The Feast of All Souls

Today is the Feast of All Souls, when we pray for the faithful departed. Atheists think that's stupid because they don't believe in souls, God, heaven or hell. Good luck with that. Some, though not all Protestants think that prayers for the dead are stupid because they believe in something called "soul sleep." 

No such thing as hell?

According to soul sleep theorists, you fall asleep when you die and if you're asleep you can't benefit from prayers offered on your behalf. More serious Protestants, such as Calvinists, believe that God has made up His mind from all eternity as to whether you're going up to heaven or down to the fiery pit. So there's no point in praying for the dead and to do so reduces the Lord's sovereignty. There is, they argue, one mediator between God and Man, who is Christ. Prayers for the departed, they feel, diminish that.

Reformers smashing it up

But soul sleep is problematic because scripture reveals the saints to be alive, albeit not on earth. We see this on the Mount of Transfiguration, where Our Lord converses with Moses and Elijah.  According to the Transfiguration, holy souls are alive instead of snoring, whether gracefully or not, under the horns of the heavenly altar.

No sleeping at the Altar

Bearing in mind the eternal simultaneity of God's knowledge, this allows us to pray for departed and ask for their prayers, which reduces the mediatorship of Christ no more than asking one another for prayers. In fact it adds to it, as all prayer, properly made, is directed to Christ and hence to the Father.

So don't be a soul sleeper, pray instead for the holy souls and ask them for their intercession.

May they rest in peace,

LSP

All Saints

Today is the Feast of All Saints, when we commemorate the holy men and women of God and ask for their powerful intercession. Protestants think that idolatry, which is ridiculous.

You can celebrate the Feast the right way.

Or the wrong way.

God bless,

LSP

Rogue Bishop Found Deep in the Tundra?

Rowan

Rumours that the elusive former Bishop of Calgary, Derek Hoskin, had left earth along with his mythically small denomination ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada), may be unfounded.

Anglican Bishop?

A crack team of Russian scientists have just concluded DNA testing on hair samples taken from deep within the frozen wasteland of Siberia, leading them to speculate that they have discovered a new species, part man, part monkey.

Derek

According to scientists at the Universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the hair "came from a human-like creature which is not a Homosapien yet is more closely related to man than a monkey. We think we have found an Anglican Bishop, possibly Derek Hoskin."

Rowan?

Previous attempts to verify supposed sightings of Derek Hoskin have failed due to lack of evidence, but three separate DNA tests of the "yeti hair" may put the enigma to rest. A fourth test is set to take place in the United Kingdom.

An alternative theory suggests that the mysterious hair may come from the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury.

Derek? Or Rowan?

Neither Lambeth Palace nor the Diocese of Calgary were available for comment.

LSP

Ride On & Halloween Isn't Satan's Birthday

August was a good month for riding, which is strange because of the heat, but September and October were a bit of a bust. I foolishly didn't make the time. But that's changing now.

I was pleased to see that JB's put on some weight and was easy to catch, tack up and mount. We went for an easygoing ride around the 10 acre pasture she lives in, just walking with an occasional Western trot with lots of practice moving in a controlled way around mesquites and various trails. 

She did well, with good, willing response to leg and seat. I was pleased with that and it reminded me that riding's good for mind, soul and body. It also means a pastoral visit to parishioners, which is no bad thing either.

Downright Scary

Speaking of bad, some people think that Halloween is Satan's birthday. That's not true, it's the eve of All Saints.

Saints, pray for us,

LSP

A Truck Full of Guns

Headed off to the range on Monday with a truck full of guns; an AR, a bolt .22 and the newly fixed up Lee Enfield. GWB brought some Ruger action to the party with a 10/22 and a Mini.

It was mostly about the AR and the Mini, starting off at 30 and 50 yards to get the hang of things then moving out to 100. Two very different rifles. I like the wood and steel of the Mini, which makes it more of a "ranch gun" but I also like the Milspec patriotism of the AR. It's argued that the AR is is the more accurate carbine and I think the best group of the day came from it, but in our hands the difference was pretty negligible. I'd say the Mini's  front sight post is better than the AR's because it's thinner but on the other hand, it's easier to fix optics to the AR. Maybe Santa will task his elves to sort me out for an Eotech or the mighty Trijicon...

At 100 yards we took it in turns to go for head shots/center mass. Ten rounds to each in our own time, several times. GWB claims that his nickname in the Service was "Head Shot." I find that unlikely for several reasons.

A tale of two empires

The Lee shot well but the scope had wandered off zero, so we spent some time getting it back in the X Ring and it still wasn't quite right by the end of the day. This might be the Holy Spirit telling me to purchase a Leupold Rifleman; maybe, I'll give the used Burris Fullfield another chance when time and ammo permit. Still, the gun was "hog accurate."

Moral of the story?

Don't be a slacker, get out and shoot.

LSP

Benghazi Treason?

It seems that the Banghazi fiasco, in which Ambassador Stevens was killed along with three other Americans, including several former SEALS, just won't go away.

We've seen the Administration lie, "It was the film that did it," when all along the White House Situation Room knew that a calculated attack was being made on our Ambassador and his team. We've also heard that repeated requests for support on the ground were denied.

At best, through inexcusable ignorance, our Commander in Chief turned his back on Americans who were under fire and then lied about it. At worst, something far more serious was in play. Admiral Lyons, writing in the Washington Times, hints at the nature of the beast (via pjmedia):

"…one of Stevens’ main missions in Libya was to facilitate the transfer of much of Gadhafi’s military equipment, including the deadly SA-7 – portable SAMs – to Islamists and other al Qaeda-affiliated groups fighting the Assad Regime in Syria. In an excellent article, Aaron Klein states that Stevens routinely used our Benghazi consulate (mission) to coordinate the Turkish, Saudi Arabian and Qatari governments’ support for insurgencies throughout the Middle East. Further, according to Egyptian security sources, Stevens played a “central role in recruiting Islamic jihadists to fight the Assad Regime in Syria.”

Why is it that our government is sending soldiers to fight radical Islamists in Afghanistan, all the while arming and training them in Syria?

I don't think that question should go away.

LSP

Dove Mojo

Dove season's over, at least until December, and most weeks I've been able to get out in the field against the  avian acrobats. The result? An awful lot of sound and shotgun fury along with a small but steady stream of birds for the frying pan or grill.

Tasty

In previous years I'd beat the treelines and fields hoping to surprise the feathered adversaries and shoot them as they broke cover. There's an excitement in that; you hear the birds feeding and move in their direction, senses sharp, then bang, they explode from cover and bang, off goes the gun. Sometimes you get a hit and there's a bird or two for the bag. But more often than not they have your measure and fly before you're in range.

Mojo

This year involved a bit of that but the focus was on the set up. Conceal yourself in a likely place and wait for the dove to fly in. GWB introduced a Mojo decoy, which is a plastic dove on a spike with battery powered wings. I was skeptical. Surely the keen eyed birds would scorn the fakey lure. Not a bit of it. They'd fly straight in, dive bombing the Mojo, leaving you to break cover and snap off a shot.

But remember, if the birds see you skulking about the Mojo they won't take the bait.

Just sayin'.

LSP

Texas Threatens U.N. Smackdown

Texas lowered the boom on the United Nations this week by threatening to throw its election observers in jail if they enter polling booths in the upcoming U.S. election.

According to The Hill, the threat of a Lone Star smackdown was met by fury and defiance on the part of U.N. officials.

The United nations

“The threat of criminal sanctions against [international] observers is unacceptable,” said Janez Lenarčič, a U.N. bureaucrat.“The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Texas Rangers

Unfazed by Lenarcic's attempt to subordinate state sovereignty to a Brussels based New World Order, Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, warned the U.N. that its "observers" were not authorized by Texas Law to enter polling stations and faced jail time if they were found within 100 yards of them.

In other news, Illuminati shill, Piers Morgan, faces potential prosecution for illegal phone hacking while Editor of the Daily Mirror, a left-leaning tabloid in the United Kingdom.

Piers Morgan, Illuminati Stooge

Now we're talking.

LSP

Vicar of Slap Out

When the bishop calls you up and asks you to take on another Mission church you don't say, "No, bishop Iker, I'm awfully sorry but I can't be priest in charge of Slap Out, aka Hubbard." On the contrary, you say "of course, I'd be glad to help out."

was a train station - now  a church hall

So now I get to go to a third church on Sundays and I don't mind that at all. I especially like the congregation, who have good spirit, and the parish hall, which used to be Malone's railway station. The church bought it in the early 1950s, put it on a truck and drove it to Slap Out.

slap out of business

Why was Hubbard called Slap Out? Because, back in the 1860s, customers would go to the General Store only to be told that it was "slap out" of whatever they wanted. 

protestant work ethic

Slap Out's less basic now but it could do with a butcher, a pub, a bakery, and a gun/tack shop, maybe even some kind of book shop, for those of us who like to read. Why is that too much to ask? As it goes, the town has a couple of cafes, a masonic lodge, a feed shop and a pharmacy. It has a war memorial too, in the form of an attack helicopter.

I never in a thousand years would've thought I'd have a cure of souls in Hubbard. Why? I never knew it existed, but now I do and I'm not complaining. 

I like these small Texas towns.

LSP

The Ordinariate. Loving the Patrimony

The Team's been hard at work, this time in an Ordinariate way, sending in photos of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and a church not so very far from Fort Worth.

I'm all in favor, but let the reader understand that I'm loyal to bishop Iker, the Missions and, as always, to Texas.

Deo Vindice,

LSP

Look, A Sign!

A member of Team LSP just sent this in, from somewhere in East Texas. Here's another Texan picture, from Hubbard in 1908.

Slap Out

Hubbard used to be called Slap Out in the 1860s but was re-branded after a former Governor in the 1880s. Slap Out has 1,589 citizens as of the last census.

Burning Man

In other news, Big Tex has burnt to a crisp.

Somehow that seems relevant to me.

All for Texas.

LSP

America Doesn't Have a Class System

America overthrew British tyranny back in the 18th century. No taxation without representation and the rights of man, sort of thing.

Because of that we don't have a class system here, unlike England.

Thank God for that then.

Champagne all 'round.

LSP