God of Surprises

It's not every day that the numbers-thin Church of England is rescued by a stray cat on the icy streets of a provincial Russian town. So here's a helpful prayer, to mark the event:

God of Surprises, 

you call us

from the narrowness of our traditions

to new ways of being church

from the captivities of our culture to

creative witness for justice

form the smallness of our horizons

to the bigness of your vision.

Beautiful, isn't it, and while we're at it, why not join together in song? Here's one, from Worship and Rituals in a Feminist Key. It's called "You're a Lot Like Me."

(Chorus)

In the very middle - In the very middle - You're a lot like me

A shining rainbow personality

The clothes and the skin -- are just the car you're in

In the very middle you're a lot like me.

(Verse)

Some got castles - Some got shacks - Some got backpacks on their backs

Many different ways to dance and sing

But the most important thing is :

(Chorus)

In the very middle...

How very uplifting.

LSP

                                                                                  

Church of England Saved by Stray Cat

The diminutive Church of England, which has been steadily shrinking for decades, may have been saved, by a stray cat.

The tiny church was found by Masha the cat, where it had been abandoned on the snowy streets of Obninsk, in a small box.

"When I heard her meowing, I thought that perhaps she had injured herself," said local resident Irina Lavrova, "You can imagine my shock when I found her lying in a box next to the Church of England."

Others aren't so sure, believing that the abandoned church may have been US Foreign Policy, or even a baby.

Church of England, Foreign Policy or baby, well done Masha!

LSP

The Dumbest Speech Ever

President Obama addressed the nation yesterday in what some pundits are calling the dumbest State of the Union address ever, tailored to the intellect of an average 14 year old.

Others feel that Obama's an empty fraud, going through a contrived act that fails to hide the hollow sham of his presidency. Nick Gillespie, writing for Time, nails it:

"Arguably the most frustrating thing about Obama’s presidency is that he himself often barely seems to be inhabiting it. He reads about things in the newspapers, just like the rest of us, only playing commander in chief when it suits his fancy. That’s no way to run a country, especially one in which your position is weaker than it was just last year."

But Barack Hussein Obama doesn't care, he's only got two more years to shill and then he can retire, limolib elite rich, on the proceeds of the dumbest speeches ever.

Nice work if you can find it,

LSP

United Kingdom of Gayness

The news is coming in fast and furious from the Sceptered Isle and it's pretty gay. 

No sooner had Stephen Fry tied the rainbow knot with Elliott Spencer, than Edinburgh played host to the world's first ever pagan gay wedding.

Tom Lanting and Iain Robertson, who describe themselves as "hedge witches," were married in a wedding ceremony in an Edinburgh cellar this weekend.

According to the BBC, the gay pagan marriage ritual included "jumping the broom" and "handfasting," as well as drinking a bottle of mead. 

A well known paranormal expert in the U.K. commented, "There's one religion which has always said it has no problem with same-sex marriage. Satanism."

Vicious rumors that Stephen Fry is in a relationship with a 27 year old boy are entirely true.

Mind how you go,

LSP

Monday Shoot

Monday being Martin Luther King and General Lee Day, I figured it was a good idea to shoot some guns. So I went to the range with GWB, who wanted to practice with his new Sig and check out a Christmas gift of a spotting scope.

So we blasted away, which was a lot of fun, then went for an armed excursion in some nearby woods. That was good too, although hoped for squirrels didn't materialize, despite the great stealth and calling expertise of the hunters.

Then, right at dusk, the air was filled with wild howling. It was an eerie, untamed sound and it taught me something, Viz. If you want to call coyotes, set up near the woods by the range. 

Shoot straight,

LSP

Bobcat Hunt

I went out last night in search of bobcats with my philisophical friend, GWB. Two had been shot last week in the dry creek of a parishioner's ranch and that's where we went.

As always, it was good to get out under the stars in the clear country air and the possibility of getting a varmint didn't hurt either. So we called and spotlit and called again, trying out several setups, but the cats weren't having it, not were the coyotes.

But the skunks were, and seemed content to amble across the line of fire towards their various destinations. Too bad we weren't skunk hunting.

Speaking of which, a skunk once barricaded itself in the downstairs bathroom of the Compound. For a couple of days. 

I advise against duplicating that experiment.

Cheers,

LSP

Mad Peacock

After the first Mass of the day we all gathered in the parish hall for "coffee hour," and the talk was mostly about bobcats and goats. Then we were interrupted by an unearthly noise.

It sounded like some kind of alien being, high and crazy, but it was just a mad peacock. Up in a tree.

I'll be going out on a bobcat hunt later this evening.

Keep living the dream,

LSP

Tom Wolfe, Literary Genius or Southern Fop?

I like reading Tom Wolfe's books, and what's not to like? He can write with a laser-like accuracy that's as enjoyable as it's at times disturbing, which leads some to rate him as a latter-day American Dickens or Dostoyevsky.

I'm sure Wolfe would modestly dispute such claims and with that in mind, I once asked a woman of the South if she liked the famous author.

"Mr. Wolfe," she exclaimed, "is a Southern Fop."

She may well have had a point. Here's Tom Wolfe on Hunter Thompson, who he thinks may have been the "great comic writer of the 20th century."

From Bauhaus to Our House,

LSP

I Was Hungry

I took some time off from the tireless campaign against Harvard's lesser, limolib, comsoc ally, Duke, to visit our food bank. 

The food bank feeds a lot of needy people in  our town and it used to provide some help with utility bills. That's stopped now, for the present, and food's the focus.

I used to volunteer there on a pretty regular basis but I've been slack for the last couple of years and that's going to change. After all, there's that bit in Scripture about "I was hungry and you fed me," and we ignore that at our peril.

Does that make me some sort of comsymp leftist shill for the New World Order? On the contrary, it's about charity with accountability at the local level. Let's have more of that and less Leviathan in DC, please.

The Boss of this concern is a good friend, who excitedly told me that someone "from Bynum" had shot a bobcat on his land the other day. Our conversation went like this:

"How big was it?" 

"About as big as a tailgate!"

"Whoa..."

"They used a rabbit distress call, up comes the bobcat, they shot it, then they left!"

"Hunh."

"Well, you come on out and have at it!"

"I sure will!"

And I will. You never know, I might shoot something.

My friend is a very good man and we used to shoot pistols against round bales, which was a lot of fun. He can't do that now, but I understand he still takes the odd shot from a 410 (purchased, ahem, for his wife) now and again. 

God bless,

LSP

Duke, You Lose, We Win

A Typical Day at Duke

That was quick. Duke  has cancelled its plans to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer on its libleft campus of higher dhimmitude.

Friends of Duke

On behalf of all the team here at the Compound, I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to our victory over the rich socialists at Harvard's evil little sister, Duke. But remember, this is one battle in what will assuredly be a long war.

Carry on,

LSP

We Scorn Duke

We scorn Duke. Why? You ask. Well, as a famous philosopher once said:

"It's all fun and games until you wake up and see your buddy's severed head. In your lap."

Good luck with dhimmitude, Duke.

ISIS laughs.

LSP

Episcopal Church Spirit Allies

In case you missed it, here's an excerpt from from the Presiding Shaman Bishop of the Episcopal Church's Christmas sermon, via Stand Firm.

"The altar hanging at an English Advent service was made of midnight blue, with these words across its top: “We thank you that darkness reminds us of light.” Facing all who gathered there to give thanks were images of night creatures – a large moth, an owl, a badger, and a bat – cryptic and somewhat mysterious creatures that can only be encountered in the darkness."

But what about Jesus? Good question, and here's the answer:

Jesus is among us like a flitting moth – will we notice his presence in the street-sleeper? He pierces the dark like a silent, streaking owl seeking food for hungry and defenseless nestlings. He will overturn this world’s unjust foundations like badgers undermining a crooked wall. Like the bat’s sonar, his call comes to each one uniquely – have we heard his urgent 'come and follow'?"

Moth, owl, badger, bat, sometimes you just have to bask in the brilliance. But which one's your magicke spirit ally?

I'll wager my fighting monkey against any number of your priestesses that Jefferts Schori's ally is a  Mothbat.

Feel free to disagree,

LSP