Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Vigil Masses at the Missions then a scarifyin' drive to Dallas, where had turned in for the night. So I took advantage of the lull to watch a program about an alien base at Dulce; curious.

Regardless of the impending "disclosure event", here's an interesting, if slightly somber thought:

"When the unstoppable bullet hits the impenetrable wall, we find the religious experience. It is precisely here that one will grow... Heroism could be redefined for our time as the ability to stand paradox."

Robert Johnson wrote that, I found it on the Shirt of Flame blog.

Mind those bullets!

Merry Christmas!

LSP

Pistol

S&W .38 Spl

Wasn't able to ride this morning owing to a nasty case of bruised ribs but took the .38 out for a spin. Shot at 10 and 20 yards against an aggressive square of white paper and it's larger ally, a feed sack.

Did better at the longer range, oddly, then switched over to .22 to do deadly work among assorted cans and a hard to see cigarette box on a stick.

Where's the Target?

I love shooting and today reminded me that pistols are especially enjoyable. Why? Well, they certainly bring the explosive action up close, and I like that because it's exciting. They're also neat in themselves, as firearms - then again, I'm sympathetic to that. Not allowed to own them in England, unless you're a bad guy and have one anyway.

That reminds me of some man in a pub years ago who kept poking me in the ribs, saying:

Some Man: I've gotta '9'.
LSP: Pardon?
Some Man: I've gotta '9'!
LSP: Excuse me?
Some Man (poking vigorously): A '9', a '9'!!
LSP: Ah, a '9'. I'd like a pint of Stella, please, barman.

The '9' holder ran out of steam, fortunately; perhaps the fabled '9' was fictional.

Cheers,

LSP

The Eclipse and the Witch

My rubbish picture of the eclipse

For the first time in 372 years a total eclipse of the moon coincided with the Winter Solstice. Not only that but evidently the sun, moon and earth were in alignment with our "galactic core."

Not wanting to miss out, I gazed up into the heavens, listening to Lemmy sing "The Watcher." Nothing quite like a bit of early '70s space rock, I always think.

But regardless of the implausibility of Brock, Kilminster et al leaving earth on a spaceship, some think that the eclipse has great spiritual significance. Such as the goddess worshiping witch, Starhawk, who thinks the eclipse/solstice/galactic alignment has powerful magic potential.

"For those of you who like to align your meditations and your magic with the movements of the stars, we stand tonight between the past and the future. For the first hour and a quarter of the eclipse...it's as if we step out of time. We are free of the past, and we can consciously create the future, for ourselves, for our communities, for the earth," said the Wiccan priestess witch to abc News.

Here's a picture of Starhawk.

Starhawk on right, with woman

And here's the witch channeling the Star Goddess:

The Charge of the Star Goddess

Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body encircles the universe ...

"I who am the beauty of the green Earth,
The white Moon among the Stars,
And the Mystery of the Waters,
I call upon your soul to arise and come unto Me.
For I am the Soul of Nature, which gives life to the universe.

From Me all things proceed,
And unto Me they must return.
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices,
For behold - all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals...

For behold, I have been with you from the beginning,
And I am that which is attained at the end of desire."

Pagan Tomfoolery

"All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals." Terrifyin' prospect.

This site continues to stand against paganism and goddess worship, in case you wondered.

God bless,

LSP

Dawkins - Peerless Stinker

Dawkins

From time time to time this blog degenerates into a samey mix of horses, guns, space creatures and cheap jibes against the fast disappearing ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada) and its larger sister TEC (The Episcopal Church). To say nothing of the all too easy game of awarding "alien heads" to offending ecclesiastics.

So here's some philosophy to even things out; it's a reflection on Dawkins' take on Aquinas' 4th Way and you'll have to forgive the length but I like the argument.

First, the 4th Way itself, from the Summa:

Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble and the like. But 'more' and 'less' are predicated of different things, according as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being [i.e. maximally ontologically secure]; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being, as it is written in [Aristotle's] Metaph. ii. Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus; as fire, which is the maximum heat, is the cause of all hot things. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

Dawkins doesn't like this at all and decides to sneer:

"That's an argument? You might as well say, people vary in smelliness but we can make the comparison only by reference to a perfect maximum of conceivable smelliness. Therefore there must exist a pre-eminently peerless stinker, and we call him God."

But Aquinas is dealing with properties that have an intrinsic and logical, as opposed to de facto, maximum. Eric Mascall explains:

"Goodness, so the argument claims, demands as its cause a God who is good; while heat, though it necessarily demands a God whose knowledge of possible being includes an idea of heat, does not demand a God who is hot as its cause, but only a God who can create."

Peter Williams sums up:

"In modern philosophical terminology, Aquinas is arguing along the following lines:

1. Things exist in the world around us that exhibit finite degrees of great-making properties (e.g. being, goodness, truth, beauty)

2. The existence of something exhibiting a great-making property to a finite degree implies the existence of something that possesses the property in question to a maximal degree

3. Therefore, all great making properties possessed in finite degree by beings in the world around us, including being, are possessed to a maximal degree by something

4. An effect cannot exceed the greatness of its cause

5. Therefore, there exists a maximally ontologically secure being that possess every great-making property possessed by its effects to a maximal degree; and this we call God.

It should at least be clear that Aquinas' argument is logically valid and consequently that this line of thought cannot be dismissed with a jeering reference to smelly people, which is all Dawkins does."

Well said, Peter Williams.

This site supports Aquinas -- not that he needs it.

Cheers,

LSP

Iron Horse, Real Horse

Iron Horse, Real Horse

Found myself scouting about the used car shops the other day, checking out 4x4 pick-ups, when I saw a chopper nonchalantly parked up in a place of its own. It reminded me of Nam, Chelt'Nam, that is, the town's bikers and, of course, "Iron Horse" by Motorhead. But all that was a very long time ago.

Now I get to go on a real horse and find myself returning to basics - spent the morning walking JB around obstacles and over ground poles, with special emphasis on circling to the right. She's forward now, so it seems time to concentrate on control, which'll make a good base for going very fast and jumping over things. That's my plan, anyway.

She managed three successive flying changes the other day; people tell me that's very impressive and it indicates high athletic potential on JB's part. I wish that I'd asked for them deliberately...

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Bishops!

Bishop Sean Manchester

"They should all be locked up and put in a cage..."

Fr. Bowling on certain bishops

Thanks to the untiring efforts of researchers at Team LSP, I can open this series on "Bishops" with Sean Manchester, leader of Britain's Old Catholic Church, founder of the Sacerdotal Society of the Precious Blood, Superior General of the Order of the Holy Graal, Bishop of Glastonbury(!), and Primate of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. You can read about it here, if you have the energy.

Readers may recall that he 'staked out' the Highgate Cemetary Vamp, back in the day, and wrote a book about it.

That's because Sean is a Vampire Hunter. Here he is with a stake.

Sean with tool of the trade - from some Spanish blog

Vampire Hunter? Yes, and for that reason awarded a sturdy six out of ten alien heads.

Well done Sean!

LSP

Ride the Horse Shoot the Gun

Please don't misunderstand me; I like to canter and gallop and enjoy the speed of the thing, but it's a foolhardy business if the horse isn't controlled. After all, who wants to come off at some ungodly speed?

With that in mind, we took a step back with JB and rode in a small pasture around an improvised arena (buckets), concentrating on turning to the right, circles, serpentines and going over ground poles. It was mostly at a posting trot - then more of the same the next day, but in a larger pasture which is home to a small herd of mares. Used natural obstacles, thorn trees, and JB did alright, despite a tendency to duck out and attempt a bolt to the other horses.

By the end of the ride she was listening and responding well, so I rewarded her with a couple of uphill canters to the herd. She didn't seem entirely sure as to why she had been so keen to get there when she arrived, beyond taking the opportunity to try and kick one of her colleagues - but that was an afterthought.

Ride over, it was time for some target practice; reasonable shooting with iron sights at around 75 yards, though the wind was high. Seem to have developed an ironic tendency to pull to the left. Must correct that.

Cheers,

LSP

Hippies

Hippies

Some people think that Hippies are just fine.

Riot Police

Others disagree.

Episcopaliens

Then there's the clerical variant.

Doubleplusbad.

Horse & Gun tomorrow.

LSP

I Want it. I Want it All.

Archdeacon Barry "I want it all" Foster

It seems that the diminutive ACoC (Anglican Chrurch of Canada) is set to become smaller still, with a Calgary parish, St. John the Evangelist, joining the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Benedict's offer of an 'Ordinariate' for ex-Anglicans.

This would allow Anglican converts, including married clergy, to retain elements of their liturgy and have a guaranteed place within the Roman Church.

It's an attractive proposition for the parishioners of St. John's, who voted by 90% to leave the incredibly shrinking ACoC and they hope to keep their Edwardian building. According to the Rector's Warden, Richard Harding, this might be possible because title deeds to the building are held in the name of the Wardens instead of the Diocese of Calgary.

"The title was placed in the name of the elected lay wardens of the parish... It is parish property. The diocese may not be aware of that," stated Harding to the Calgary Herald.

But Barry 'I want it all' Foster, Archdeacon of Calgary, who styles himself 'Executive Officer' of the diocese when not selling menswear at a downtown mall, has a different opinion.

"It's not the case that … they take the property with them. It's not theirs," stated Foster to CBC News.

Assuming, for the moment, that Calgary's clerical haberdasher has a point, what will the Diocese of Calgary do with yet another empty building?

You know the saying, "Sell! Sell! Sell!"

Watch this space - in the meanwhile ACoC continues its trajectory into just that.

Say a prayer for St. John's.

LSP

Horsing About

small herd of mares

Had an interesting ride the other day, not least because JB's horse mind was a little distracted by the loud attention of several stallions. She hears them calling her, you see, and answers back with a mind to galloping off to wherever they are - which isn't where we are. This can be disconcerting, but you know what they say, stay on the horse. Not always easy, I can tell you.

Finished off with a .22 plink about before the sun began to set; neat to see the mares silhouetted, like some kind of Western, which, in a way, it was.

where's that stallion?

On a different note, a Calgary parish has opted to become Roman Catholic, thus making the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) even smaller than it already is. More on that later.

Cheers,

LSP