Psalm 102:7

October 8, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop
awaiting the whisper of dawn to caress the vacant charcoal peaks, asleep.

Feasts of Saints

October 7, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

As the year draws to an end and the holidays loom ever larger on the horizon, I would like to talk about some big holidays in Europe that take place in autumn before we leave the season behind for the year.

Breakfast in Constantinople

October 4, 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

The waitress greeted us in Saint Petersburg / We drank strong coffee in Alexandria / Our omelets were served in Cambridgeshire / As we gossiped in the narthex of Hagia Sophia

Retro Game Review: Fantasy General

October 1, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

Fantasy General is one of the prolific titles that was produced by Strategic Simulations in the 1990s. Unlike their other games such as Panzer General or Pacific General, the game of is not meant to be a recreation for any historical period or particular type of warfare that actually occurred. Instead, Fantasy General offers a totally original setting and game system that allows for the playing out of large-scale warfare that involves fantastical beings, alternative technologies, and magic.

Faithful Friday: Padre Pio

September 30, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

Pio of Pietrelcina, more commonly known as Padre Pio, was born in Pietrelcina (Benevento), Italy in 1887 to Maria Giuseppa DeNunzio and Grazio Maria Forgione. He was their fourth child of eight. As a child, he would interact with his guardian angel, reacting in surprise when realizing other children could not see their heavenly guardians.

Ecology (Psalm 84)

September 29, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

Let my verses meander, woven around fields / of hallowed kindness, their hummed liturgies

An Active School Meeting in Progress

September 27, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

This morning I drove by my old school / A staff meeting was being committed inside / Perpetrating crimes against intelligence / “HELLO MY NAME IS” / 10,000 years of civilization?

Faithful Friday: St. Jerome

September 23, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

St. Jerome was born Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus in what is now Croatia or Slovenia in the year 342 AD. Despite his good upbringing, young Jerome did as he pleased.

What I Wish I Could Put On My Dating Profile

September 22, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

I believe much of my frustration with online dating, even when using faith-based platforms as I do, is that the process is inorganic from the beginning. You can’t completely remove the “swipe right” aspect of it. You are presented with a picture and a small amount of information, and from there you have to decide whether or not you’re interested. What am I supposed to do with that?

Curious Events

September 20, 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

At the gas station I bought a Chinese rocket / And worried that a lottery might fall from the sky / I tucked away the ticket into my pocket / Or tucked my pocket into my ticket – but why?

Be Kind to Calvinists

September 17, 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

I am what some might call a Calvinist, though I do not like that term. It isn’t one that Calvin would approve of, and Calvin was not in the strictest sense a theologian. He was a lawyer with a side gig in theology.

Faithful Friday: John Jewel

September 16, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

John Jewel was one of the most important theologians of the English Reformation and was instrumental in establishing the Anglican church as a lasting institution. Indeed, in many ways Anglicans owe their continued existence to John Jewel.

Review of Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose

September 15, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose (currently free on YouTube) begins on a somber note. We see a young Mamoru Chiba ascend a staircase to the roof of a hospital carrying a rose in his hands. He offers it to a small alien boy, who promises to bring Mamoru flowers in return before disappearing.

The Passing of The Queen

September 13, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

Few constants obtain in our shifting world / And even those constants must leave us at last / Even as the mists of September obscure / The golden days of a summer now past

Human Intelligence, Human Ethics

September 10, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

If the weather services are hacked, the power fails, or that far-away thermometer is down, you can still observe your thermometer. The same obtains with your mechanical clock, your hygrometer, and your barometer. There are no third parties between you and them—no computers, no satellite signals, no radio waves, no electrical lines, no hackers.

Faithful Friday: Peter Claver

September 9, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

When followers of Jesus Christ pursue lives of self-sacrificial ministry, the gospel comes to life
in a truly palpable way. St. Peter, self-proclaimed “slave of the Negroes forever,” embodied this
with particular fervor and impact.

The Prince-Poet-Cat of Gatineau, Quebec

September 6, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

In an ice-cream summer in the long ago / I met a marvelous cat in Gatineau / Pushkin by name, a fastidious Russian / His shiny fur coat never needed brushin’…

Faithful Friday: Gregory the Great

September 2, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Gregory the Great (Gregory I), pope and saint, was born dur the 500s AD (the exact date is unknown). He came from a very prestigious family, being the great-great-grandson of Pope Felix the Third (who lived before celibacy was required of clergy) and the son of a senator.

Poetry in the Desert

September 1, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

A story told about Field Marshal Wavell is that while throwing some things into a bag for a field tour of soldiers defending India from invasion by the Japanese, he asked if anyone had seen his Browning. When someone pointed out that he was wearing it – his Browning 9mm – he said that he was looking for his copy of the poems of Robert Browning. In all his campaigns, Wavell always carried poetry with him.