AGING

A group of 40 year-old buddies discuss and discuss where they should go for dinner. Finally, it is agreed upon that they should eat at the Gausthof zum Lowen restaurant because the waitresses there have low cut blouses and nice breasts.

10 years later, at 50 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should have supper. Finally, it is agreed upon that they should go to the Gausthof zum Lowen because the food there is very good and the wine selection is good also.

10 years later at 60 years of age, the group meets and once again they discuss and discuss where they should eat. Finally, it is agreed upon that they should go to the Gausthof zum Lowen because they can eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant is smoke free.

10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group meets again and once again they consider where they should meet for supper. Finally, it is agreed upon that they should eat at the Gausthof zum Lowen because the restaurant is wheel chair accessible and they even have an elevator.

10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group meets, and once again they discuss where they should have dinner. Finally, it is agreed upon that they should try the Gausthof zum Lowen since they have never been there before.

Thanks to Doug and Ann.

WENCHOSTER CALENDAR - FEBRUARY

Feast of St Alfred-cum-Chasuble, 1902




Shown above is the official calendar from the Diocese of Wenchoster. The feast days are somewhat different from the usual Episcopal/Anglican calendar and include saints of whom I have never heard, although I'm sure they're quite worthy of honor - although I confess to a small doubt about St Bernard the Butcher.

As usual, click on the pictures for the larger view.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - JESUS SAYS "TAKE THIS BREAD..."

I've never been quite the same since I read Sara Miles' Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion. If you haven't read the book, I recommend it highly. Sara tells the powerful and moving story of her initial conversion and the manner in which she continued to grow and live out her transformation. Secular and unbaptized, Sara's conversion began when she walked into St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco and took Communion for the first time.

Of that moment, Sara says:

Eating Jesus, as I did that day to my great astonishment led me against all my expectations to a faith I'd scorned and work I'd never imagined. The mysterious sacrament turned out to be not at symbolic wafer at all but actual food - indeed, the bread of life. In that shocking moment of communion, filled with deep desire to reach for and become part of a body, I realized that what I'd been doing with my life all along was what I was meant to do: feed people.

Sara still serves at St. Gregory of Nyssa as Director of Ministry and is the founder of the Friday Food Pantry at the church.

Sara's book, which I read over a year ago, affected me profoundly and led to today's longish "Thought for the Day".

Holy Communion is the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation. What human, be it the pope on down to the lowliest of priests and lay ministers, has the right to withhold the Body and Blood of Christ from another human? None! Not one! The Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ are to be freely given to all who desire them.

Sara has a new book out titled Jesus Freak. Fr Jake posted a review.

Some of you may recall our conversation a couple of years ago regarding Sara Miles' book Take This Bread.
....

I'm pleased to be able to announce that Sara has completed a new book; Jesus Freak: Feeding - Healing - Raising the Dead. It will be out next month, but you can pre-order it now.

I was fortunate enough to receive an early copy, and just finished reading it. I highly recommend it.

Read the rest of the book review at Fr Jake's. I haven't read Jesus Freak yet, but I've ordered the book, and I will read it.

WHO DAT? - PART II

Bobby Hebert dancing through the streets of New Orleans fulfilling the promise of long-time NOLA sportscaster Buddy D Diliberto to wear a dress and parade through the streets of New Orleans if the Saints ever made it to the Superbowl. You can't hear the music because everyone is screaming, but he was dancing to "Halftime - Get Crunk," the unofficial Saints song of the 2009 season!

CRAAAZZZY!

A promise fulfilled. See this post if you like.

THE DOORMAN CAN PREACH!

Doorman-Priest posted an excellent sermon based on I Corinthians 13, Paul's famous words on love. DP begins:

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most famous passages in all of scripture, equal to the 23rd Psalm as a much loved text etched in the memory of Christians. In it we get some of the most beautiful language found anywhere on love. Paul writes: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

The only problem with these words is that they don’t really ring true. The beauty of 1 Corinthians 13 masks a different reality: love is very hard. Who can live up to this? Aren’t we all sometimes impatient, sometimes unkind? Don’t we all have limits to what we can endure? Which of us is perfect in this love, even when described in Paul’s humble way?

I urge you to read the rest at DP's blog. I read the sermon yesterday and left these words in the comments:

Jack, this sermon is one of your very best. One might even say that it's inspired. I had chills as I read, and I felt the life of the Spirit stirring in my heart.

Today, after church, I went to read the sermon again. As I said over there, the sermon is still excellent.

"STRANGE AFFAIR" - JUNE TABOR AND MARTIN SIMPSON

Achingly beautiful vocal from June Tabor and stunning fingerstyle guitar from Martin Simpson. Written by Richard Thompson.

Yes. Lovely.

"The Covenant as theater"

From the Rev. Dr. Frederick Quinn on Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' December 18 video promoting the adoption of the Anglican Covenant:

The setting is spooky, a large, cold English room filled with furniture of different styles and periods crowded together and needing a good dusting. It could be the setting for Masterpiece Theatre or Mystery, with the voice of Vincent Price introducing another dark tale of intrigue, etc. But the voice was that of Rowan Williams and this was his December 18 four minute visual presentation designed to win friends for the proposed Anglican Covenant that is otherwise going no where.
....

As a longtime follower of Mystery, I thought the video might end with a crow flying past or a suit of armor clanging to the floor, but the tape just stopped. Maybe what is needed is for some actors from Mystery or Masterpiece Theatre to film a set of short spots in period costumes ending with a line like “The Covenant really is good for you” or somesuch. But so far the Covenant rollout is unconvincing.

Read the rest at Daily Episcopalian.

Delicious, no?

Dr. Quinn's words on the Anglican Covenant from September 2009 still apply. An excerpt from Of fish bones and following winds also at Daily Episcopalian:

The Covenant exercise should be seen for what it is, one part of a multi-year power play that has gone awry. It represents a sustained but erroneous effort to rewrite history and claim that a narrow, mean spirited perspective somehow represents our heritage. Windsor was an incomplete, biased report, the coup attempt at Dar Es Salaam failed, and the draft Covenant represents an unattainable effort to seize the levers of power in an amorphous organization.
The Anglican Communion’s binding ties are not legal ones but extend through long cultivated bonds of affection and commitment to the creative challenges of mission. The fish bones in the draft Covenant are far too numerous, and the following wind has long expired. So should the Covenant.

Indeed. The Covenant has too many fish bones to be edible, and the wind at its back has died down.

The Rev. Dr. Frederick Quinn has served as advisor to constitutional drafters in several countries of central and Eastern Europe, and as a chaplain of Washington National Cathedral. He has written extensively on law, history, and religion. He is former head of the Rule of Law programs for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Warsaw-based Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

STORY OF THE DAY - LOST AT THE FAIR

When I was 5, he said, my family forgot
& left me at the fair. I wandered around
in the bright sounds & smells of hot
sawdust & cotton candy for hours. It
was already too late by the time my
parents found me. I haven't been fit for
decent society since.


From StoryPeople.

FOR CHRISTMAS?

Archbishop Robert Duncan Ornament (Oval)
Made by The Anglican Church in North America
on October 09, 2009 at 11:33 AM

Only $12.00 from Café Press.

Think how the archbishop's jewel-encrusted mitre will sparkle on your Christmas tree. If you find the perfect decoration, it's never too early to shop.

H/T to Mark Harris at Preludium.

LEATHER DRESSES

Do you know that when a woman wears a leather dress, a man's heart beats quicker, his throat gets dry, he gets weak in the knees, and he begins to think irrationally???

Ever wonder why?




It's because she smells like a new Truck.


Don't blame me. Blame Ann.