practice seems to be "every man for himself".
I imagine the notion of who goes first and the terminal responsibility of the ship's captain comes from the fate of the RMS Titanic and the legends created through that event. However, as anyone who has ever driven a vehicle in both the UK and Italy can testify, ideas of orderliness can be very, very different from culture to culture.
*"Immemorial tradition of the sea" is also a British idea, generally used to justify things that may not make sense when on land, but are ultimately life-saving when on water.
Now Wait A Minute
Every year I get a letter from the Internal Revenue Service reminding me that explicitly political commentary may not be offered from a church's pulpit without causing a review of the church's non-tax status with the federal government. I don't remember when this started, but it's been at least ten years now. I have even heard that IRS agents will sit in the pews on a Sunday morning in suspect churches to make sure of compliance.
Well, apparently rules are only for us little people, and not for presidential advisers:
Senior White House Adviser Blasts Republicans from the Pulpit
While I prefer to preach the Gospel from the pulpit [well, near it], I still do not care for a government agency that's willing to coerce my speech when I'm in a place supposedly free from their meddling. I find it particularly aggravating to discover that the rules are only for those outside of the Washington power pocket. If it is to be a tax regulation, then apply it equally or don't apply it at all. As a Midwesterner, in the language of my people, that's not fair otherwise.
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Feast Of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Originally, Martin Luther King, Jr. was the only non-Episcopalian to have a day on our calendar of feast days. The reasons for his inclusion are, I think, obvious to any student of post-modern American history. [In recent years, however, the Episcopal Church has gone wild and is assigning feast days to anyone who appeals to aesthetic and intellectual tastes of the denominational leadership. Ah, well, plus ça change....]
However, the Episcopal Church remembers him not in January, which is the government holiday, but on April 4th, which was the day of his assassination. It is ancient tradition that martyrs be remembered on the date of their martyrdom.
In anticipation of his feast day, and in recognition of the federal holiday [when the government honors a highly educated American by closing all public schools!], the Episcopal Church readings for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s day may be found here.
And since the media conveniently forget that he was a practicing Christian and person of faith, rather than a "person of government", we remember him by his title "The Rev. Dr.".
However, the Episcopal Church remembers him not in January, which is the government holiday, but on April 4th, which was the day of his assassination. It is ancient tradition that martyrs be remembered on the date of their martyrdom.
In anticipation of his feast day, and in recognition of the federal holiday [when the government honors a highly educated American by closing all public schools!], the Episcopal Church readings for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s day may be found here.
And since the media conveniently forget that he was a practicing Christian and person of faith, rather than a "person of government", we remember him by his title "The Rev. Dr.".
Saturday, January 14, 2012
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