Sort it Out!

not too bad...

Any LSP worth his salt likes to go for a ride on Thursday after Morning Prayer and lately this means charging about on a 100 acre field on JB. It's fun, clears the head, helps keep up a basic level of fitness and further trains horse and rider, which is an ongoing project -- you never stop learning.

Ride over, and trying not to melt in the Texan sun, I was busy congratulating myself and horse when I looked at a couple of pictures of the progress. A salutary lesson, because there I was with my feet pointed out at an angle from the horse. Bad error! Why?

what a shambles, but good looking horse.

Because it takes your leg off the horse, destabilizes your seat and gives inconsistent leg aids to the animal.

make like Iceland

In other news, I liked this from ZeroHedge:

We have no doubt that everyone is tired of bad news, but we are compelled to review the facts: Europe is currently experiencing severe bank runs, budgets in virtually every western country on the planet are out of control, the banking system is running excessive leverage and risk, the costs of servicing the ever-increasing amounts of government debt are rising rapidly, and the economies of Europe, Asia and the United States are slowing down or are in full contraction. There's no sugar coating it and we have to stop listening to politicians and central planners who continue to downplay, obfuscate and flat out lie about the current economic reality.

Advice? Learn to ride, shoot and grow your own food.

LSP

St. Michael's Conference, Southwest

recessional

Last week was taken up with St. Michael's Conference, Southwest, which is an unashamedly trad Anglo-Catholic event for young people. Each day's quite long, starting with Morning Prayer and Solemn High Mass, followed by three classes and lunch. After lunch the kids get to play around for several hours before reconvening for Evening Prayer, a talk, then dinner and more activities ending with Compline at 10.30 pm. All make their Confession, many for the first time, and that alone is incredibly moving, to say nothing of the intensity of classical liturgy entered into with great fervour. I'd say it was a life-changing event and I look forward to it year by year.

Hoist it higher, Dr. Keyes

I taught courses on prayer, Lewis' Great Divorce and something called Survey, which is a kind of round up of basic catholic Christian doctrine. I also lead a few discussion groups, which take place after dinner: Do Aliens Get to go to Heaven? was one, and the kids thought they probably did. You will be taken from this place... to be hanged by the neck until you are dead and may God have mercy on your soul. Is capital punishment right? Most children thought it wasn't, interestingly, and Why Communism is Evil. Marx got the thumbs down, especially from the many Latinos who seemed to have an issue with Cuba.

just me and the pygmy pony

Then, seemingly just as things had started, the conference was over. I'd say it's the best thing of its kind in America; there's no English equivalent.

St. Michael, defend us in the day of battle.

LSP

Space Aliens Invade Episcopal Church!

overlord

You may have missed this important piece of religious news but Jefferts Schori's Episcopal Church (TEC) is in favor of the Covenant. Not the mildly conservative proposal to keep the Anglican Communion together, which TEC hates because it doesn't champion alternative gender strategies, but the Genesis Covenant. The Genesis Covenant is a Green Covenant, sponsored by GreenFaith, a religious organisation that sees the earth and the cosmos as an "embodiment of the divine".

St. David's, Austin, ENS

Genesis Covenant churches get a special GreenFaith certification if they "reduce energy use, save money, and care for god's creation." Or, more specifically, god's body, the "cosmos". If you're thinking that this sounds suspiciously panentheist you might be right; pagans are members of GreenFaith, along with Episcopaliens.

we come in peace, greenpeace

One of the most recent Episcopalien churches to qualify for coveted GreenFaith certification status is St. David's church in Austin, Texas. St. David's will join some 16 other TEC churches, including the prestigious St. Mark's Cathedral, in Seattle, Washington.

But while St. David's works to reduce its carbon footprint, TEC is too, with current membership hemorrhaging at a brisk 50,000 members a year while the shrinking denomination spends millions of dollars in costly lawsuits against traditionalists. The equation's simple, no people + no money = no religious pollution.

Mars needs women

Sorted. The world heaves a sigh of relief.

Rumours that TEC is being run by a mysterious cabal of alien space creatures are entirely without any foundation. Whatsoever.

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Outrage!

It's rare that this small "kabob stand on the information superhighway" (thanks for that MCP) has anything good to say about the outgoing Archdruid of Canterbury. But that's changed, now. Rowan's apparently introduced several amendments into the Church of England's (COE) plan to turn women into bishops. The amendments would allow parishes to refuse the ministration of women priests and bishops as well as anyone "ordained" by a woman bishop. 

Rowan

Leaving aside the ecclesiology of the thing, it seems as though Williams is trying to respect the consciences of Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical trads. He's doing his best, you see, to keep the Big Tent together. Fair play, Rowan, even if the effort's doomed to failure. But whatever, the Druid's moves have got the Libs spluttering with rage:

dentist, dentist, dentist

One member of Women and the Church, who lobby for feminism in the COE, stated that she was "barely able to speak" for anger and disapointment. But that's nothing, another "senior figure" stated:

"I cannot tell you what I think now about Rowan Williams doing this. I cannot imagine what he thinks he is doing. Either the bishops do not understand what they have done, or they don't care. It is quite unbelievable. I am just so seething. I look at the Church and think, 'why do I still belong?' "

Yes, why do you still belong? And were you ever a part of it anyway? 

All that and more to say nothing of your outrage over two middle of the road concessions to traditionalists when the COE is in a mild-mannered death-slide, Europe's economy and by extension the world's, is about to go Deathstar, the Mid-East could blow up at any moment, Japan's about to irradiate the Pacific Ocean and California, maybe no loss but hey, and there won't be any people for your priestesses to attack because we're aborting all our children. 

"bishops"

So go ahead, apostates, wail and gnash your teeth. Just don't be too surprised if, in the end, anyone's paying too much attention.

That is all,

LSP

Holy Mother Russia

Some people might think that blessing armor was somehow bad. I'm not one of them. But on an Orthodox theme...

Here's a picture of Putin who is supported by Patriarch Kirill and disliked by Pussy Riot, an all girl band of punk rockers who performed a "punk prayer" in front of the Iconostasis of Christ the Savior Cathedral, Russia's largest church.

Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot asked for supernatural assistance against the Russian leader, thrashing their heads and shouting out "Mother of God, drive Putin away!" Kirill denounced Pussy Riot's "prayer" as a "devilish mockery" and the girl punks were arrested. This action was cheered by the far right nationalist group, Orthodox Banner Bearers, who according to HuffPo are renowned for their hatred of Madonna, attacking gay pride marches and driving a stake through a toy monkey to protest Darwinism. They claim their intention is to "fight against slander rather than to kill people."

Orthodox Banner Bearers

Members of Pussy Riot face up to seven years in prison for hooliganism.

Holy Russia

There are an estimated 100 million worshiping members of the Orthodox Church in Russia.

LSP

Long Live the Queen

Queen Elizabeth, who isn't afraid of a bit of gunfire, is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee. Long may she reign.

vivat

Here in America we don't have a Monarch, we just have this totally awesome President.

the commander in, er, chief

Have a blessed Trinity Sunday,


LSP

I Love Guns - Pistol Long Shot

PX4 Storm .45

I love guns and I love shooting. I like the look and feel of the firearms themselves and the challenge of the shot, I like the satisfaction of getting well on the target as well as the concentration and calm in the midst of explosion. There's a strange mixture of stillness and adrenaline to it that appeals, at least to me. Then there's the benefit of getting out in the countryside; it's a fine thing to be out there in the fields and brush with the guns, at a distance from the rush of the world. Still, with all that and more in mind, I won't pretend that I'm some sort of great shot. More like a decent priestly average.

filthy little beast

So after an hour or so of banging away at my old enemy, the steel plate ram and its lesser ally, the steel plate turkey, offhand iron sights at 50 and 100 yards with an AR (CMMG), I didn't expect to hit the ram with my .45 at 100 yards. After all, I'd never shot out to that range with a pistol before and the adversary was little more than a grayish blur of rust against the brush backstop of the berm.

somewhere, to the right of the 'silhouette' is a steel ram...

A round in the chamber later I lined up the sights slightly high on the metallic beast and squeezed off a shot, by instinct more than anything else. Lo and Behold! A satisfying plink of bullet on metal. Somewhat amazed, I fired off two magazines and was rewarded with 4 hits, the last shots being wasted due to lack of concentration and shooting high. 

make safe and for goodness sake, LSP, don't shoot the fridge

People mostly shoot their pistols, I think, at anywhere from 5 - 25 yards, something like 18 being the average. Fair enough, they're probably practicing at the range they think they'll use the weapon  at and it makes sense to get good at those distances. Still, I discovered there's a whole lot of enjoyment in going for the ridiculously unfeasible long shot and, unless I'm mistaken, the .45 shoots oddly flat.

At the nearest opportunity I plan to load up on Walmart's cheapest (TulAmmo... look, I apologise) and do it all over again.

Shoot straight,

LSP

The Feast of the Visitation and the Unborn Child

Yesterday was the Feast of the Visitation, the second joyful mystery of the faith, in which Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Both women are pregnant, the Virgin with Christ and Elizabeth with John the Baptist, and Scripture tells us that the "infant leaped" in Elizabeth's womb on hearing Mary's greeting. Our Lady, overcome with joy, exclaims the Magnificat:

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath magnified me; and holy is his Name. And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations. He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek; He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel; as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

The Visitation is, at the very least, a celebration of the miracle of life in the womb. Consider, then, the irony of House Democrats and seven Republicans defeating a bill, on the Feast of the Visitation, that would have outlawed sex-selective abortions.

life

To do so, it's argued, would have stood in the way of a woman's "right to choose." That's true. The defeated bill would have made it a crime to choose to kill your unborn child because you didn't want to give birth to a boy, or a girl.

What was that old film called? Ah yes, "Triumph of the Will." 

Look it up if you like.

LSP

The Number of the Damned

Interest rates on Spanish 10 year bonds rose to an apocalyptic 6.66%, or in other words, "Spanish Bonds, Meet Satan."

more ponzi, please

Not to be outdone in the not so slo-mo descent of the Gadarene PIIGS into the fiscal pit, Greece's largest lender, National Bank, posted a Q1 loss of $666 million.

the fall of the swine

Somehow the words of the Angelic Doctor, Aquinas, spring to mind (S.T., Q98, on the will and the intellect of the damned), "Although an increase in the number of the damned results in an increase of each one's punishment, so much the more will their hatred and envy increase that they will prefer to be more tormented with many rather than less tormented alone."

Rumours that European insolvency will have some sort of effect on the U.S. are entirely without any foundation whatsoever.

Carry on.

LSP

Memorial Day

Remember the fallen.

May they rest in peace,

LSP

Pentecost

On the first Feast of Pentecost the Holy Spirit, who is the personification of the love between the Father and the Son, came down upon the Apostles, filling them with the fire of love. This same fire is given to the successors of the Apostles, the Bishops, whose miters signify the the pentecostal flame. 

Well, there's bishops.

everyone's budde

"p"?

boy bishop

And there's bishops.

Here's the invocation of the Holy Spirit. The Church needs that right about now and doubtless always.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Every blessing for Pentecost,


LSP 

Fighting Monkey

Back in the 18th Century and "the earlies", when being a Company Man meant something altogether different than sitting numbly in front of a monitor in a cubicle, people weren't adverse to putting the odd monkey in the ring.

Here's an excerpt from The Sporting Magazine, 1799.

A quite unusual fight between two animals was staged in Worcester. The wager stood at three guineas, according to which the dog would kill the monkey in at most six minutes. The dog's owner agreed that the monkey would be allowed to defend itself with a stick about a foot long.

Hundreds of spectators gathered to witness this fight and the odds stood at eight, nine and even ten to one in favour of the dog, which could scarcely be subdued before the fight. The monkey's owner took a stick, about twelve inches long, from his coat pocket, tossed it to the monkey and said:

"Now Jack, pay attention, defend yourself against the dog!"

The butcher cried: "Now, get after the monkey!"

He let the dog go and it sprang at the monkey like a tiger. The monkey was amazingly nimble, jumped about three feet high in the air and when it came down landed directly on the dog's back, bit firmly in the dog's neck, grabbed his opponent's left ear with his hand thereby preventing the dog from turning his head to bite him. In this totally surprising situation the monkey now began to work over the dog's head with his club and he pounded so forcefully and relentlessly on the dog's skull that the poor creature cried out loudly. In short, the skull was soon cracked and the dead dog was carried from the ring. Yet, the monkey was only of medium size."

two people pretending to be something they don't believe in anyway

I'm not a betting man, but I'll wager my fighting monkey against any three of your priestesses that Schori's Episcopal Church will accelerate its long slide into transexual oblivion. And while we're at it, you might also care to explain why borrowing more money will see us clear of debt.

The challenge is on.

LSP