Retreat

St. Francis Xavier

Just back from our diocesan clergy retreat at a Jesuit house on Lake Dallas. There was no liturgical dance, frightening Clown Masses, or bad craziness of any sort. There was a statue of St. Francis Xavier, which I liked and a neat sunrise or two - uplifted the spirits unlike...

Sun over the Chapel

the neo-brutalist architecture of parts of the retreat house, but that tends to go with the territory and was more than compensated for by the tranquility of the place.

The Halls of Rome

Even managed to get some reading in, "The 'West', Islam and Islamism", by Caroline Cox and John Marks. They pose the question, "Is ideological Islam compatible with liberal democracy?" and answer that it isn't. Read the book if you can, it's short and clear, not least about 'abrogation' and the "Verse of the Sword" in the 9th Sura.

Say no to dhimmitude,

LSP

Oh Dear.

Diocese of London

A UK member of the LSP research team managed to take some time off from Kandahar to send in this curious tale, from London's Evening Standard. Here's a quote:

"The Rev David Gilmore, rector of St Anne's Anglican Church in Soho, was removed from office a week before Christmas after church authorities received complaints.

Mr Gilmore, 40, who is gay, agreed to let two members of the Armed Forces stay at the rectory after a servicemen's gay rights conference in December 2009. The 30-year-old RAF member and a sailor aged 20, referred to as A and B, claimed Mr Gilmore plied them with wine and engaged in 'lurid' conversations, including details of his sexual conquests. They told the panel he made it clear they 'were not the first people he had tried to sexually lure, that he had never had a sailor before but soldiers were fun, and that he offered B to come and sleep with him in his bed'". 

But that wasn't the problem. No. It was Gilmore visiting the 'guestroom' the next morning without any clothes on. That did it for the mysterious 'A and B' who went to 'church authorities' in the diocese of London.

You just couldn't make this stuff up, except perhaps, sadly, you could.

LSP

Horse & Mud

Posh as you like Walmart boots

Finally, after about a month of rib-agony, I felt up for a ride. The weather was terrible, sleetish rain, biting wind and no lack of mud. Not dissimilar, I suppose, to Wales, or the Somme, or basic training at some training ground deemed suitably 'character building.' But the horses didn't mind, they had great fun bucking about in the mud...

Trip & BeBop playing in the mud

And I had a good, though short ride. JB was pretty skittish and I wasn't about to tempt fate and grievous bodily harm, so we walked about in an arena practicing turns and circles. Felt good to be back in the saddle, even at a slow pace and perhaps that's wise - doesn't hurt to walk before you run, or something like that.

Stay on the horse and well away from liturgical dance.

Cheers,

LSP

Church Builders

PCUSA Assembly 

Once upon a time the Presbyterian Church was a grim, Calvinist, 'ban Christmas, support Cromwell' sort of affair. But that was then and this now, with interpretive liturgical dance being the order of the day.

PCUSA, North America's largest Presbyterian body, has suffered a 2 million member decline since 1965, with a 63,027 member loss in 2009 alone. The average age of PCUSAns is 61, evidently. 

Perhaps liturgical dance will reverse such disturbing trends.

More anon - on guns and horses.

Cheers,

LSP

Bishops! Pt. II

 Shaw up to some skulduggery at St. Andrewes

The TEC Bishop of Massachusetts is a 'monk', a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE). He says he's a 'conservative' and, 'That's all I am, a sign of unity of the whole church.' That's why he married two high-ranking lesbian clergypersons in his Boston cathedral on New Years day. The Revs Mally Loyd and Katherine 'abortion is a blessing' Ragsdale.

 Mothership

Here's a picture of Ragsdale, in scary space creature 'campaign mode'. 

Top off-world antics, Bishop. Seven Alien Heads.

Congrats.

LSP

Calgary

Ventured into the frozen wilds of the North to visit with family in Calgary over the New Year; neat views over downtown in a 'skyscraper on the edge of the world' kind of way. The city has an efficient light rail service, complete with futuristic platforms...

 Well Done, Light Rail

and a new building called 'The Bow', which rises above the place like a giga-NSDAP ministry on steroids. The cranes on the top of the thing give an idea of scale.

 Triumph of the Will

After a couple of days the weather cleared and the sun glinted off a light dusting of high altitude global warming. I found it beautiful but then again I don't have to live with the stuff; what a fierce climate - respect to the people who pioneered the place. Made of stern stuff.

Warming

Back in Texas now, which is, of course, great but I'd recommend Calgary. The city is booming thanks to oil and gas, the people are friendly, there's a 'High Street' with pubs - result - and plenty of decent places to eat. The Rockies are near too, if you've a mind to go ice-climbing/skiing/snowboarding and during the summer there's no shortage of rodeo amusement.


There are drawbacks - the place is expensive, but you'd expect that from a boom town. Visit if you can, it's a singular city.


Happy late New Year & Epiphany,


LSP

Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Vigil Masses at the Missions then a scarifyin' drive to Dallas, where had turned in for the night. So I took advantage of the lull to watch a program about an alien base at Dulce; curious.

Regardless of the impending "disclosure event", here's an interesting, if slightly somber thought:

"When the unstoppable bullet hits the impenetrable wall, we find the religious experience. It is precisely here that one will grow... Heroism could be redefined for our time as the ability to stand paradox."

Robert Johnson wrote that, I found it on the Shirt of Flame blog.

Mind those bullets!

Merry Christmas!

LSP

Pistol

S&W .38 Spl

Wasn't able to ride this morning owing to a nasty case of bruised ribs but took the .38 out for a spin. Shot at 10 and 20 yards against an aggressive square of white paper and it's larger ally, a feed sack.

Did better at the longer range, oddly, then switched over to .22 to do deadly work among assorted cans and a hard to see cigarette box on a stick.

Where's the Target?

I love shooting and today reminded me that pistols are especially enjoyable. Why? Well, they certainly bring the explosive action up close, and I like that because it's exciting. They're also neat in themselves, as firearms - then again, I'm sympathetic to that. Not allowed to own them in England, unless you're a bad guy and have one anyway.

That reminds me of some man in a pub years ago who kept poking me in the ribs, saying:

Some Man: I've gotta '9'.
LSP: Pardon?
Some Man: I've gotta '9'!
LSP: Excuse me?
Some Man (poking vigorously): A '9', a '9'!!
LSP: Ah, a '9'. I'd like a pint of Stella, please, barman.

The '9' holder ran out of steam, fortunately; perhaps the fabled '9' was fictional.

Cheers,

LSP

The Eclipse and the Witch

My rubbish picture of the eclipse

For the first time in 372 years a total eclipse of the moon coincided with the Winter Solstice. Not only that but evidently the sun, moon and earth were in alignment with our "galactic core."

Not wanting to miss out, I gazed up into the heavens, listening to Lemmy sing "The Watcher." Nothing quite like a bit of early '70s space rock, I always think.

But regardless of the implausibility of Brock, Kilminster et al leaving earth on a spaceship, some think that the eclipse has great spiritual significance. Such as the goddess worshiping witch, Starhawk, who thinks the eclipse/solstice/galactic alignment has powerful magic potential.

"For those of you who like to align your meditations and your magic with the movements of the stars, we stand tonight between the past and the future. For the first hour and a quarter of the eclipse...it's as if we step out of time. We are free of the past, and we can consciously create the future, for ourselves, for our communities, for the earth," said the Wiccan priestess witch to abc News.

Here's a picture of Starhawk.

Starhawk on right, with woman

And here's the witch channeling the Star Goddess:

The Charge of the Star Goddess

Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body encircles the universe ...

"I who am the beauty of the green Earth,
The white Moon among the Stars,
And the Mystery of the Waters,
I call upon your soul to arise and come unto Me.
For I am the Soul of Nature, which gives life to the universe.

From Me all things proceed,
And unto Me they must return.
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices,
For behold - all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals...

For behold, I have been with you from the beginning,
And I am that which is attained at the end of desire."

Pagan Tomfoolery

"All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals." Terrifyin' prospect.

This site continues to stand against paganism and goddess worship, in case you wondered.

God bless,

LSP

Dawkins - Peerless Stinker

Dawkins

From time time to time this blog degenerates into a samey mix of horses, guns, space creatures and cheap jibes against the fast disappearing ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada) and its larger sister TEC (The Episcopal Church). To say nothing of the all too easy game of awarding "alien heads" to offending ecclesiastics.

So here's some philosophy to even things out; it's a reflection on Dawkins' take on Aquinas' 4th Way and you'll have to forgive the length but I like the argument.

First, the 4th Way itself, from the Summa:

Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble and the like. But 'more' and 'less' are predicated of different things, according as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being [i.e. maximally ontologically secure]; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being, as it is written in [Aristotle's] Metaph. ii. Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus; as fire, which is the maximum heat, is the cause of all hot things. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

Dawkins doesn't like this at all and decides to sneer:

"That's an argument? You might as well say, people vary in smelliness but we can make the comparison only by reference to a perfect maximum of conceivable smelliness. Therefore there must exist a pre-eminently peerless stinker, and we call him God."

But Aquinas is dealing with properties that have an intrinsic and logical, as opposed to de facto, maximum. Eric Mascall explains:

"Goodness, so the argument claims, demands as its cause a God who is good; while heat, though it necessarily demands a God whose knowledge of possible being includes an idea of heat, does not demand a God who is hot as its cause, but only a God who can create."

Peter Williams sums up:

"In modern philosophical terminology, Aquinas is arguing along the following lines:

1. Things exist in the world around us that exhibit finite degrees of great-making properties (e.g. being, goodness, truth, beauty)

2. The existence of something exhibiting a great-making property to a finite degree implies the existence of something that possesses the property in question to a maximal degree

3. Therefore, all great making properties possessed in finite degree by beings in the world around us, including being, are possessed to a maximal degree by something

4. An effect cannot exceed the greatness of its cause

5. Therefore, there exists a maximally ontologically secure being that possess every great-making property possessed by its effects to a maximal degree; and this we call God.

It should at least be clear that Aquinas' argument is logically valid and consequently that this line of thought cannot be dismissed with a jeering reference to smelly people, which is all Dawkins does."

Well said, Peter Williams.

This site supports Aquinas -- not that he needs it.

Cheers,

LSP

Iron Horse, Real Horse

Iron Horse, Real Horse

Found myself scouting about the used car shops the other day, checking out 4x4 pick-ups, when I saw a chopper nonchalantly parked up in a place of its own. It reminded me of Nam, Chelt'Nam, that is, the town's bikers and, of course, "Iron Horse" by Motorhead. But all that was a very long time ago.

Now I get to go on a real horse and find myself returning to basics - spent the morning walking JB around obstacles and over ground poles, with special emphasis on circling to the right. She's forward now, so it seems time to concentrate on control, which'll make a good base for going very fast and jumping over things. That's my plan, anyway.

She managed three successive flying changes the other day; people tell me that's very impressive and it indicates high athletic potential on JB's part. I wish that I'd asked for them deliberately...

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Bishops!

Bishop Sean Manchester

"They should all be locked up and put in a cage..."

Fr. Bowling on certain bishops

Thanks to the untiring efforts of researchers at Team LSP, I can open this series on "Bishops" with Sean Manchester, leader of Britain's Old Catholic Church, founder of the Sacerdotal Society of the Precious Blood, Superior General of the Order of the Holy Graal, Bishop of Glastonbury(!), and Primate of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. You can read about it here, if you have the energy.

Readers may recall that he 'staked out' the Highgate Cemetary Vamp, back in the day, and wrote a book about it.

That's because Sean is a Vampire Hunter. Here he is with a stake.

Sean with tool of the trade - from some Spanish blog

Vampire Hunter? Yes, and for that reason awarded a sturdy six out of ten alien heads.

Well done Sean!

LSP