"THE BLESSING OF OUR RELATIVES"

From Paul at Byzigenous Buddhapalian:

Me (Paul the BB), rejoicing in Chica and Tuxedo, my friend Jan's horses, at San Gabriel, Corrales.

May your abundant ✠ blessing rest upon these creatures who are our companions in the journey of life. Amen.

Let us also remember the less fortunate creatures of this world.

Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals, especially for those animals that are suffering; for all that are overworked and underfed and cruelly treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat against the bars; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened; for all that are in pain or dying; for all that must be put to death. We entreat for those who deal with them a heart of compassion, gentle hands, and kind words; that they may share thus the blessing of the merciful. For you, O lord, will save both human and beast, and great is your loving-kindness. Amen.

--the BB

Without doubt, this is my favorite picture of my friend Paul. I had to copy the post because of the lovely blessing, for the beauty of the horses, and for the picture of handsome Paul. If you'd like to leave a comment, you may want to visit Paul's blog.

MORE ON THE NEW BISHOP OF SOUTHWARK

Since my original post on the appointment by the crown of the Rt. Rev. Christopher Chessun as Bishop of the Diocese of Southwark in England ended in silliness, which was not at all my original intention, please read Chris Hansen's post at his blog chrishansenhome. Chris lives in the Diocese of Southwark and knows the bishop.

I am still collecting my thoughts about the appointment, which, I must admit, left me kind of gobsmacked. Not because Christopher is unfit to be Bishop of Southwark, because he is eminently fit. It is out of the ordinary for a suffragan bishop to be appointed Bishop of the Diocese in which he was suffragan, at least in the Church of England. Other clergy in the diocese have remarked that they thought he might get Truro (before that was filled). So appointing him to Southwark was an unexpected pleasure.

Read on at Chris' blog, and forgive my previous silliness.

WHAT LAPIN IS READING

No joke. Lapin purchased the book, which was published in 1899, and is, even now, deeply engrossed. He said the title story is about Blue Ridge hillbillies. Should I believe him?

ANN'S JIB-JAB HALLOWEEN VIDEO

You must click on over to see Ann's early Halloween present at her blog, What the Tide Brings In. It's wonderfully funny.

And I'm not sending you over there just because I am one of the stars of the video. Really. The video includes performances by several real VIPs, and I'm flattered to be included in their company.

OOH LA-LA!

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - Moulin Rouge: La Goulue

It was on this day in 1889 that the famous cabaret Moulin Rouge opened its doors.
....

In the early days of the Moulin Rouge, one of its attractions was a giant stucco elephant as tall as a building, and for a franc, men could go inside one of its legs and watch belly dancers. The can-can is said to have originated at the Moulin Rouge.

There's more, much more in today's post at the The Writer's Almanac, including a lovely poem by Howard Nelson, titled "The Man in the Yard", and tidbits on the history of early opera. Today's date was eventful over the years of history, as you will see if you check the link.

The powers at the website post strict rules about what can or cannot be copied, (apparently, nothing can be copied!) but the rule of fair use does not, or so I believe, exclude them. We shall see. The powers may come after me for my brief quote above. I'm quite careful not to use the words of others without attribution.

Image from Wikipedia Commons, not from "The Writer's Almanac".

DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK (ENGLAND) - "HABEMUS EPISCOPUM!"

From The Diocese of Southwark:

Downing Street has announced this morning that The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun is to be the 10th Bishop of Southwark. He will succeed The Rt Revd Dr Tom Butler who retired in March. Consecrated Bishop in Southwark Cathedral on 21 April 2005, he is the Area Bishop of Woolwich, one of the three Episcopal Areas along with Kingston and Croydon in the Diocese of Southwark. He will be enthroned in Southwark Cathedral in the early part of 2011.

Bishop Christopher, 54, who is an identical twin, was also appointed as Bishop for Urban Life and Faith in May 2010. He will continue to hold this role as Bishop of Southwark.

Congratulations and blessings to Bishop Chessun! He's one of the diocese's own, so he won't take his throne as a stranger. (Aside: All churches with bishops should dump the phrase "enthronement". I don't care if the phrase is ancient and traditional, a bishop takes his position as a servant of the servants of Christ.)

I'm curious as to why the mention of the bishop being an identical twin is so prominent in the announcement. Perhaps, the reason is due to the possibility of photos of a person who looks very like the bishop being mistaken for the bishop.

H/T to Thinking Anglicans.

From the comments at TA:

Thank goodness he's not a wound on the church, like that awful Jeffrey John! (Irony alert!)

Oh dear. I meant for the post to be entirely serious, but it did not come out that way. In all sincerity, I pray for Bishop Chessun as he prepares to take up his new duties as Bishop of the Diocese of Southwark.

STORY OF THE DAY - STRESS MANAGEMENT

I can imagine it working out perfectly, I
said. I can't, she said & I said no wonder
you're so stressed.

From StoryPeople.

Love it, love it, love it!

My "Story of the Day" posts don't get much of a response in the comments, but I post them anyway - but only those that resonate with me. At times the stories don't actually make complete sense to me, but they still make me laugh - out loud.

A UPDATE FROM MARK ON HIS CAT, KATZIE

Katzie had her second surgery and is recovering. See details at Mark's blog, Enough About me.

Thanks be to God, the staff at the veterinarian's office, and to all of you who donated to make Katzie's life-saving surgery possible.

Please leave comments at Mark's blog. Mark has access to the internet only at night.

PLEASE PRAY...

...for Maddie the cat. Maddie, who is 18 years old, lives with my brother-in-law, Frank. She sleeps either in Frank's closet or on his bed. When Frank was living with his son and his family, Maddie adopted Frank, and when Frank moved to his own place, Maddie went with him.

In a recent visit, the vet diagnosed Maddie with cancerous tumors all over her body. In two or three weeks, Maddie will need to be gently eased out of her life on this good earth.

Frank's Corgi, Zoe, is elderly, too, and has a good many health problems, but she hangs in there. Pray for Maddie, Frank, and Zoe.

...and for Frank. Frank will have cataract surgery tomorrow, October 6, on the first eye and on the other eye on October 20. Frank says, "Looking forward to it (no pun intended)".

Pray that all goes well with Frank's surgery.

UPDATE FROM FRANK:

Arrived at 6:40 - prepped - finished by 8:15 - back home by 8:45. Fell asleep couple of times during surgery (they give you Versed under tongue). Typing with one eye - right eye patched over. Painless, etc. Ready for number two. Thanks for the prayers for me and my girls.

Frank

THE HELPFUL SCOTSMAN

A golfer is cupping his hand to scoop water from a Highland burn on the St Andrews course.

A Scottish groundskeeper shouts: 'Dinnae drink tha waater! Et's foo ae coo's shite an pish!'

The golfer replies: 'My good fellow, I'm afraid I'm from England. Could you repeat that for me please, in English?!'

The good Scotman replies: 'I said, use two hands - you'll spill less that way.'

Don't blame me. Blame my naughty friend from the desert, Paul, the BB.