A minor

I-10 Over Atchafalaya Basin

I had to make a quick trip to New Orleans this week for a day of Kinko's meetings and training. Since I was heading in that general direction, Hollie decided to ride along and take Ethan to visit her family in Lafayette; I dropped them off Tuesday night and headed down to New Orleans by myself. Driving the 18 miles of elevated Interstate over the Atchafalaya Basin a couple times was enough to get me thinking (as if driving alone isn't enough in itself to turn one contemplative) about the wealth of this land. I've driven it before, but this time I started wondering how much it cost to build this section of highway. Apparently cost was no object.

It's incredible. If you've never driven it or anything like it, imagine a largely tree-lined bridge that spans lake after lake, all conjoined to form a wetlands of a few thousand square miles. If you're in Moscow, imagine a bridge all the way to Potlatch. If you're in Monroe, imagine driving a few miles past Calhoun on a bridge. If you're somewhere else, think of a place between 15 and 20 miles away and...you get the picure.

This has to be one of the longest elevated roads in the world (on the nation's longest highway) - all between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

Amazing.

CRE Bishops

I heard from two independent sources on Sunday that there was discussion at the CRE presbytery meeting about a change of title/position from "moderator" to "bishop." Can anyone confirm or deny this?

I was glad to hear that Mr Wilson declined the position of moderator and nominated Mr Booth instead. When I read the following journal entry from Muhlenberg's Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman (quoted in Finke & Stark, The Churching of America 1776-1999 [Rutgers, 1992], 37), I thought of Mr Wilson becoming moderator and had a nice laugh.

December 1, 1742. I learned forthwith that Mr Kraft had traveled through the whole province of Pennsylvania, appointed deacons and elders here and there, and established a general presbytery in the whole country.... And besides this, he had organized a consistory of which he was the president.... The purpose of the presbytery was to make it possible for Valentine Kraft and his assessor to travel around the country and carry on their trade with the holy sacraments. The consistory served the purpose of letting him ordain a few more lazy and drunken schoolmasters and place them as preachers in vacant places.

I hope it is clear that this comparison is tongue-in-cheek and all in good fun.

A Couple Articles:

1. "Local Episcopalians Torn Over Gay Issue" by Heather Wecsler (Monroe News Star, October 11)

2. "Plausible Ecumenism: A Reformed Perspective" by Rev Craig Higgins of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Rye, NY (Touchstone Magazine 13.1, Jan/Feb 2000)
- via several people, including Kevin, Tim, and Joel

Full Days

A friend of mine once joked that I wouldn't have as much time for blogging when I had a full-time job. (Since I wasn't there when he made the joke, he felt bad and contacted me the next day to confess and ask my forgiveness, which I granted even though I wasn't offended in the least.) I guess there's a sense in which the last few weeks have proven him right. Or maybe not; I had a full-time job in Moscow. Maybe he should have said that I wouldn't have as much time for blogging when I moved away from Moscow. I dunno.

Today I met with Father Riley, which went very well. I think he will be a huge help in the future as I pursue chaplain ministry. He's a chaplain with the rank of Colonel in the Kansas Army National Guard, and prior to chaplaincy, was enlisted active Army, did a year in Vietnam, etc. When the subject came up, he made no bones about his view of the election of Gene Robinson. He said he had reluctantly gone along with certain things over the years (eg, women's ordination and changes in the liturgy), but he drew the line at such a clear compromise of the authority of Scripture. I showed him all my cards and said that, with all respect, I thought the decision of the ECUSA General Convention was "abominable," to which he replied, "Well, we're not going to have any disagreement there." It's nice to know an Episcopalian with a spine.

This week I attended Rich Lusk's Sunday School class. He's teaching on liturgy, looking at biblical and traditional antecedents, and explaining the upcoming additions to Auburn's liturgy. Good stuff. Tonight Hollie and I also went to our second session in a six-week parenting class Steve Wilkins is teaching. The class is loaded with biblical and practical insight, and we look forward to the next few weeks.

In other news, on Sunday, I reluctantly accepted a part in an upcoming play. I don't know what came over me, but I agreed to be Dr Faustus in a shortened production of Marlowe's Faustus, to be performed at Auburn Avenue's Reformation Day (or as I like to call it, Halloween) festival ::gulp:: next Saturday. This is what I get for always liking that play and agreeing to do stuff that I haven't the time or the gifts to do. I guess I should go work on my few hundred lines. Apologies in advance to those of you who have to sit through my "acting."

Primates Meeting Statements and Photos

Here are the offical statements from all of the Primates and from the Archbishop of Canterbury (or the Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, if you're not into the whole brevity thing). In many ways I prefer the Anglican Mainstream statement, although my favorite has to be that of (forgive me) the three amigos. But if all you care about are the pictures, well, here you go: here and here.

"Do Good In Thy Good Pleasure Unto Zion"

Please pray for meeting of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion, which begins this Wednesday. Father Riley, rector of Grace Church Monroe and a diocesan canon, said he was very hopeful after attending the American Anglican Council's "A Place to Stand: Declaring, Preparing" conference in Dallas last week. He reported that the conference was well attended (with almost 3,000 present, representing over 100 dioceses) and well executed (as seen in the document that the conference issued). The Archbishop is expected to deliver a statement on Thursday or Friday, after the Primates Meeting.

Moving Soundtrack

At my behest, Hollie kept a list of albums we listened to on our long drive from Idaho to Louisiana. I almost forgot to post it.

Day 1: Friday (Moscow - Billings, MT)
Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water
Van Morrison, Bang Masters
REM, Automatic For The People
Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Mix CD by Callie, Hollie's Groovie Mix
Weird Al, Poodle Hat

Day 2: Saturday (Billings, MT - Burlington, CO)
Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
James Taylor, The Best of . . .
Jim Croce, The 50th Anniversary Collection (Disc 1)
Alice In Chains, Unplugged

Day 3: Sunday (Burlington, CO - Wichita, KS)
Mix CD by Callie, Hollie's Mix [Non-Groovie]
Soundtrack, The Royal Tenenbaums

Day 4: Monday (Wichita - Monroe)
Soundtrack, The Royal Tenenbaums
Billy Joel, Greatest Hits Volume I
Billy Joel, Greatest Hits Volume II
Billy Joel, Greatest Hits Volume III

There was a lot of radio mixed in there too, mostly oldies and classic rock.

Quirky-Evasive Style

Here's a bit of satire from Patrick for your enjoyment:

Statement:
Let your yeas be yea and your nays be nay.

Statement in Quirky-Evasive Style:
My yeas are yea. Really, they are. Just listen. Yea. See? That was a yea. I even tried to make it come out as non-yea, but it was a full fledged yea. If you are in a crowd and they are all chanting "yea" and you are chanting "In hoc signo vinces" or "John Wayne on Mt. Parthenon", I am going to snicker. Probably other people will snicker with me. I will turn to my companion, who is much wittier than me, and wink knowingly. I am good at that. I know what he is thinking you see. We are both thinking the same thing; "That person needs to work on their yeas"

You can read the whole discussion here.

Bock Bock Bock BUGOCK!

I'm pretty sure ZiegenBock is nothing other than (at best) Michelob AmberBock in a bottle designed to rip off Shiner Bock, the real Texas microbrew. Ah well...'good thing I like macrobrew too.

Thanksgiving & Help Wanted

Moving to Monroe, I thought my Kinko's transfer would eventually entail a (re)promotion. Today I found out that it would indeed - and from day one. Now I'm the local Kinko's salesperson (or Senior Customer Consultant, an assistant manager-level position much like the one I held in Moscow before I resigned and started teaching a couple years ago).

Also today, after Peking and fortune cookies with Matt Wilkins and Christin, we found an apartment. For you locals, we took a flat in the Woodwind Apartments & Townhouses on 165N between Albertson's and the CHRISTUS St Joseph's Home (and for Rick, near Messiah ELCA). We plan to move in tomorrow. Please email or call if you'd like to help. Beer and swimming pool provided.

In other news, we bought gas for $1.34 today. Gas got progressively cheaper as we drove down, but this was the cheapest yet.