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

Good Friday

Here's a couple of Collects, by way of general Good Friday edification.

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.

And while we're at it, spare a thought for Cyprus. I liked this, from SOLAS, which is a Christian advocacy group in Scotland.

Who knew there were any Christians left in Scotland?

God bless,

LSP

Maundy Thursday

St. Thomas 5th Ave, Altar of Repose. Nice.

Some people think that the word Maundy comes from the Latin Mandatum, meaning commandment, or mandate. Perhaps it does and for a fact, Maundy Thursday sees Christ give several commandments, namely to "do this", instituting the Mass, and to "love one another as I have loved you." The faithful recall both this evening as they worship.

Well Done!

Some get it right.

Awesome

Others get it disastrously wrong, like the Episcopal cathedral in Cleveland. Maundy Thursday for them meant a kind of potluck Eucharist meal. According to their website:

Hideous Disaster

"On Maundy Thursday, April 5, we commemorate the Last Supper Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion on Good Friday. At 6 p.m., all are welcome to Cathedral Hall for a ritualized potluck meal. We will break bread together and share Eucharist as a community. Following the meal, members of the Trinity youth group will lead us into the Cathedral where if you like, you may participate in foot washing, walk the labyrinth and view the Stations of the Cross exhibit."

Make Yewkrist

Well that's just great.

Tracy Lind, see above, Trinity Cathedral's notoriously lesbian Dean, keeps applying to be a bishop in a bad case of "I desperately want to be something I don't believe in anyway." She keeps getting turned down, you can read all about it in the Virtueonline archive.

Deranged

Stay out of the labyrinth and have a blessed Triduum,

LSP

Some Kind of Joke?

The Royal Kraal

Old Etonian Justin Welby has been enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury to the sound of beating drums and tribal dancing. Maybe the new rhythm will help reverse the Church of England's precipitous decline into irrelevancy. 

Isandlwhana

Maybe some ethnic-style liturgical dance will fill all those empty pews.

Fish Rising

Who knows, perhaps Justin's awesome fish vestments are going to bring the people in, just like the priestesses haven't. You just never know... In the meanwhile, Cyprus' banks appears to have run out money, quite unlike ours. 

Carry on.

LSP

Oh Dear.

satan

Satan/Obama/Satan/Obama/Satan/Obama?

well done

In other news, Mark of the Beast Daily reports that Cyprus is running out of cash. But there's nothing to worry about! No one will ever, ever, take your cash to pay for their debt. That'll never happen here. Ever. Sorted. Big sigh of relief.

So, take your money out of our rotten banks while you can. Maybe, you never know, it'll be worth something. Why? Just 'coz, or fiat.

Sayin.'

LSP

Are You Being Served?

boy bishop

For those of you who don't know, the Episcopal Church (TEC) is busy suing everything that moves, most recently the vaguely traditional Diocese of South Carolina. AS Haley has this to say about TEC's mindset:

"One can but marvel at the madness that drives megalomania. First of all, it knows no boundaries: no matter what the odds or the ultimate cost, everything can be sacrificed so long as the sacrifice is seen as advancing the goal, which is to annihilate anything that appears to be threatening, or that is not already under complete subjugation. And individual megalomania is as nothing compared to the institutional variety, which signals all too often the last stage of an institution's eclipse. For when the rank and file are too ensconced in their ways to see where their leaders' follies and delusions are taking them, then the outrages of those leaders grow in proportion as the institution itself declines."

crowd pleaser

Well said, Mr. Haley. 

TEC has apparently spent some $20 million in ongoing lawsuits against trads and is busy losing some 20,000 members annually.

Carry on.

LSP

Filthy Beasts!

Lent, for me, involves a certain amount of fasting, self-denial, almsgiving and extra worship. It also means weapons cleaning.

The deadly assault rifle was pretty filthy. It got a good cleaning.

So did the .45.

A clean gun is a happy gun, I always think.

God bless,

LSP

Lent Begins...

I know it's two days late and several dollars short, but I hope you all had a blessed and penitential Ash Wednesday and beginning of Lent.

I'll leave you with some Eliot, from Ash Wednesday:

Lady of silences 

Calm and distressed 

Torn and most whole 

Rose of memory 

Rose of forgetfulness 

Exhausted and life-giving 

Worried reposeful 

The single Rose 

Is now the Garden 

Where all loves end 

Terminate torment 

Of love unsatisfied 

The greater torment 

Of love satisfied

 End of the endless 

Journey to no end 

Conclusion of all that 

Is inconclusible 

Speech without word and 

Word of no speech 

Grace to the Mother 

For the Garden 

Where all love ends.

Reads like a Litany, I always think. CS. Lewis hated TS Eliot's poetry, apparently. I like both.

God bless,

LSP

Vladimir Putin, The New Constantine?

Vladimir Putin, former officer in the dreaded KGB and ruler of Russia, has pronounced strongly in favor of the Orthodox Church and faith itself, stating that the Church should have greater involvement in family life, education and the armed forces.

"The Russian Orthodox Church and other traditional religions should get every opportunity to fully serve in such important fields as the support of family and motherhood, the upbringing and education of children, youth, social development, and to strengthen the patriotic spirit of the armed forces," said Putin during celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of Patriarch Kirill’s accession. Putin went on to denounce “primitive secularism”, which he compared unfavorably to “patriotism, faith and strength of spirit.”

Encouraged by state support of the Church, Patriarch Kirill has described Putin’s governance as a “miracle of God.”

In America, by contrast, Christian prayer is outlawed in state run schools.

Milvian Bridge

Would that make Obama Maxentius to Putin's Constantine?

Just asking.

LSP

Pope Resigns!

Pope Benedict XVI, de facto leader of Christendom, has resigned due to ill health. He was hated, scorned and despised by celebrity atheists, assorted culture of death libs and deranged Chick Tract protestants. Why? Mostly because he had the temerity to be a Catholic Christian. Well go figure.

that's the style

I thought he was outstanding, but now I'm scared. Who will follow? Peter the Roman?

Let's hope not.

LSP

Just A Shot Away

I35

Sometimes what I do is get on the highway in the rain and the dark and wind up Gimme Shelter full volume  on the truck's basic but powerful jukebox. Armed?

fighting monkey armed with club

Ask the monkey.

Fierce beasts, fighting monkeys and that, readers, is just the way it is.

LSP

Mexican Breakfast Hot Spot!

Country life isn't just about field sports. No, sometimes it involves a short ride in the truck to the town square and a visit to Montes.

Montes makes a fine Mexican breakfast and I usually get Huevos Rancheros, which I eat while listening to their eclectic mix of  Latino House and assorted "pop." 

I like the Montes hot sauce; a sure-fire cure for a bad tooth, in case you wondered. The re-fried beans, fried potatoes and eggs over easy on corn tortillas aren't half bad either.

Down Town!

Huevos Rancheros done, I'm all setup for another day in the Mission Field. If you're ever in town, check out Montes, it's pretty much what we have by way of a restaurant and I give it three, maybe four, diner stars out of five.

all about the pickup

In other news, I notice Germany, and several other countries are repatriating their gold from the New York Fed. The Fed has told their German friends that they can have their gold back, don't worry!, in seven years. Surely, we tell ourselves, it's all there... You can read all about it somewhere on ZeroHedge.

Cheers,

LSP