A minor

Real Live Baptist Preacher

I never would've guessed that Real Live Preacher, whom we now know to be Gordon Atkinson, is a Baptist pastor. Granted, he's a liberal Baptist ([Cooperative Baptist Fellowship] probably somewhere along the lines of my friend, Carl Gregg, associate pastor of Northminster Church [Alliance of Baptists] here in Monroe, although I don't know enough about the CBF and AOB to know exactly how close or how different they are), but still. Wow.

Three random things regarding RLP: I'm looking forward to his book; I've always thought I'd want to have a second job if I were in parish ministry; and one of these days I'd like to talk with him (and/or his wife) about hospital chaplaincy.

Quotable Faulkner:

"When I have one martini, I feel bigger, wiser and taller. When I have a second, I feel superlative. When I have more, there's no holding me." —William Faulkner

(Bonus points if you can find the source for me.)

Blog Maintenance

Two things:

1. I try to keep my blog roll pared down these days, and I shamelessly maintain that it exists first and foremost for my benefit. Personal rules of thumb: If a blog hasn't had any recent posts, I dump it. If I always access a blog via another blog or a list, like Chattablogs, I dump it. However, I would appreciate feedback from you. If you use my blog roll, and you'd like something on the roll that isn't there, please leave a comment.

2. I'd like to do a minor redesign - if nothing else, a change of color scheme. I'm looking for inspiration, be it from a book or CD cover layout, product packaging, art, clothes, or whatever. If you have any ideas, I'd be grateful for them.

For All My Hookah-Loving Friends:

Not only does Eric Keck have a great blog, he has a hookah page that offers online purchasing!

Update: Actually, purchasing through Eric's page doesn't seem to be working. But if you click the "Continue Shopping" button at the bottom, it takes you to SouthSmoke.com, "your #1 source for hookahs, water pipes, and flavored tobacco, offering the lowest prices available anywhere."

"Todd Hunter New Alpha President"

Cool! I always really enjoyed reading Todd's blog back when he was doing research & development with Allelon full-time (my first exposure to him).

Apparently, they led an Alpha course at Grace some time ago and it was a big success. I know there's some interest in doing it again before long. I've yet to see an Alpha course in real life, though; I've only heard about it. And while I'm sure it could be criticized here and there (what couldn't?), 'looks like its pros outweight its cons to me.

"Parfaits May Be The Most Delicious Thing on the Whole Damn Planet"

One great thing about Shrek is that, even if viewed daily (or more, due to toddler fascination with all things green and burping), it remains not only watchable but entertaining.

Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity, pp 48-50:

55. Against the present lack of reciprocity of membership and ministry, we urge the following steps. We envision two very different situations: where agreements of full communion are in place [as is the case between e.g. the ECUSA and the ELCA -jon], and where full communion does not exist [as is the case between e.g. Auburn Avenue and Grace Church in Monroe -jon]. In the first instance, church leaders in each place should work to implement existing agreements. In order to promote common ministry, lay members should be encouraged to worship and serve in congregations in partner denominations. Among ordained clergy, churches should identify a ministry of unity [emphasis mine], and seminary training should intentionally prepare ministers to work in partner churches. In the second instance, where theological agreements is only partial and no authorized reciprocity of membership and ministry exists, congregations of separated Christians should pray for one another [as is done by, among other churches, Trinity Reformed in Moscow and Auburn Avenue in Monroe -jon]. When baptism is mutually recognized, this should be plain in the manner of its administration. The ecumenical vocation of married couples from separated communions should be acknowledged and supported by the churches. [Interesting idea, huh? Does this necessarily involve a breach of marital headship? I don't think so, at least not the way it's framed here, but I'd be interested in your thoughts. -jon]. When full communion does not exist, churches from separated communions should acknowledge and support special vocations for the sake of unity [again, my emphasis]. God may call lay and ordained members of one church to sustained participation in the life and mission of separated churches, even if sacramental communion is not possible for a time. Such vocations do not deny real theological differences or disrespect canonical order but rather are a call to endure separation as a discipline which sharpens passion for unity. Such sacrifice is perhaps possible only for a few, and it will certainly take many forms, often partial and hidden. The churches should seek to identify and champion these vocations as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the divided churches.

I am very interested in this idea of "ecumenical vocations." If only my church(es) were zealous about "identifying and championing these vocations"...and if I were identified as someone fit for such a vocation...God, I'd love to do it. In the meantime I hope to be able to encourage such an interest in my church(es) and to find and be encouraged by other orthodox churches that already "acknowledge and support special vocations for the sake of unity."

Travelogue: Saturday, 1am, SeaTac Airport

As of now, we're stuck in the SeaTac airport (Seattle); our 10:30pm flight was delayed to 1:30am. (And we've been at the airport since 3pm. Due to trouble with my family's van, when we finally got to the airport, we were ridiculously early. My mom didn't want to leave us there all day, but she needed to so that the rest of the family could get back on the road - after she returned the rental vehicle, picked up their repaired van near Portland, and gathered up the rest of the kids on the coast before driving back home to Idaho.) Let's hope our flight gets off soon, but I'm not holding my breath, especially if our last 30 or so hours of car trouble, etc, are any indication of how things are going. I think they're going to bring out another plane from the hanger; they say something's wrong with the boiler control module on ours (whatever the heck a boiler control module is...if it's even a real part; 'sounds suspicious to Hollie and me). In any case, the earliest we'll arrive back in Monroe is 4pm tomorrow afternoon (Saturday). [It actually ended up being a bit after 4 by the time we got there, but we finally made it, which is what counts.] We'll be in need of showers and diapers, too, so keep that in mind if you see us at the airport or in your prayers.

Critical Minds & Critical Spirits

It occurred to me tonight in the bathtub - you know, from whence all deep thoughts come - that one of the risks of having a sharp, critical mind is the propensity to develop a harsh (blunt?), critical spirit.

Then again, I'm the son an alchemist, and I sat in the bathtub having just washed down a Melatonin tablet with Alka-Seltzer and a splash of Bombay Sapphire. Plus, I haven't had much sleep lately - hence the Melatonin, etc. So maybe it's just the fuzz talking.

Oh, hey, I almost forgot to pack my pipe! Apparently my little brothers have all taken up pipe-smoking with our soon-to-be brother-in-law. I don't even know what to say about that, other than perhaps, "Just don't come cryin' to me when they start smokin' other stuff." But, of course, I don't disapprove.

Anglo-Catholic or Catholic Anglican?

It's a shame that there's often so much difference between Anglo-Catholics and catholic Anglicans.

Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

Actually, it's Thursday morning, but I don't care: It's still Wednesday to me. We've been going ninety-to-nothing for the last few days, and I'm sure we'll continue doing so for a few more. But it will be different. It will be the busyness of vacation rather than the busyness of work and of home.

Our flight leaves in three hours. (Incidentally, Father Riley is on the same flight from Monroe to Memphis, though he's headed to Kansas for chaplain recruiting duty). We're headed to the Northwest, first for Rick & Rachel's wedding, and then for a family visit and a little trip to the Oregon coast. I love vacation.

I wish I weren't still up, though. I had to do 10 hours of mandatory, intranet-based FedEx Kinko's training by the 15th, i.e. before leaving town, and tonight was my first (or last) opportunity. Thankfully, I was able to finish it in 8 hours or less, but it still screwed up my night. Ah well.

I owe email replies to so many people that perhaps I should be emailing rather than blogging right now. But let's face it: Blogging is more fun, and you can kill several birds with one stone, e.g. this post.

Family News

The Amos brood has finally settled in. We moved into our new home a week or so ago and have successfully unpacked all our belongings. And boy, do we have a lot of stuff! I don't think you realize just how much you own until you have to cram it into boxes and lug it up and down a flight of stairs. It was very much worth the effort though. Our new place is so much roomier. Bonus: Ethan and Levi have a nice backyard to run around in.

Tomorrow we're heading to Idaho to visit family. First we'll stop by to see Rick and Rachel get hitched and then we'll spend the rest of the week on the Oregon coast. It's really beautiful there...one of the(very)few things that I loved about the Northwest. Let's hope Jon and I can remain sane while toting 2 kids through the airports! Maybe we should invest in those goofy kid leashes. I always laughed at people who used them, but now I completely understand what drove them to such extremes.