Saturday, February 21, 2009

Phos Hilaron

Those outside of the Liturgical Church have jettisoned so much of their wonderful heritage in efforts to separate themselves from "all things roman". I'd invite all my non-liturgical Brethren and Sistren to consider and meditate on the following:
O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praised, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of Life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds

Hmmmmm, Vespers.

Music for the Vesper Light of a Winter's Day

Friday, February 20, 2009

Friday Afternoon


Another immortal band... Ladies and Gentlemen, The Moody Blues!

Sext on a Sunny Friday

No potty brain, I didn't make a typo. Sext, in the canonical hours, is a minor hour that precedes Vespers and follows Lauds and Terce. This roughly corresponds with the hour that Peter was recorded as being in prayer in Acts 10:9.

I've been giving time to the Epistle of Saint Jude these past days. This brief letter is tied with St. Paul's letter to Philemon as the 3rd briefest book of the New Testament. But we'd be out to lunch if we attributed its size with its significance. (In support of my point, try picking a fight with the short, stubby badger...) Far from insignificant, the epistle not only packs a magnum word for word load, it offers highly apropos counsel to be considered in this current Anglican struggle.

This renewed interest in the epistle was sparked on Tuesday evening after reading a post on Deacon Phil Snyder's blog, The Deacon's Slant. The good Deacon was commenting on the dual strategies of orthodox Anglicans within and without of the Episcopal Church. One of these comments had immediately brought the epistle to my mind. I visited the letter and was left in an acute state of gobsmack.

I suspect that the average person could read the Epistle of Jude (in most modern translations) in well under five minutes. Yet, we could spend hours and days meditating over, and considering this weighty letter to the Church universal.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Thursday Afternoon


I thought that finding this old gem would have taken a bit of digging. No, and isn't it great living in the age of indexed searches? Sure we're now ruled by unreconstructed socialists, and the economy is on the way to hades in a haversack, but we're able to find comforting tunes in a few keystrokes and mouse clicks.

It's been a seasonal afternoon with sunny skies and temps here in the 40's here in Suburbia Majora. The ever-present cast is one day closer to ending up in a medical waste bin. I am looking forward to the point where the ankle will become just another boring story.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Your Urgent Attention is Required


Hey Blogfans, its February 16, 2009, Presidents Day. A great day off fer all ya' State and Federal types, and just another day in the cast for me. Anyhow, this is a great afternoon for a quiz...
The Party of the Petulant,the Profligate and the Wily Wastrels of Washington has been slavering at the bit to throttle the broadcast airwaves of any speech that bruises their anemic egos, or sheds daylight on their septic agendas. Suffice to say that citizens who are (1) awake and (2) actually give a Bear's buttocks about their nation have feelings quite to the contrary.
The following quote belongs to one of our Citizens; can you name that citizen?
"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter"
This is neither a "red state" nor "conservative" issue. This is an AMERICAN ISSUE. And friend, regardless of your political stripe or philosophical warp, your First Amendment rights are on the chopping block.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Music for a Midwinter's Eve


Gaelic, the language of the angels...

Orthopedic Update

I hopped into the Elantra this afternoon with the wonderful Miss Robin and paid a visit to my Orthopedist up in Alexandria. It was a top shelf afternoon with temperatures approaching 70. In fact, it would have been a great day to hop on the Honda had the circumstances been different; but I digress.
Doctor Nickson was pleased with the post operative progression. The incisions, and stitches were in good shape without any obvious signs of infection. Just to be sure, the Doctor prescribed a short course of antibiotics. I'll be back in his office on the 24th to have the stitches removed and have the ankle x-rayed.
There's been some unexpected blessing in the midst of all of this. I've had the opportunity to take in three of my favorite teachers (Sproul, MacArthur and Swindoll) along with catching up on my reading. In all of this, I can confidently say that Roman's 8:28 is in play here.