Friday Prince Blogging

It's still Thursday where I am but I figured I would post now so y'all can start your Friday right.

Today we remain with the Princely House of Liechtenstein, turning our camera toward Prince Hans-Adam II's second son, His Serene Highness Prince Maximilian Nikolaus Maria, and his lovely wife Princess Angela. So there's some equal opportunity for those of you who like looking at pretty women. Hey, so do I.

Prince Max was born on 16 May 1969 in St Gallen. He married Angela Gisela Brown (of Panamá) in St Vincent Ferrer's Church, New York, on 29 January 2000 and they have one child, Prince Alfons Constantin Maria of Liechtenstein (all according to Wikipedia and the princely house website).

Prince Max is fifth in line to the throne after his older brother, Erbprinz (Hereditary Prince) Alois and his three sons.

Look, since HSH Alois and the boys are doing fine, I'm sure Liechtenstein won't have to call on Maximilian, so I'm willing to trade W for Max until we can elect someone with two brain cells to rub together, a sense of morality, and a feeling of duty toward the welfare of the American People. I'll throw in Cheney and Rice if we can get Angela too. Deal?
--the BB

Just for the record

I am outraged by the false outrage generated over Pete Stark's having spoken the truth on the floor of the House. Ever since shoving firecrackers up frogs' butts, George Bush has taken pleasure in blowing things up. We all know Bush is a narcissist incapable of empathy and untouched by the damage he does except as it affects him. Pete Stark was getting into only somewhat hyperbolic territory when he spoke in outrage of laments that we cannot afford S-CHIP:

“You don’t have money to fund the war or children. But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

Over the top? Absolutely. Might he have toned it down some? Of course. Does he owe the President an apology? Hell no! When Bush apologies for lying us into an unnecessary, illegal, immoral war that has wasted lives, shattered a country, and made the Unites States less safe, THEN it might be time to apologize to him.

Do we all recall the crack-addled fratboy making jokes about not finding WMD? Just what is so funny about exposing the bad intelligence and bad judgment that sent our troops to invade and occupy a country that was not threatening us (and then got our troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed)? Every time that sick SOB punctuates his illiterate, insulting speech with his nervous giggle, don't you wonder what happened to his soul somewhere along the line? (Well, considering his family situation one needn't wonder.)

Oh, and does Rep. Stark owe his colleagues an apology? Not in my opinion. His words hurt no one, and any harm consequent to his uttering them was caused by overreaction, not the words themselves.

Bush has so degraded the office of President of the United States that he can lay no claim to respect for the office so long as he is in it.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Welcome, friends, to Constitution Thursday!

Hope you've enjoyed the Iraq fiasco because the Iran nightmare is coming at us like a freight train and nobody is doing a damned thing to stop the crazies.
--the BB

My momma had a saying

All right, y'all know I'm a phony not from the South and when she was alive I called her "mother" and not momma, but my momma had a mouth on her and I love to recall some of her sayings.

One of those was: "How can anyone be so stupid and live?"



I think we have met the die-hard Bush supporters.

Christ, have mercy.

You had it right, Mom, you had it right.

h/t to Hoffmania for the video
--the BB

The Supreme Law of the Land

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I'm just saying....

Article VI.
Clause 2: This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

[Are you listening, Congress? Do you remember this document, somewhere in the recesses of your memory?]
--the BB

I try always to have a book with me

Image via the Santa Clara County Library

As usual, I found several of the multiple-choice questions offered no accurate choice (or could be taken too many ways--I AM a Myers-Briggs iNtuitive, after all):

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm You're probably in the final stages of a Ph.D. or otherwise finding a way to make your living out of reading. You are one of the literati. Other people's grammatical mistakes make you insane.
Dedicated Reader
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

This is what the results should look like:



One room of my house is the designated library. Its two long walls are taken up by seven-foot-high bookshelves. There is one bookshelf in my bedroom and two more in my library. And half my books are still in boxes in the garage. When there are funds I will get more bookshelves. I should not be allowed in bookstores.

I got my "fad reader" mojo, what there is of it, for acknowledging having read The Da Vinci Code, The Name of the Rose, and at least two Harry Potter books (though I fudged on that question--it would never occur to me to read Bridges of Madison County, also on that list).
-the BB

The upside

I come from a line of Cannabis farmers.

Granted Cannabis sativa var. sativa as opposed to Cannabis sativa var. indica. Still.

Why it is illegal to grow hemp in the United States is beyond me. That version of Cannabis is useless for psychopharmacology and extremely versatile as a crop with many uses. It simply makes sense to grow the stuff and take advantage of its fibers and oils. What are we so afraid of?

Ay, there's the rub. What are Americans so afraid of? Their own shadow, it seems, not to mention dirty looks from W or the thought of Republican disapprobation. [Rolls eyes.] Or wild-eyed foreign religious fanatics, as if we didn't have enough home-grown ones.

Update: Well, I suppose one example does not make for "a line of Cannabis farmers" but it sounded good.
--the BB

Well shut my mouth

My slave-owning (good God, that is painful to write), tobacco and hemp growing great-great-grandfather Judge George Rhoades sympathized with the South during the recent unpleasantness (no, not the Anglican squabbles, the REAL unpleasantness--besides, old George was a pillar of the Baptist Church). He was a judge in Saline County, Missouri. I know about his southern sympathies because somewhere among my effects is his son's Bible in which may be found Judge Rhoades' obituary, which mentions them. Having googled my ancestor, I just learned the details about crops and the manner (i.e., slavery) of cultivating them.

Though I am fond of grits (and of my little Texas bluebonnet, Miss Amber), I have never considered myself anything but a Yankee.

I took the test.

The Yankee or Dixie? Quiz (for your entertainment, tittilation, or horror).

My score: 57% (Dixie). Barely into the Dixie category.

Where have I gone wrong, y'all? I swear, I spit out sweet tea the second it hits my lips!

(h/t to Fr. Bill for the quiz and to eager genealogists for info on Judge Rhoades)
--the BB

La luna è sorta

The Moon over the Mountains

New Mexico

24 September 2007

Contrast - Part 2

September 2007

October 2005

December 2006

Contrast

10 September 2007

19 December 2006

How would we know day if not for night?

I deliberately took the recent late summer photo (top) to contrast with the one below it that I took last December (on what would have been my mother's 96th birthday, were she still alive). I wanted the concrete visual contrast of differing seasons in the framework of this familiar sight, the sidewalk I traverse leaving work.

A few millennia ago when I was an undergraduate, Mme Crosby shared a definition of art in a course on French Renaissance literature: "art as a frame to contain contradiction." Certainly all the "fire and ice" language that occurs in much Renaissance poetry lends credence to such a definition, and I think there is truth in it. Through our art we express the tensions of existence, struggling to show "both sides of the coin" if you will. It is the dissonance that gives music its forward thrust toward resolution, the tension of sundry conflicting needs and desires that launches storylines that we can care about. Without contrast and tension there is no texture, only sameness, a static condition without interest. It is not even true rest, only boredom.

Part of the joy of creative artistry is setting a challenge for oneself and puzzling out how to meet it. I remember how celebrating the Day of the Dead on the Sunday of the Bishop's visitation some years ago led to a creative challenge. We already had scarves for our Ethiopian processional crosses made of an African fabric with bright marigold orange and black plus bits of metallic gold. Perfect for Hallowe'en and Day of the Dead. But I wanted to make some new vestments. My love of color and design ran amok to create what I call the "festal green" set. The design is worked in blues and greens and reds with other highlights, but the lining is California poppy orange! Somehow it all works (and the vestments have been pictured in this blog). Who knew what would come out of trying to make certain shades of orange into liturgical colors?

A challenge, a struggle, a creative result.

Tension.

Contrast.

Resolution in some new whole that contains the tensions and contradictions.

[All the lofty discourse above is simply justification for the fun of posting the two photos. Confession is good for the soul.]
--the BB

The confident and soaring great soul

Northwestern clouds as the rising sun hits them

Robert Barron writes:

To overcome fear is to move from the pusilla anima (the small soul) to the magna anima (the great soul). When we are dominated by our egos, we live in a very narrow space, in the angustiae (the straits) between this fear and that, between this attachment and that. But when we surrender in trust to the bearing power of God, our souls become great, roomy, expansive. We realize that we are connected to all things and to the creative energy of the whole cosmos.
...
What Jesus calls for in metanoia is the transformation from the terrified and self-regarding small soul to the confident and soaring great soul. The seeing of the Kingdom, in short, is not for the pusillanimous but for the magnanimous.

[And Now I See...: A Theology of Transformation. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1998. Page 5]

What a glorious image calling out to us amid our fears. "The confident and soaring great soul"--isn't that something we all want to be? Isn't it sad when there are moments (and decades) when we don't even want that for ourselves? Isn't it a joy to be around people we recognize as great souls?

O God, you lead your people out of every form of bondage into freedom, out of constriction and into a wide place, out of shadowy valleys and into broad pastures: Free us from our fears and enlarge our souls that we may not only know the wideness of your mercy but also be for others wide and gracious places of refreshment. You have pitched your tent in our midst; enlarge the tent of our souls, for you contain all things and have condescended to enter our hearts. To you be glory now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
--the BB

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