Good Friday

I read this the other day, somewhere on Zerohedge, it seems appropriate:

With no God to worship, men invariably worship the feeling of their own supremacy, reflected in their capacity for engineered extermination.

Apt words as we slide, apparently, ever closer to war. In the meanwhile, Christ hangs on the Cross: 

ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified; Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all estates of men in thy holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all who know thee not as thou art revealed in the Gospel of thy Son. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy fold, that they may be made one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

God bless,

LSP 

Maundy Thursday

It's Maundy Thursday and time to concentrate on higher things than the Archbishop of Canterbury's latest mall brawl antics. So here's a couple of prayers, or Collects, for the day:

ALMIGHTY Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, did institute the Sacrament of his Body and Blood; Mercifully grant that we may thankfully receive the same in remembrance of him, who in these holy mysteries giveth us a pledge of life eternal; the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

And for all you Roman Catholic trads out there, here's the Extraordinary Form Collect (1962 Missal):

DEUS, a quo et Judas reátus sui pœnam, et confessiónis suæ latro prǽmium sumpsit, concéde nobis tuæ propitiatiónis efféctum: ut, sicut in passióne sua Jesus Christus Dóminus noster divérsa utrísque íntulit stipéndia meritórum; ita nobis, abláto vetustátis erróre, resurrectiónis suæ grátiam largiátur. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.

(O GOD, from whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt, and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy Clemency; that even as in His Passion our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each retribution according to his merits, so having cleared away our former guilt, He may bestow on us the grace of His Resurrection: Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.)

Have a blessed Triduum,

LSP

Head of Intelligence

Bark, Bark, Howl, Bark! It was Head of Intelligence, Blue Gehlen, giving his usual predawn stand to. You know, that eerie hour or two when you scan the perimeter, waiting. Or in my case, catching up on email and saying Morning Prayer.

This Dog Says Liturgical Experts Are Clowns

And none of your modern rubbish either; I use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Why? Because it's better than the newfangled, pitifully translated, soapy pablum that was foisted off on us by the liturgical experts. What a crew of clowns. Ignore them.

Then it was time to take my security chief on a quick recce patrol as the sun was rising over the church. 1st RV was at the local Pick 'n Steal, where everyone was buying Blunts and lotto tickets. I got a coffee and moved out to the 2nd RV, a chainlink fence by the Disciples of Christ church. 

Keep The Agency on a Tight Leash

Blue Gehlen resupplied on an old tootsie roll while I drank coffee, like a warrior. Then we headed back to the Compound; all in all, a pretty typical morning. Next stop?

Visit the flock and shoot pistols.

God bless,

LSP

City of Screaming Tires

A churchperson's truck developed a mysterious flat, and the relative that was going to fix the tire had a blow-out on the way to do so. He rolled his truck and miraculously no-one was killed, though the vehicle was totaled. So I offered to help.

After getting the wheel off, the reason for the flat was obvious. A big spike had embedded itself in the tire, ruining its performance.

Similar, when you think of it, to all those classified documents that found their way into Hillary's secret server, wrecking her chance to travel along the road to becoming the world's most powerful woman, ever.

Californians Trying to Break Into Texas

We loaded the wheel in the back of my truck and took it to a used tire store in Slap Out, and got a new tire. As we waited, I looked at my tires. Lo and behold, the driver's side front tire was worn down to the metal. I got that fixed, too.

I reflect on this adventure from the front porch, after drinking a coffee and saying Morning Prayer. I haven't seen any Californian illegals coming down the street, begging and hustling, but if they do, I'm armed. With a Glock 21.

And that's country life, in Texas.

LSP

You Fixed it, Does it Work?

Because it was Turnaround Tuesday after yesterday's great market meltdown, I figured it'd be a good idea to turn around one of the deadly assault rifles and fix its bolt catch assembly. And I did, what a turnaround! Or was it. I took the rifle to the range to find out.

Lo and behold, the weapon performed flawlessly, unlike the stock market, which decided to turn back around again. I guess that wasn't fixed.

My shooting was alright, but nothing special. When I did my job, which was part of the time, the rifle shot touching, or nearly touching, groups from 100 yards with cheap value pack .223 ammo. So I can't complain.

Learning to Shoot the Glock 21...

To make things even better, clouds rolled in with a cool breeze and it threatened to rain. It didn't, tantalizingly, but still, it was half way there and that wasn't bad. I closed off the shoot with a quick blast on the Glock 21. I like that pistol! With a bit of work I might even get good at it.

I love getting out in the field with guns; just you, the firearms and the countryside. It's peaceful, apart from the explosive fire of the weaponry, obviously.

Dove season soon and I'm looking forward to that. I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to the implosion of our financial system. But that's a different story.

Be prepared,

LSP

Just Get Out and Hunt Dove!

I finished Evening Prayer,1928 BCP, thank you very much, and glanced over at a shotgun. Nothing special, just a 12 gauge Mossberg pump. That was enough. "I know," I thought to myself, "I'll go out dove hunting." And that's what I did.

Where's the Dove?

But I didn't go to the usual spot because I didn't want to shoot out the field, so I checked out another place and went  in search of birds.

Spirit of the Moon

An hour or so later I'd flushed a few from the brush, taken a couple of shots, and missed. So I hunkered down in a treeline and waited for the dove to fly. Nothing doing. Buzzards? Yes. If I'd been on a buzzard hunt I'd have reached my bag limit in minutes, which would doubtless be a fine thing, but no dove.

Texas is Alright

Still, it was simply good to be out in the field, senses heightened by the hunt and alive to the sounds, sight and smell of the Texan country. And that's alright.

Dove, listen up. This isn't over.

LSP

Feast of the Ascension

Today is the Feast of the Ascension, the last act in Christ's saving drama of redemption. Anglicans, at least, have mostly forgotten this Feast. That's too bad, it's important. Our Lord takes recreated humanity to heaven on this day and, at the right hand of the Father, intercedes for humanity as our great High Priest for all eternity.

Hope you all got to Mass on this Holy Day of Obligation. Whatever the case, here's a prayer.

GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.Amen.

God bless,

LSP