Sunday Mass

 

You pull up to Mission #2, not far at all from Belle Starr's onetime ranch/hideout, and what do you see? Nothing fancy, just a couple of lines of pick ups, a horse trailer and a lowish church built in the 1980s in an act of faith on the part of people who retired from the Metrosprawl to live by the lake. They're mostly gone now, bless 'em. But what do you find inside?

The few readers of this unassuming mind-blog would be shocked. No guitar playing nuns, no wymxn priestesses, no rainbow flags, no felt applique banners, not even any liturgical dance. What you do get is an oriented sung Mass, Rite I (think Ordinariate style, all you RC trads), with traditional hymns. And here's the thing, the singing was led by a couple of ex-Baptist women.

I tell you, it was good, and I don't say that lightly. Imagine, if you can, Amazing Grace at the Offertory on a Loretta Lynn tip. Here's Miss Lynn:

High on a mountain top? You bet. In related news, I called our Senior Warden after Mass, "Hey, J, I haven't ridden for four years and feel it's time to get back on. Can you recommend someone to give me remedial lessons? You know, leads, asking for gaits the right way and all of that." She thought about it for a second or two, "Sure! Come out this week and ride with us, we'll find you a horse."

Now, pundits, mark me well. This is equivalent to, say, a pub guitarist calling up Jimmy Page and saying, "Hey man, is it OK if I jam with you and Eric Clapton?" You know, to get better on the guitar, and he replies, "You bet, swing by the studio sometime this week, Roy Harper's gonna be there too. He needs help."

J in the Zone and then some

Wow, what good people we have in this little country church, where the Word of God is preached and taught and the Sacraments confected. There's hope and no inconsiderable uplift in that and I feel privileged to serve here. Stay tuned for equestrian adventure.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Ride

A churchman asked me to bless his small herd of horses this evening, 6 Arabians, a Warmblood and a Mustang. So off I went and so did a lot of people from one of the missions, perhaps they were wondering if their padre could ride.

Shala. Note Well Put Together Barn

Good question! Fortunately I could and rode out on Shala alongside two outstanding competitive horsewomen who've forgotten more than I'll ever know about the sport.

You Ride Better Than What I Do

Still, I held my own and the congregation watching from the sidelines got a kick out of the thing. Great fun.

My Friend's Tack Room

Ride over, I blessed the herd and we all fell back to the ranch house for a delicious meal. What a lot of fun and it reminded me of several things.

One I Took Earlier

Firstly, ride more, a lot more, it's important. Secondly, bring the congregation together for fun, fellowship and worship outside of the usual Sunday morning slot. It builds the communion which is established at the Altar. 

Common sense I know, but perhaps it needs stating, especially in a mission setting. With that in mind, sermon over.

Ride On,

LSP

Rodeo!

It was worth risking life on the corridor of fame that is I35 to go to the rodeo in Waco. That's because the PRCA ProRodeo finals are sheer adrenaline up excitement, and a good humored get together to boot. 

A ringside seat in the boxes made it even better, right up close to the action, and that had its moments. Bang, out of the gate comes a pounding, bucking, ferocious bull. Rider, stay on that bull! And when you're thrown, don't get trampled to death by the hooves of the beast. No kidding.

Bronc, barrel, just look at those girls fly!, and bull riding are all high octane, but  don't scorn team roping and steer wrestling. Go on, jump off a running horse and wrestle a steer to the ground, I dare you. Regardless, watching the horsemanship and the outstanding quality and spirit of the animals alone is an event in itself, at least for me.

All this to say nothing of muttin bustin (sheep riding) and general carry on for the kids, and the way the event kicks off, with prayer, a flag ride, and the Star Spangled Banner. Guess what, no one keeps their hat on in protest.

You might mock all this if you're an NWO stooge, or a comsymp fool who's so far up the New York Times that you can't separate truth from fiction. Or you can see it for what it is, good, wholesome, down-home, straight up enjoyment with no side.

So thanks, J&B. A great night was had by all.

God bless,

LSP

Country Life, Horsing About

I love Texas

There's been a bit here about God, guns and church but not much  about country life. Lately that mostly means climbing into the pickup and driving off to ride JB. I've been careful on her, not asking for too much all at once, because she hadn't been ridden for a awhile. 

rocky paths

So we've been practicing the slower gaits, walk, trot. Fine, I thought, she's doing well enough at those, nicely cadenced, attentive, I'll ask for a canter. Nothing that JB hadn't done many hundreds of times before. Easy. No. Not easy. 

bad mischief

The horse decided that was a perfect opportunity to perform a neat sideways up in the air buck. I stayed on, fortunately, and she was very nearly sent back from whence she came, harming no one... Happily for all concerned, the animal redeemed herself the following week with a decent controlled canter; I must start galloping her again. A whole lot of fun and fast as you like.

Norma's Car Park. Result!

Still, bearing in mind the time I have to ride, I'd like a horse that wasn't such a project animal and it'd be good to have another creature in case anyone else wanted to ride. Two's company, sort of thing. Maybe a Foundation Quarter Horse gelding? Trained for trails? Well, we'll see.

nice shades, LSP

In the meanwhile, here's one of my parishioners riding her horse Randy around a barrel. Verdict? Outstanding.

TM on Randy, outstanding

I've been fortunate enough to ride Randy in the arena and fear I charged about foolishly. Beautiful horse and a joy to ride. 

Ride on,

LSP

Front Office Rodeo

Not that you'd know it from browsing through this "site" but Lonestarparsonism does involve some work. There's the pastoralia that any clergyman should be about and the daily affair of running two missions. I say Morning Prayer ('28 BCP) then set up on the front porch with laptop, phone, coffee and gun. Then streams of people come by; I find that far more gets done that way than by skulking off, out of sight, at a desk. A lot of priests seem to do that and I'm not sure why. Perhaps they're scared of the people which is unfortunate, given the nature of the calling.

But it's not all about taking care of business on the front porch office. Sometimes it's about going to Waco for rodeo events.

Catch

These pictures didn't come out too well but maybe they give an idea of the speed and intensity of the thing. I enjoy the broncs and barrel racing - remarkable to watch the women run around the barrels then fly for the finish. 

Bronc

Then there's bull riding. A whole different level of dangerous and mad; there's that moment when the rider's on the ground and the bull's surging like fury. Where are the hooves going to land? Get away! Jaw dropping. 

Champion Team Ropers

Big thanks to Bud for the box tickets. Makes me want to ride Western. 

God bless,

LSP