Friday Prince Blogging

Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein

Mature, and still a dish!

Too pooped to post

I will be caught up in (my first) Convention of the Diocese of Rio Grande this weekend, along with work tomorrow and the God thing on Sunday morning. Additionally, the new Dean of St John's Cathedral will be formally instituted tomorrow evening at the Convention Eucharist. Full clergy drag, so I hope the cathedral is cool because I melt under all those layers of fabric.

Also this weekend my home Diocese of California will be meeting in Convention at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.

Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in Albuquerque and San Francisco for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It's the right thing to do

George the Cable Guy

It is rather appalling to think that the coddled fratboy from New Haven, CT, considers it acceptable to speak in public as the President of the United States with his phony Texas affectations, saying "'em" for "them," dropping the letter G from all words ending in "-ing," and damn near saying "git 'er done."

AP photo/ Ron Edmonds (via Dependable Renegade)

The thought of the laziest president in history chastising Congress and telling them all they must do (while ignoring his vetoes and threats of same, the obstructionist tactics of the congressional GOP that delay or defeat practically anything that comes to either floor, and the actual accomplishments of a Congress that has done more than the previous one)--well, it makes the gorge rise along with the blood pressure.

When one contemplates the disastrous policies of this presidency on every imaginable front, the damage done to this nation and the world, and the arrogance with which they flout the law at every turn, it really is amazing and pathetic that millions don't march in the streets every week demanding a return to constitutional government. By the time folks get around to marching they will have the new device that causes intolerable pain in place for crowd control.

Have we already kissed our democracy goodbye?

WTF is this man still doing in office? Will the dems in Congress never find their gonads?

It was painful to listen to the press conference this morning. He sounded drunk, as well as stupid, insulting, and inarticulate. Narcissists should never be given this much power. The man (and I use the term as an act of obedience to the Christian faith) is a blight on the office.

There. I've stewed all day and had my rant.
--the cranky BB

Here's a film I look forward to seeing

Though I suspect watching it may be painful.



for the BIBLE tells me so, the movie


From the movie's website:

Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

Bearsy Bob says check it out.
[Any old fans of Joe Bob Briggs and his movie reviews out there?]
--the BB

Not that pure and def not that young

This is not a young blogger.

The BB in Ploshchad Ostrovskovo, St Petersburg,

in front of the Statue of Katherine the Lawgiver

The choices were too narrow, not allowing for all the answers that lie between them. Anyway, while I'm being silly and taking quizzes....





h/t to Pseudopiskie, who scored the same
--the BB

I love murals

Our Lady of Kazan Russian Orthodox Church,
4th Street, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Railroad underpass mural, Tennant Street, Pinole, California

Mission District, San Francisco, California

Many years ago during Easter Week...

... the liturgical one, of course, not the secular spring break nor the erroneous confusion of Holy Week, but the first week of the Great Fifty Days, a friend and I fled work and spent some time in Santa Cruz at a retreat on the beach. Fabulous! I quite recommend it.

One late afternoon as we were walking along we agreed that "we worship a goofy God."

'Nuff said.

Which Disney character am I?

created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Goofy Your alter ego is Goofy! You are fun and great to be around, and you are always willing to help others. You arn't worried about embarrassing yourself, so you are one who is more willing to try new things. The Beast 75% Goofy 75% Sleeping Beauty 63% Ariel 56% Pinocchio 44% Cinderella 44% Peter Pan 44% Snow White 25% Cruella De Ville 19% Donald Duck 13%

--the BB

I am so relieved

Relieved that I score so low for Augie and Edwards. Hmm, I took this a few hours ago and my Tillich was higher than Luther but as I was trying to post this my whole system crashed. Oh well. The main result remains the same: Moltmann. No surprise to me.

Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Jürgen Moltmann The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about. Jürgen Moltmann 67% Martin Luther 53% Paul Tillich 53% John Calvin 47% Friedrich Schleiermacher 33% Charles Finney 27% Karl Barth 27% Anselm 13% Augustine 13% Jonathan Edwards 7%

Just for the record, I know that Augie said some really good things about God and love and grace and all. He was also one hella effed up chap--too much the Manichee and twisted on sex. Then again, the poor chap had Monica in the background screeching, "Augie! When you gonna dump that trollop and come home to live with your mother and be a good Christian boy?" Sheesh.

You may well guess that Monica is not on my calendar: chiseled from the diptychs permanently. I just don't need to celebrate the patron of nagging mothers, thanks.

I like Moltmann. He makes sense to me. What does not make sense is splitting the First and Second Persons of the Trinity and calling Patripassionism a heresy. How can you read the Bible and its tales of a passionate God and decide that God cannot suffer? That is just not a biblical idea. Give me the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which I believe is also one with the Heart of God (it's all metaphor folks, so chill). A God who feels what creation feels is a God I can, will, and do worship.

I have seen too much of the dark side of "traditional" theories of atonement not to consider most of what is claimed to be codswallop. Sin: real. Redemption: crucial. Vicarious sacrifice to placate an angry deity: horsefeathers, as my mother would say. Christ's obedience: very important, though less so than its ground, his union of love with God. The Cross: absolutely central. The devil's role in all this: irrelevant. When God is at work, everything else shrinks in significance.

Glory to God who has not abandoned us in our sin and folly, nor is untouched by our pain and sorrow, nor unmoved by our lostness and confusion, but who comes to us in grace and power and mercy to bring us back to Godself!
--the BB