Joesph of Arimathea

Today is the name day of my god-daughter, Josephine.

Troparion tone 2
Noble Joseph took Thine immaculate Body down from the tree,/ wrapped it in a clean shroud and spices,/ and having embalmed It, laid It in a new sepulchre./ But on the third day Thou didst rise, O Lord, granting the world great mercy.

Kontakion tone 2
Joseph of Arimathea took Thee the Life of all, down from the Tree as one dead,/ and wrapped Thee in clean linen and spices./ He yearned to embrace and kiss Thy pure Body with heart and lips/ yet he restrained himself with fear./ He cried to Thee rejoicing:/ Glory to Thy condescension, O Lover of mankind.

So much. So much.

Failed in my attempt to put together a chest of drawers from Ikea.
Meeting with boss: Successful. I get to gather bids for re-plastering the pool.
Cleaned laundry room.
Bought a gun rack.
Picked up cigarette butts near a certain tenants apartment. Hmmmm. I'l give them a couple of weeks then I'll have a talk with them about littering up the place.
filled the pool. I think it has a leak. I loses about 6 inches of water a day. Even when no one is swimming in it.
Unpacked more stuff.
Took a nap.
Atahanasia went down to enroll Anselm Samuel in school and discovered that the excellent school down the street is at 100% capacity and is accepting no more students. Don't know what we are going to do.
Had a great chat with my friend Brian in Idaho.
Talked to my friend Jeff about going to see Superdiamond on Saturday. We've been to many Superdiamond shows but the last time we went we were both unmarried. That was a long long time ago.
One very interesting thing happened. I came across my Dad's elementary school report cards. I was looking at them when all of a sudden I realized the the "Bill Karnes" I was seeing were not my Dad's signature. They were my Grandfather's signature. It was the closest I had ever been to him. As far as I know those report cards are the only things I have that were touched by him. (He died from working in the lead and zinc mines in Oklahoma in the 1930s.) I became very excited and said to Anselm Samuel, "Look! These are my Grandfather's signatures on your Papa's report cards." Anselm said, "Let me see" and I handed them to him. He looked at them and as he handed them back he said, "Don't show me anymore things that make me cry."

Gored By His Own Ox

I love this! I am not opposed to making money. Much of my life revolves around trying to make money. I don't mind other people making money. I'd like for everyone to make lots of money. (Of course, that would devalue the money, but I'm talking fantasy land here, okay?) I especially love it when liberals (e.g. Sen. and Mrs. Obama) who criticize well-paid private sector workers make lots and lots of money. Let's all say it together: Hypocrisy.

We Have Contact

The move went well. We hired movers from Delancey Street. They were amazing. Not just as movers but as men. It might seem odd for me to say, considering the pasts theses men had, but I felt unworthy to be in their presence. They possessed a personal charisma born of humility and pride; humility that acknowledges the past, and how could it not, with gang tattoos and knife scars covering their bodies; and pride in what they have become and are becoming: Honest, hard working men.


The boys love going for walks here. There is so much to see. Every couple of hours Basil asks to go for a walk. On Saturday morning, our first day to wake up here, we discovered a Saturday farmer's market no more than 50 meteres from our front door. The business association hired the Swan Bros. Circus to entertain. Anselm got a huge kick out of them. Heck, I got a kick out of them. They were hilarious.

Today I talked to Fr. John about the house blessing. He'll call me in a couple of days to set a day and time.

Tonight, Athanasia cooked. It was her first time to cook in her new kitchen. It was our first home-cooked meal in about a week. It was very good. Also, she has re-potted plants and they are hanging in the kitchen and dining room. This is the first time since we bought it -three years ago!!- that we have had a place for the dining room table.

Well, I am tired and there is much to do tomorrow.

I'm going away (from the internet) for a while

I do not anticipate posting anything on this blog for about a week. Play nice while I'm gone. There is plenty of food in the pantry. Feed the stock. Don't forget to gather the eggs and milk the cows. And don't eat up that whole barrel of white sugar in the pantry.

A New Blog

Fr. David Lowell, who is one of the best preachers I've ever heard, is blogging about his activities at Raphael House, a homeless shelter for families in San Francisco.

Birds of a Feather

You might remember some time ago when I encouraged the delegates to the Republican Convention to not nominate Sen. McCain but nominate Gov. Jindal. Well, it seems that other conservatives had similar ideas. But this is something I hadn't thought of: Jindal as Veep. Pretty cool. The only problem is that for 4 or 8 years, he has to toe McCain's line and will be re-branded from exciting true economic and cultural Conservative (in the American context) to namby-pamby centerist deal maker. But if it keeps The Wicked Man from being elected I'm all for it.

Requiem

18 July 2008, 11:55
Mass media review: "Requiem for the Romanovs"

Russia today called to mind the events of July 17, 1918 - 90 years ago - when the last Russian czar, Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their children were executed. The country still remains deeply divided about the communist period. Will Lenin's tomb be moved?

A single tear. It welled up, then fell from the corner of one of the principal soloist's eyes, glistening as it ran down her cheek.

She was a young Russian woman, dressed in a white gown, and she was performing here tonight at the world premiere of a "Requiem Concert" in Russia's largest church, Christ the Savior, in a commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the execution of the last Russian Czar and his family - Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their four daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria, and Anastasia, and their son, Alexei - on the night of July 17, 1918.

In her weeping, the soloist was not alone. Many of the more than 2,000 people who filled into the concert hall of the largest basilica in Russia, the Church of Christ the Savior, bombed by Stalin and rebuilt in the 1990s, wept openly as they listened and watched the tragedy of the last Romanovs unfold.

Outside, a summer rain fell.

The story of the last days of the Romanovs is well known. Czar Nicholas II, embroiled in a terrible war with Germany and Austro-Hungary, decided to abdicate his throne on March 15, 1917. Without a single strong leader, Russia was soon in political turmoil. Out of the turmoil, the tiny but compact and single-minded Bolsheviks emerged as Russia's new rulers toward the end of 1917.

Nicholas and his family were soon placed under house arrest. They gardened, read books, prayed. Then, in the summer of 1918, on the evening of July 17, they were taken to the basement room of their prison, and shot to death. Their bodies were then burned.

Russia had made a clean break with its monarchical, and Christian, past.

The age of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" and of anti-Christian state atheism had begun.

For almost two hours this evening, a Russian orchestra and choir alternated with historical and scriptural readings, accompanied by a skillfully done video documentary containing never-before-seen footage from the time of the Russian Revolution, to meditate on the Romanovs, and on the communist persecution of religion in Russia which followed for 73 years (1918-1991).

The historical texts and music were by the Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, bishop of Vienna, Austria, for the Russian Orthodox in central Europe. Alfeyev also participated in the performance, reading Scriptural passages in which the sufferings of Christ seemed to foreshadow the sufferings of his followers in communist Russia.

The Russian voices soared majestically, filling the hall. The images projected on the screen showed the last days of the Romanovs - and moved the soloist to shed a tear...

The Vatican's current representative in Russia, Papal Nuncio Antonio Mennini, an affable career Church diplomat who has labored for the past two years in Moscow to build a relationship of trust between Rome and the Russian Orthodox, was present in the front row throughout the performance. Also present were a number of Russian political leaders, but not the counrty's highest leadership.

I sat next to Mennini, and when the final crescendo, a cry of faith transcending all suffering and death entitled "Come, let us worship," concluded, in the quiet instant before the crowd erupted with applause, Mennini, who had seemed hesitant about the whole affair at the outset of the performance, turned slightly toward me and spoke a single word: "Bella!" ("Beautiful!").

That is sufficient commentary: the performance was beautiful.

But it was more than that.

It was a cultural and socio-political watershed for the Russian Orthodox Church in post-communist Russia, stating the case more forcefully and persuasively than ever before that Russia needs to acknowledge, and repent, of the crimes of her communist past in order to build a new, post-Soviet Russia.

The performance was woven of somewhat contrasting elements, containing aspects of a concert (that is, a purely cultural event) and of a religious service (the Scripture readings, the location - inside the largest church in Russia).

But there are two things which especially stand out about tonight's performance.

The first: the sheer density of the emotion.

No one can contemplate the bloody murder of four lovely, educated, refined, innocent girls, and their young brother, without a shudder. This sense of horror is multiplied by the sense that the children in some way represented the nation itself. The czar "incarnated" the "essence" of the Russian nation, according to the monarchical thinking of the age, and his children were thus the "future" of the nation. To see them live so vibrantly, and then see their lives snuffed out so brutally, would bring a tear to many Russian, and non-Russian, eyes, and did.

Sound, sight, and moments of silence tonight combined to create a sense of being transported back in time, back to the World War I period, of being "eyewitnesses" to acts of terrific brutality and terrible barbarism. (There were moments in the film footage showing the actual execution of prisoners by pistol shots to the head.)

So this was not simply a musical performance, but a multi-media "tour de force."

The archival material uncovered by a team of Russian researches in recent months concerning the life and last hours of the Romanov family includes rare century-old photographs and film footage.

These images, particularly the smiling or pensive faces of the four daughters and the frail son, displayed on a enormous screen behind the orchestra, seemed to bring the viewer into direct contact with Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei.

The orchestral music, the voice solos and choruses, and the photos and films gripped the audience.

This meditation on the murder of a family became a first-hand experience of a tragic injustice which unfolded inexorably before the audience, ending with shocking images of the children's lifeless bodies being burned and buried.

The second remarkable thing about this Requiem: the meditation does not end with the death of the Romanovs in 1918.

It is not focused on the last Czar alone, and on his family, though the anniversary of their deaths provided the occasion for the Requiem.

Rather, the performance continues after the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra and their children, right through the 1920s and 1930s, examining the tragic consequences for religious faith in Russia of the victory of the communists: the hundreds and thousands of Orthodox priest, nuns and laypeople imprisoned and executed - and the many Catholics also arrested and killed. (This was mentioned in the performance.)

Thus, this performance transcends Russia's royal family, and takes up in a compelling way the "great question" of Russia's choice and and destiny and suffering during the 20th century.

In this sense, the Requiem is far from a "nostalgic recollection" of the "good old days of the czars."

Instead, it is a searing socio-political critique of the atheism and persecution of religious belief central to Russia's communist regime.

In this performance, therefore, the Russian Orthodox Church sets forth a powerful, emotionally compelling case for public recognition on Russia of the crimes of the Soviet period (the performance was blessed by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II, although he did not personally attend, reportedly because of meetings with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Cyprus, who is visiting Moscow in these days).

The orchestra was directed by a Russian general, Valery Khalilov, and was comprised of musicians from the Russian Armed Forces. This suggests that the Russian government gave its blessing to this Church Requiem for the last czar.

But Russia, like every country, is not simple, and Russia today remains deeply divided about the course it should take in the 21st century. And many around the world are watching with interest and concern as Russia seeks its way.

Though the Russian Orthodox Church is resurgent (near the end of the performance are the words: "We believe that Russia today is recovering by the prayers of all the new Russian martyrs, both named and nameless, and that faith is being restored on the whole territory of our great country"), there still remains a strong communist current in Russia, at least 15% of the population.

The communists tend to be defensive about the "Soviet time" and resist calls to "close the book" on that period of Russian history (as some Church spokesman have urged).

I spoke today about the concert, and about Russia, with the head of the Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate, Father Vladimir Soloviev, the principal sponsor of the event.

"Russia stands at a crossroads," Father Vladimir told me. "We are struggling to decide what our national attitude will be toward our communist past. For example, there are some who argue that we should remove Lenin's body from his mausoleum beneath Red Square, at the center of Russia, and re-name those streets and subway stations in our cities which commemorate communist leaders.

"I personally think we should do this. We cannot fully celebrate our great national festivals on Red Square as long as Lenin's mausoleum stays in Red Square. Let it stay anywhere else, but not in Red Square.

"But not everyone in Russia agrees with us," Father Vladimir continued. "There are many who remain nostalgic for the communist time, many who were trained in Marxist doctrine to disdain and hate the Church.

"Russia is not a unified society, not yet. We are divided.

"This is why we chose to organize this Requiem Concert. This is not a liturgy, not a Church celebration, but a cultural event. We want to participate in the cultural debate in Russia today, and make our case.

"And that is a case we feel we can win. It is the case for Christ, for Christian values, for family values.

"Among the primary aims of the communists was the destruction of the family. Lenin was opposed to the family.

"And as we proceeded forward with this project, we realized that the suffering of one family, the family of Nicholas and Alexandra, the father, mother, son and daughters, all executed, could remind us of all families, and that recalling the death of the Romanovs could be an important moment for Russian society. All families need the Church, and the Church needs all families. And we think the members of the royal family, in their martyrdom, should become the official patrons of the family in Russia."

Father Vladimir said his Publishing Council is now preparing a number of new projects in defense of traditional Christian and family values, and he stressed that the Russian Orthodox Church is open to collaboration on these projects with Catholics, Protestants and all men and women of good will.

"The Russian Orthodox Church has never been closed in on itself," Father Vladimir said. "We have always been open to the outside world, to sharing our faith with others and to receiving from others the gifts of their insight and faith."

The Moscow Patriarchate, in preparing tonight's Requiem Concert, was supported by two American groups: the Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Urbi et Orbi Communications, the publisher of "Inside the Vatican" magazine. To support this concert, Urbi et Orbi received donations from Cardinal William Keeler, the retired archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, and two American Catholic laymen, Lawrence Neuhoff of Dallas, Texas, and Charles Parlato of New York, New York.

At a reception after the Requiem, Russian Orthodox Church officials publicly thanked the Bradley Foundation and Urbi et Orbi for their support, and awarded representatives of both the highest award the Russian Orthodox Church can bestow on any layman, the Order of St. Daniel.

Bishop Hilarion concluded tonight's Requiem for the Romanovs with these words: "The horror of a national tragedy could not destroy the hope for a breakthrough to light and the inspired certainty that the triumph of evil would be fleeting, and would be followed by a bright future, by growth in spiritual perfection, by restoration and revival. The heroism of the martyrs of the 20th century contains a reflection of the future Kingdom which is transfiguring everyone and everything to live in peace through Christ."

Labyrinths and the Holy Prophet Elijah

After working at packing things up all day the boys needed a break. I took them to get gelato in downtown Palo Alto and to Borders where they looked at kids books while I bought how-to book for tile, bathrooms, and plumbing (for work).

We parked the car near All Saints Episcopal Church, and Anselm wanted to walk the labyrinth. So, Anslem, Basil , and I walked the labyrinth. After 15 seconds Basil just ran to the center and said "I win!" But Anselm and I walked the whole thing. For 2/3 of it I was thinking, "What in the world does this have to do with Christianity" but then I realized what was going on: There is only one path and it is narrow. It is not a straight line to the goal. Often it seems like the walker is justgoing around in circles. At times it seems that the walker is farther away from the goal than he was a few steps earlier. But as long as the walker is on the path he is getting closer to the goal, it just doesn't always seem like it.

What does this have to do with the Holy Prophet Elijah? Well, consider the following:
1. Being in the northern kingdom, Israel, with its non-davidic king and alternative temple (to say nothing of Baal worship), he was in the Old Testament equivalent of a schizmatic church. (On the outside of, or, perhaps, on the outer ring of the labyrinth)
2. But God still used him. (moving toward the goal)
3. But he had to hide out near a brook and be fed by ravens, and then in Lebanon to be fed by a widow. (going in circles)
4. God used him to defeat the prophets of Baal. (moving toward the goal)
5. But he had to run, and then he despaired under a juniper tree. (seeming to move away from the goal)
6. Finally, he was taken to Heaven in a chariot of fire, throwing his mantel to Elisha, who's are the first relics recorded to be miracle working. (Not only attaining the goal, but helping others get there, too.)

Well, in addition to packing stuff to move today I did manage to tell the boys and Athanasia the whole story of Elijah from memory. They enjoyed it. I can thank my Dad for teaching me those stories. Elijah was his favorite Old Testament personality and he preached many sermons on Elijah's life. I really miss hearing my dad preach.

Also, it bugs me that some of us Orthodox are Old Calendar and some of us are New Calendar. I wish we were all on the same calendar So we could all celebrate this Saint's day together. I'd be happy with a compromise. I'll subtract 7 if you'll add 8. Or is it that I need to add while you subtract? See, I don't even know that.

I hate moving

That's all. I like where I am moving to. I just don't like the act of moving. At the end of this day my living room is full of boxes. Only half the stuff that was put away in cabinets or on shelves in in the boxes. I still have more to do tomorrow and the next day.

Saturday Soundtrack: The Older I Get the More I Understand

Glenn Campbell didn't write this song, and he was the third to record it. But he is the one who made the song popular1n 1974. When I was a kid I didn't know what it was about. I thought it was a happy song about Porter Wagoner, the only person I'd ever seen dressed up in those sparkling cowboy suits. (My Dad liked watching the Porter Wagoner Show as well as Hee Haw on the television machine.) But it, really, isn't a happy song; beaten down by a life compromise and washed-away horizons, a man still harbors fantasies of fame, even thought he knows fame only brings "cards and letters from people I don't even know."

In the early morning hours

About 2 in the morning there was a knock on the door. I answerd it with a baseball bat in my hand. It was the boy from earlier. He was crying. He had changed clothes. He said he was sorry. He thanked me for calling the paramedics. I asked him if he talked to the police and he said he had. I told him that the paramedics had taken Brenda to the hospital. He said he knew that, and thanked me for calling them. Then he shook my hand and took a step to leave and said, "goodnight,Sir". He was still crying. I made the sign of the cross over him, said, "God bless you", and closed the door.

I wonder if he still snorting "blow"?

In the current issue of the New Yorker it is reported that Obama spoke these words just 8 days after 9/11.

We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others.
Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics.
Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair. We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent.
Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe—children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores.

Grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance? Bin Ladin is poor? The college educated terrorists were ignorant? What planet is Obama from? They have taken their wealth and education and have turned passenger liners into missiles, and shoes and cars and people into bombs.

Obama thinks that if terrorists just knew how much pain they caused they would not want to be terrorists any more? Is he nuts? These are not little kids carelessly playing with matches. They are terrorists precisely because they know the pain they can cause. They are the weak saying I am strong. They have beaten their plowshears into swords and their pruning hooks into spears. And they are coming after us.

Obama spouts unbelievable, suicidal madness just 8 days after 9/11. Please, someone kill me if this man is elected. Oh, wait, probably someone will; a terrorist.

And what do embittered children in in Latin America have to do with Muslim terrorists attacking New York and Washington, D.C.? Clearly, as late as 8 days after 9/11 Senator Obama was still enjoying "a little blow".

The Police Just Left

About 2 hours ago I heard a girls voice outside. She was moaning and laughing. It sounded sexual and I just ignored it and kept packing. THen she started yelling and swearing. And I heard a boy say, "Come on, Brenda".

I looked out the window and saw a very high 14 or 15 year old girl trying to hump the leg of a panicking 14 or 15 year old boy as he was trying to pull her toward the street. I went outside asked who he was (I thought he looked like one of the boys who moved in across the courtyard last week.) and who she was and what she had taken. He said "She'll be all right. I'm taking her home right now." I said, "No, I'm calling 911. I reached for my phone but it wasn't there. He started begging me to not call 911. I took her away from the boy when she fell. She grabbed me and tried to kiss me. I turned her around so she wasn't facing me. She smelled like sweat, sex, and vodka. The whole time she was screaming. Basil and Anselm Samuel followed me out of the aprtment. I told Basil to go back in the apartment, I told Anselm to go tell one of our neighbors to call 911, and told the boy to sit down until the police arrived. He said "Please, sir, please. I'm taking her home."
"No. Sit down. She's too sick to go home. What did she take?"

Anselm came out with a neighbor carrying a cell phone. "What's happening", The neighbor asked. I said, "Lena, call 911" then the boy ran off into the night.

We got the girl on the ground and she kept trying to trow up but couldn't. She kept calling for the boy and repeatedly screamed, "O my God". Then she started hyper ventilating and trying to masturbate.

The police and paramedics were here within 2 minutes of the 911 call. I went back inside to take care of the boys and try to explain what was going on. Then I popped "Santa Clause is Comming to Town" into the computer. And my little boys were hypnotized. They paramedics strapped the girl to a gurney and started an IV while the police tried talking to her but she only spat on them and kept yelling. The police located the boy and the paramedics whisked the girl off to the E.R.

I am moving just in time.

My Mother to My father

Sometimes my dad had to travel for his work. He had a lot of board meetings, sometimes trips to missions in Haiti and Jamaica. When my Mom could not go with him because of her work as a school teacher, she would hide notes to him tucked into his suit pockets, folded into his pajamas, rolled up inside his shoes. Dad said the other preachers traveling with him would tease him about it. Every morning they would ask, "Did you get another letter from Bunny?" I think they were envious. Their wives didn't send love letters to them.

When my Dad died I took all of his sermon notes, at least those he had kept after he retired. Among the sermon notes (I am reading through them) I found this poem from my mother that he kept.

When nighttime draws her curtains
And pins them with a star,
And tucks the little sunbeams out of site-
I think of you, my darling,
No matter where you are
And pray that God will keep you through the night

St. Elizabeth the New Martyr of the Communist Oppression

I've never been sure how to convert Old Calender to New Calendar, but I think this is the day Old Calendarists, such as the Patriarch of Moscow, celebrate the great victory of the New Martyr Elizabeth. I don't know much about St. Elizabeth other than what I learned six years ago in a book about her relative Holy Empress Alexandra the Passion Bearer. What I remember is that this devoutly Lutheran German Princess (and niece of Queen Victoria) was married to a Russian grand duke. After her marriage she remained Lutheran (Though she did venerate an icon once by doing a polite curtsy.) for some time, until she had examined the theology, history, and practice of the Orthodox Church. When after some years she decided to become an Orthodox Christian her noble husband, who had never asked her to convert, began to weep with tears of joy and thanksgiving.

When the Elizabeth's husband was killed by an anarchist's bomb (Terrorism is nothing new.) she became a nun and used her wealth to start convents and orphanages. With the nuns of her convent she went to the front lines to nurse the wounded soldiers fighting in the 1st World War.

When the God-hating Communists sized power they threw St. Elizabeth down a mine shaft together with some other Russian nobles. When the prisoners were heard singing the prayers the Communists threw hand grenades into the shaft. The next day Orthodox Christians retrieved the relics of these Martyrs, just as we retrieved the relics of the Holy Martyrs during the Roman persecutions. What they found was that St. Elizabeth had received her crown while tying bandages, torn from her habit, on the wounds of her fellow Martyrs.

Her relics, along with those of a nun named Barbara, who, I think, also died in the mine shaft, were smuggled to Shanghai, China, pursued by the Communists the whole way, and from there, by ship, to Palestine. Most of the relics are in the Church of Ss. Mary and Martha on the Mount of Olives. I don't know how or when but a fragment of a bone of St. Elizabeth was brought to San Francisco and is set in an icon on the south wall of the nave of Holy Trinity Cathedral.

In a cathedral full of icons and relics it is difficult to get to all of them to venerate them and pray. But I always venerate St. Elizabeth's relic. I suppose the reason for my affinity for her is obvious. Like me, she carefully examined Holy Orthodoxy before she left her Protestant faith, but she remained on good terms with her Protestant family.

Squeeling Brakes

The old manager of the townhouses we are moving to is not out yet. We were supposed to pick up the keys tomorrow but he won't be gone until Tuesday. That means there is only Wednesday and Thursday for the carpenter to put in a wall, the painter to paint, and the carpet to be cleaned and dried before next Friday, which is when my boss (who is on a cruise in Alaska at the moment) wants us to be on site. I don't see how it is going to happen. Thankfully, this screw up isn't my fault. Stil very excited about the move and the opportunity.

Al Gore Must Hate This News. (And I Love It.)

Greetings, loyal readers.

The Global Warming Desk just received the following news alert from the home office in Firebaugh. (I bet you didn't know we had a home office around here. Neither did I until a few minutes ago. I'm still not sure its needed. Seems like just another useless level of management to me. But, I guess, everyone needs a job to go to in the morning.)

"The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming." (Read the whole story.)

In 5 years we all will look back at this time and feel deep embarrassment. Well, I won't. And you won't. And Al Gore, who makes a nice living by frightening people, won't. But all of those people who have fallen for the global warming lie will feel like... Hmmmm, what was it P.T. Barnum said?

The Choice is Clear

This Just In from the Needless Fear, Oops! I mean "Global Warming" Desk.

"Normally, Anchorage has 14 or 15 days in the summer that reach the 70-degree mark, Albanese said. This year, there have been two. And the city didn't see 70 at all until July 2. That threshold typically comes in early to mid-June, according to weather records." (Read the whole story from the Anchorage Daily News)

Moving Progress

Mail is set to be forwarded.
Movers have been contracted.
Internet is set to be switched to new address, where my employer will pay for it.

This Day's Activities

Woke up, got dressed for church. The boys and I dropped Athanasia off so she cold get some work done on a project. Then we went on to church. We go there late. Which meant that Anselm couldn't serve in the Altar. Whch meant that I wold have to manage them both alone. Basil is hard. All he wants to do is run and talk and play. Anslem is easy. He is content to observe the liturgy, walk around and venerate relics and icons, light candles, etc. Unless he is with his little brother. Then they kind of feed off of each other in a sprial of choas. So we turned arround and came back home. I was already feeling bad, like I was a horrible excuse for a Chiristian when Basil said he wanted to go to church. But I know that five minutes after arriving at church he'd want to leave. I don't know. He does okay with the prayers at home. Maybe only take him to church on feat days when there is so much commotion no one will notice the tremendous struggle to keep him quit and still. Athanasia and I have talked about taking turns staying home with Basil. But that doesn't seem right. Nothing really seems right.

Other events of this day:

Got a flat tire.

Got tire fixed (Warranty!!!)

Took stuff to Goodwill.

Bought a new bed for our new townhouse.

Worked with Anselm on reading/memorizing Genesis 1. (Not as much progress as I had hoped.)

Watched a really good movie on netflix.

Morning Prayer

We bless thee, O God most high and Lord of mercies, who ever workest great and mysterious deeds for us, glorious, wonderful, and numberless; who providest us with sleep as a rest from our infirmities and as a repose for our bodies tired by labor. We thank thee that thou hast not destroyed us in our transgressions, but in thy love toward mankind thou hast raised us up, as we lay in despair, that we may glorify thy Majesty. We entreat thine infinite goodness, enlighten the eyes of our understanding and raise up our minds from the heavy sleep of indolence; open our mouths and fill them with thy praise, that we may unceasingly sing and confess thee, who art God glorified in all and by all, the eternal Father, the Only-Begotten Son, and the all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. (A morning prayer of St. Basil the Great)

Land of Opportunity

One of the things I love about this country, and California in particular is that a person can do anything. I have recently been taking some classes from the College of Community and Public Service at the University of Massachusetts, where the professors seem. universally, to be convinced that "the system" is stacked against the little guy. Thankfully, my classes were full of 30 to 50 year old students who have spent their careers in the private sector. For the most part part, they agreed with me on the imprtance of Liberty and the hazards of regulation.

Another time, about 15 years ago, I was taking a business ethics class at San Jose Stae University. Most of the students in the class had escaped, as small children, from communisim in Vietnam and China. Most of their parents were small business owners. They knew the value of Liberty. So, when the professor (who had only ever worked as a teacher in government schools) tried two nights a week for the entire semester to convince the students that government-set production quotas, minimum wage laws, and agriculture market orders (which have noting to do with markets) were good things these students became very angy. My favorite moment in that class was when a young man said, with a think Vietnamese accent, "All of this is un-American." If i remember correctly he was majoring in accounting. I hope he is successful and that his opinion has not changed.

Today, I read something about another immigrant from Asia. This particular woman came here on a ship as a young girl and now sits in President Bush's cabinet.

"My sister fell ill during the ocean journey," she told me on a recent afternoon in her spacious office, a short walk from the U.S. Capitol. "Seventeen hundred nautical miles, there were no doctors on board and my mother sat up for three nights and three days, just continuously soaking my sister's body, little body, with cold water" to break her fever.
"So I see opportunities in this country, perhaps, in a slightly different way. . . . America really is unique," she says. "It's really a land of meritocracy, where it doesn't matter where you were born, who you know. If a person works hard, most of the time . . ."
"On this last point, Ms. Chao's words trail off, as the current state of the economy seems to be weighing on her mind. There is widespread speculation that the economy could soon slip into recession as the country sheds jobs and faces a slumping housing market. Still, Ms. Chao points out that the national unemployment rate remains below where it averaged in the 1990s (5.5% today versus 5.7% last decade). "People forget that," she says." (Read the whole story)

Moving Right Along

We met with the owner of the property management firm today. I like him a lot. I got some questions answered. Importantly, when do we move in? Answer: We'll pick up the keys on the 18th and start moving then. We gave 30 days notice on our current place a a few hours ago. (Oh! I have so much work to do. I am glad school is over for a few weeks.)

We dropped the boys off at kidspark before the meeting. It is expensive but handy. It is pretty difficult not knowing anyone nearby whom we can call to watch the boys for a couple of hours. But the boys had fun at kidspark. In fact, they asked if they can go back tomorrow.

A neighbor gave me a Universal No. 301 meat grinder. My wife says I have to wait until after we move to start making sausage. I can hardly wait. I've already found a local supply of sausage casings.

We saw a movie

(Short Circuit - stupid plot) + (Flood story - God - water) + Soilent Green + (2001:A Space Odyssey - monkeys) + (The Love Boat - Isaac) = WALLE

It was so good I cried.

Fires

California still has more than 300 forest fires burning. But we have also had more than 300 fire fighters seriously injured. Fire fighters from other States are helping us. (Thank you, Nevada. ) The California National Guard, the State militia (I bet most Californians are surprised to learn we have a Militia), and even prisoners have been ordered to fight the remaining fires. The air in the San Francisco bay area is still "unhealthful". Please, pray that God will send us cold, fog, and rain.

Monasteries in Boston

My wife and I have to go to Boston next May, but we do not want to spend a ton of money on a hotel. We'd rather our money go to support a monastery. Do any of my kind readers know if there are any monks or nuns in or near Boston who would allow a married couple to spend two or three nights with them?

The Semester Is Over, Time To Pack

I just emailed the last assignment of the semester to the professor. Six weeks of staying up till 2, 3, and even 4 in the morning are over. I have earned 6 units in six weeks and am glad it is over. Just in time, too, because it looks like I have to start packing to move.

Athanasia and I are going to be the managers of a 25 townhouses in the middle of Willow Glen. We applied about 2 weeks ago. We interviewed last week. The background check was done on on Monday. Yesterday they called to let us know we got the job. We go in on Friday to complete the new-hire paperwork.

It is difficult to explain how happy I am to be moving to Willow Glen. It is one of the most walkable places in Silicon Valley. We have often talked to each other about how much we wished we could live there. And now we shall.

My son will be able to walk to school (a California Distinguished School, one of the top 5% in the State), we will be a short walk from scads of restaurants, bookstores, including Hicklebee's a fabulous children's bookstore,4 coffee shops, a frozen custard stand, a dry cleaner, and a real barber with a real barber pole and those huge chairs and a couple of old guys who just hang out and talk all day. There is a beautiful park with a bowling green. And there is also an amazing candy store that sells every kind of candy imaginable.

I am astounded by how generous God is to me. He gives me everything I want.

Wicked Man Praises the Woman of Evil

In July 2007 Senator Obama spoke to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Part of what he said follows:

"That struggle for equality is not over and now we are at one of those rare moments where we can actually transform our politics in a fundamental way. But it’s going to take people as resolute as Mrs. Sanger and Dr. King—people like your own Cecile Richards—it’s going to take young people like Ariana. It’s going to take millions of voices coming together to insist that it’s not enough just to stand still. That it’s not enough to safeguard the gains of the past—that it is time to be resolute and time to march forward."

Who is that Mrs. Sanger praised as "resolute" by the Wicked man. It is none other than the Himmler of the Abortionists, Margaret Sanger. This is the woman who thought killing the unborn was a good thing. This is the woman who wanted to give certain undeisreable people a choice between sterilization and life in a concentration camp. This is the woman who said,

"I think the greatest sin in the world is bringing children into the world--that have disease from their parents, that have no chance in the world to be a human being practically. Delinquents, prisoners, all sorts of things just marked when they're born. That to me is the greatest sin."

And her solution was to kill them before they could be born.

Don't believe me? Watch the Mike Wallace interview and hang your head in sorrow. Our country is being turned over to an allay of Satan.

Why Do People Want Community?

For school I am writing a thing about the City of Mountain View over at wikispaces. There is a lot there, and it will double in size and be edited over the next 4 days. But I think this part is pretty good.

Why do People Want Community?

Margaret Thatcher famously said, "There is no such thing as society". (Thatcher) But what many people forget is that she also said, "There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate." (Thatcher) What she is talking about is community, where we know eachothers faces, maybe we don't know each others children's birthday's, but we know each other's children. And it is that desire to be of help and the foreknowledge that everyone will need a little help; that we need to to keep an eye out for our neighbors, that we need to check on the old woman next door if we haven't seen her in a few days - this is the great impetus for community forming. But there is more to it than this.

The Jewish theologian Martin Buber taught that people only grow as people when they are in relationships with other people. (Smith) It wasn't a new idea when Buber said it, but good theologians don't say new things. The idea is ancient. About three thousand years ago King Solomon the Wise wrote in the book of Proverbs, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." It is the same idea found in the children's book (All great and good ideas are comprehensible by children.) The Velveteen Rabbit. In that book the velveteen rabbit only becomes a real rabbit when its velveteen coat had been worn smooth, when it has gotten dirty from interacting with people. (Williams) Similarly, in the children's book The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, the title character, a wood carver, only becomes sufferable when he accepts a commission from a widow and is forced to spend many hours with her and her son.(Wojciechowski) And finally, we all know what happens to man alone. We have only to look at prisoners who have spent years in solitary confinement to know that when the Archpriest Victor Sokolov said "the only thing you do alone is go to hell" he spoke the truth. It is something we all know. Being alone, truly alone, is dreadful darkness and death. Therefore, community.

Mid-Afternnon

It has been twenty-four years since it was morning in America. In some ways it feels like mid-afternoon. Its not too late Rebublicans. you haven't had your convention yet. You haven't cast any votes. You can still nominate some one who can beat the wicked man. But you have to look to the past if you want to move forward. McCain is a decent enough guy - I actually like him - but I don't think he can beat the baby killer. Well, he could take him in a fist fight (I'd pay money to see it!), but I'm not talking about anything that manly. I'm talking about politics. McCain has the wrong politics. By that I mean the wrong image, and image is 80% of American politics today.

Listen up, Republican delegates: When you get to that convention don't vote for McCain. It doesn't matter if you think it is his turn. You did that with Robert Dole. He'd been trying to get the nomination ever since I was a little boy and you finally gave it to him. And what happened? Instead of giving to the guy who's turn it is, vote for a winner.

Nominate Bobby Jindal. If you nominate him he will deliver a landslide because he can make us feel like this again.

My Neck

I woke up yesterday barely able to move my head. It seemed like all the muscles on the right side of my neck had lost most of their strength. Also, there was considerable pain. I spent the day in a cervical collar. Wearing it again today. I am feeling a little better. Strength has returned. Still much pain, though. I'll see my physician tomorrow. I had been almost painless since I received Holy Unction a couple of years ago. I was hoping it would last my whole life. But I suppose if St. Lazarus died again after having been resurrected I shouldn't expect my neck to stay healthy forever.

Money

Over at Christ is in our Midst the most challenging things are posted. Today there is an an excerpt from a letter by St. Jerome (Factoid: Blessed Jerome was an anchorite and the only one of the Fathers who favored the Massoretic Text over the Septuagint.) to Eustochium that disturbs me much.

A certain one of the brethren, who was stingy rather than avaricious, not remembering that the Lord was sold for thirty pieces of silver, left behind him at his death one hundred gold coins, which he had earned through weaving linen. The monks (for about five thousand of them dwell in that neighborhood in separate cells) took counsel together what was to be done with it. Some said that they should be distributed to the poor; others that they should be given to the Church; some advised that it be sent back to his parents. But Marcarius and Pambos and Isidore, and the rest of those whom they called fathers - the Holy Spirit speaking with them - decided that the money should be buried with its owner, saying: “Your money perish with you’ (Acts 8:20). And let no one suppose that this was a cruel act. So great fear has come upon all throughout Egypt that to leave one gold piece behind is an offense.

It reminds me of James 5:3 which says:

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

But what is a husband and father supposed to do? Should we take the example of some of the saints and move our whole families into monasteries? Part of my plan is to accumulate income generating property so that my wife and I will be able to live comfortably in our old age (which seems to be approaching with break-neck speed!) and then leave it to our children. But there are those quotes the Church generates. What to make of them? Is my plan wrong? Should I send a letter to the New Skete Companions and see if they are accepting new novices? I don't know. But that verse in James frightens me.

I Can't Wait to Read This

He was raised a Baptist in Texas but as a teenager wanted more of God so he began attending a Greek Orthodox Church near where he lived. It wasn't long before he converted. Now three years after I first heard that he was writing it, the aged and much loved Orthodox Archbishop of Dallas (I've heard he wears cowboy boots under his cassock and drives an old beat up Lincoln Continental.) has released a book on St. Paul's letter to the Church in Rome.

According to Nina Chapman of SVS Press,

"Quotations from church fathers and parallel expressions from Scripture create a methodology consistent with Orthodox tradition. By also using hymns and texts from the Orthodox liturgical services, the author supplies deeper and broader contexts for familiar biblical verses."

If I don't read it before then, I think this book will be my Dormition Fast reading this year.

There you go again.

Everyone remembers the Reagan Carter debate in 1980 when Reagan laughed at Carter and said, "There you go again." Most people don't remember what carter had said to provoke the response. What Carter had done was call for socializing America's medical industry and medical charities. But why did Reagan say, "there you go again"? Because for decades the communists have been trying to overthrow our personal liberty by sneaking their evil filth into our economy through medicine.

In 1961 Ronald Reagan made a record and the American Medical Association mailed it out to thousands of people. Today, forty-seven years later, Reagan's speech is still needed, because the communists, well, there they go again. The wicked man has said he will put the government in charge of medicine in America. We need to say to him and to the Congress, "No, you can't."

Independence Day

This morning, my wife went into her office and the boys and I stayed home. The boys had oatmeal with maple syrup for breakfast. They watched Charlotte's Web on the computer (the book is better) and played outside with the water hose while I did laundry.

At 11 a.m. Athanasia came home and we all went to a pool party at the YMCA. It was much fun. I really like the Y. The staff knows us by name now. We know some of the other members. Anselm and I came in third in the water balloon toss.

Then we went to Clarke's for lunch. They have the best onion rings I've ever had. Very frighteningly, Basil got away from me and ran out into traffic on El Camino Real. That was terrifying. One car swerved another had to brake hard. We will not go to Clarke's again until Basil is out of this laugh-and-run-away-from-my parents-when-they-call-me phase.

After lunch, Anselm and I dropped his mother and brother off at home to take a nap while we went and got ice cream at Rick's. 38 years ago my sister worked there behind the counter. I always think of that when I go there. Anselm had a flavor called "blue moon". It was too sweet for my tastes. I had a scoop of something called "computer chip". It was bitter cocoa and orange with bitter sweet chocolate chips. It was very good. Then, since we are Californians, we bought a tri-tip (At a beautifully low price, it cost less than hamburger!) to grill for supper.

About six o'clock we grilled the meat over a hardwood fire and ate a muskmelon while wating for it to be done. After supper we went to the park in Cupertino to watch the fire works. It was a lot of fun. Anselm and Basil ran around playing with the other little kids in the twilight. There were little frogs crawling through the grass. I think they were hunting the June bugs. We ate water melon while the stars came out. Just before the fire works were about to start the sprinklers came on!!! (I bet someone hears from the mayor on Monday.) Imagine about hundreds of people scrambling to get off the grass, carrying small children, blankets,and ice-chests in a mad dash to the edge of the fields. It was very funny.

The show was excellent, as always.

Happy birthday, America. Thanks for having us.

Baptism and Christology

A couple of times Protestant friends of mine have commented to me that they think my belief that infants are saved by being baptized is nuts because babies don't have faith and the people baptizing don't have the power to save.

Leaving off the discussion of faith in the infant, I want to talk about the people doing the baptizing. The only person who baptizes is Jesus. How is that? Well, the Church is Jesus' body. So when it baptizes someone, that person is being baptized by Jesus. To me it seems like a very simple thing. It is strange to me that Protestants, who generally believe in taking the plain understanding of the Bible don't see this. Even when I've explained it they don't see it. I must not be very good at explaining my faith. For that I am very sorry, and I hope God forgives me.

Anyway, KevinBurt has something to say on this topic and I think you might enjoy it.

Militant Slogans of the Left

I think the Darfur genocide is deplorable. Our government has deplored it. In fact, I think the United States is the only state that calls it genocide. I think the Chinese should get out of Tibet. (Not that the Tibetan people will be any better off under their traditional monastic dictators.) But I am not sure the United States should do anything about either of these situations. Well, I'm certain we should not do anything about Tibet, I am less sure about Darfur.

What I think is interesting is that the American left has kind of adopted these two great injustices as their causes. They even have bumper stickers that say "Free Tibet" and "Stop Darfur Genocide". What neither of the bumper stickers say is how either of these goals should be achieved. Considering that, in each case, it is a state committing the injustice, and those states impose their will and commit the injustices with the force of their arms, I suppose the American left is saying we should invade China (!!!) and Sudan. That is what I suppose because I am pretty sure the American Left knows the rulers of Sudan and China don't feel very threatened by stickers on Subarus.

So, really, come on American Left. What are you saying with those stickers. Do they just make you feel good because you can point to the bumper stickers and say "We care. We're good people."? Well, let me tell you something. As long as you think it is okay to kill babies I won't believe you are moral at all. And I certainly don't want to invade China. It was hard enough the first time, and they didn't have nuclear weapons then.

That's The Way to Deal With Communists!!

Did you catch the story in the Sun-Herald about Sen. McCain visiting the Sandinistas? (Disclosure: I raised money for the Contras in 1988 and 1989) The thing to remember, and the story doesn't say it, is that McCain's arms are crippled because of what the Communists did to him in Vietnam. So the fact that he was able to do what he is reported to have done is very impressive.

"McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerilla group here at this end of the table and I don't know what attracted my attention," [Sen.]Cochran said. "But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever. I don't know what he was telling him but I thought, good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission [to the Sandinistas]. I don't know what had happened to provoke John but he obviously got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him." (You can read the whole story here.)

YEAH, Baby!!! That's some John Wayne action for you. If the President's first job is, as I think it is, to convince our enemies that attacking us in not in their interest, and failing that to hunt them down and kill them, then McCain seems to have what the job needs.

So, that's 55% of the job of being President. We already know he can't do the public speaking part. Thankfully, that is only 10% of the job. On abortion I guess he gets 8% out of a possible 10%. But that is definitely better that Sen. "babies are punishment" Obama. (Obama has 100% ratings from NARAL the last three years. I wouldn't leave him alone in a room with a pregnant woman.) On Economics, which I think makes up 10% of the President's job, I don't know. He says he isn't as conversant in the field as he should be. But he has a reputation for being a deficit hawk. We'll have to look at who he chooses for advisers. Finally, he was baptized as an Episcopalian but attends a Baptist church. I'm not sure what to think of that either. The Baptists do not accept his Episcopalian Baptism yet he has not been re-baptized. That is puzzling.

All in all, McCain isn't perfect. (I wish Ron Paul had not dropped out of the race.) But he is dramatically better than the Democratic Party's candidate.

Christmas in July

We have passed the midpoint of the civil year. That mean we have now begun the joyful build up to Christmas. This week is Independence Day. Following this auspicious day is the steady march toward our national celebration of the birth of the true King. My children sense it. In the last week Anselm Samuel asked me "Is it almost Halloween?" and "Are we having ham on Christmas?" and "Will we have Thanksgiving at Church again?" They feel it. I feel it. I was looking at the drawer that holds the Christmas stockings today. I was thinking about St. Nicholas day and wondering if Anselm is still going to be excited about staying up to greet St. Nicholas. I was thinking about whether or not my wife will make the Cranberry Walnut Pie for Thanksgiving. I was thinking about adopting a girl so we could do St. Lucy's Day right. Well, all of that to introduce a new album of Christmas music. I must have a dozen Christmas CDs but there is always room for two or three more, don't you think? So here it is: Six Pence None The Richer readies a Christmas Almbum. Sample here. I can hardly wait till it is released.

Well, My Decision Has Been Made.

I have decided to vote for Sen. McCain. Why? Because Wesley "the Weenie" Clark has attacked him.

Here is what Col. Joe Repya (of Eagles Nest )has to say about "the Weenie".

Listen people, I have met General Wes Clark and I can tell you he is no General David Petraeus anymore then Barack Obama is the quality of John McCain!

Oh, what did "The Weenie" say? Hear it for yourself and shudder at the stupidity. Bob Scheifer was surprised by it, too.



Isn't that nuts? I mean, where does Clark get off saying Obama WHO IS A LAWYER has been tested and tried in any way like John McCain! Or that Obama has more experience than McCain! Obama isn't running of national security strengths? Good! He doesn't have any. Too bad national security is the #1 thing the President is responsible for. Clark is a Weenie angling for Sec of State or VP. He's a snake who bombed Serbia.

No Helping The Poor Allowed

I don't know who said it, but someone said that Socialism guarantees equality of poverty. When I read the story below about People in the business opposing micro-loan banking for poor people because the bankers get rich in the process, regardless of the fact that the loans enable extremely poor people to start businesses and work their way out of poverty it did much to solidify my loating of those who would keep people poor for the sake of equality. Well, here is the story by Mary Anastasia O'Grady...

"Helping the poor may be virtuous, but when the poverty industry starts losing "clients" because the market is performing good works, watch out.

"Compartamos Banco knows what it's like to have a tarnished halo. The Mexican bank specializes in microfinancing for low-income entrepreneurs in a country that never used to have a financial industry serving the poor. Compartamos not only figured out how to meet the needs of this excluded population, but also how to make money at it.
Capitalism is bringing financial services to the poor in Mexico. But will nonprofit groups allow it? The Americas columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady speaks with James Freeman. (June 30)

"As a result, the bank has been growing fast. With an average loan size of only $450, it now has more than 900,000 clients – 15 times as many as it had in 2000.

"This strong growth suggests that the bank's for-profit model makes both borrowers and lenders better off. Yet the triumph is not good news for everyone. In the economic sector that Compartamos serves – those making about $10 a day – the international charity brigade is at risk of becoming obsolete. Perhaps this explains why people who make their living giving away other people's money are badmouthing Compartamos for the vulgar practice of earning "too much" profit." Read the whole thing here.