...I will in no wise cast out.
I opened the foreword of Wisdom from Mount Athos and that was the first sentence. An appropriate quote for Palm Sunday, I should say.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Happy Annunciation!
Time to celebrate in the proper way! That and reconsidering the relation of God to man, reconciliation to the fallen world, etc etc. OK I love sandwiches.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
ATTN: BLOGGER SOFTWARE INFIDELS
YOUR LOGGING SOFTWARE SUCKS. It did not let me put footnotes in my comment on Gabriel's web-log. Here is the comment I would have posted on his log:
Fortunately, I think most modern readers1 will read The Ladder quickly, pick up a couple good moral lessons in each chapter, and end up with something interesting to say2. All things considered, a profitable read. Maybe not the best use of the book, but not the worst use of their time3. Then again, I can definitely see that there are some pathological sorts who aren't terminally shallow but rather terminally emo for whom the prohibition would do some good, lest they fall into despair4. I'll never understand them, I suppose, so I guess I'll just have to call them interesting and leave it at that.
1: Myself included. I'm pretty shallow.
2: This is crypto-Protestantism, perhaps not in spirit, but labelled as such because it's what Protestants do whenever they sniff around the boutique.
3: Unless they write a log about the interesting tidbits and post it to the internets.
4: Or, worse, one of those schismatic groups that can only be found 1000 miles away from their present location, so they become too pious to go to church.
Fortunately, I think most modern readers1 will read The Ladder quickly, pick up a couple good moral lessons in each chapter, and end up with something interesting to say2. All things considered, a profitable read. Maybe not the best use of the book, but not the worst use of their time3. Then again, I can definitely see that there are some pathological sorts who aren't terminally shallow but rather terminally emo for whom the prohibition would do some good, lest they fall into despair4. I'll never understand them, I suppose, so I guess I'll just have to call them interesting and leave it at that.
1: Myself included. I'm pretty shallow.
2: This is crypto-Protestantism, perhaps not in spirit, but labelled as such because it's what Protestants do whenever they sniff around the boutique.
3: Unless they write a log about the interesting tidbits and post it to the internets.
4: Or, worse, one of those schismatic groups that can only be found 1000 miles away from their present location, so they become too pious to go to church.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
on advising people looking for an Orthodox parish
At this discussion board I occasionally frequent, completely new inquirers sometimes post saying, "I'm thinking of visiting an Orthodox parish this Sunday, it's called St X in $CITY. Does anybody know anything about it?" The correct response is not, as some people apparently think, "That doesn't, upon a cursory examination, look like it's a bunch of schismatic liberal fakers pretending to be Orthodox. They're Greek, though, so you'll probably suffer extreme culture shock."
Proper Response: either silence or, "I once stayed a month in that town and the people were amazing," depending on what the case is. If nobody else pipes in and you know it's not a bunch of schismatic liberal fakers, you can say, "Sounds great, I'm glad you'll be going there," or something else generally supportive.
Under no circumstances, save when they have actually run into them, mention bizarre vagante groups. I also recommend against FM-G's "12 things..." guide because it really sucks, but, lacking better material, it may be acceptable. Part of the problem with it is the problem with the first response: acting like the whole thing will result in a giant case of culture shock because it's bizarre and foreign. Grant that the thing might be bizarre and foreign. Don't treat it like it is. Orthodox worship is natural to the people who do it, it's what they do. Present it as such. Essentially say, "Here is what Orthodox worship is like, it's not weird, they're doing what they do: it's what they do." To say, "Here is what Orthodox worship is like, I know it looks really weird to you, but you might get used to it someday or something," is a grave mistake.
I hope this short note helps correct some of the errors I have seen others fall into. Be glad that these things you (perhaps not you, Dear Reader) fall into are mere misstatements and blunders, and not sins, as is the case with my failings.
Proper Response: either silence or, "I once stayed a month in that town and the people were amazing," depending on what the case is. If nobody else pipes in and you know it's not a bunch of schismatic liberal fakers, you can say, "Sounds great, I'm glad you'll be going there," or something else generally supportive.
Under no circumstances, save when they have actually run into them, mention bizarre vagante groups. I also recommend against FM-G's "12 things..." guide because it really sucks, but, lacking better material, it may be acceptable. Part of the problem with it is the problem with the first response: acting like the whole thing will result in a giant case of culture shock because it's bizarre and foreign. Grant that the thing might be bizarre and foreign. Don't treat it like it is. Orthodox worship is natural to the people who do it, it's what they do. Present it as such. Essentially say, "Here is what Orthodox worship is like, it's not weird, they're doing what they do: it's what they do." To say, "Here is what Orthodox worship is like, I know it looks really weird to you, but you might get used to it someday or something," is a grave mistake.
I hope this short note helps correct some of the errors I have seen others fall into. Be glad that these things you (perhaps not you, Dear Reader) fall into are mere misstatements and blunders, and not sins, as is the case with my failings.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
various things
1. Lent always makes me realize I'm a gravely wicked man, but usually it has more to do with me than with Lent intervening. I watched The Robe the other day, it was a bit schmaltzy, but the corny stylized repentance of the man who had Christ nailed to the cross was edifying to someone [viz, me] in my state of mind.
2. The new jorb is going fine, I'm going to have to learn SAS and data mining and that sort of stuff. I don't know a bloody thing about programming or databases (well, not quite true on the former, but I maintain a studied ignorance of the latter, since it's what my dad does for a living). This'll give me a jump on it, I suppose, I won't need to know it for a few months.
3. I was thinking about awesome names for children, and then I realized all the ones I'd been thinking about were the names of the children of St Nicholas II the Passion Bearer. Except for Olga, it doesn't quite sound the same in English, though I suppose the tsar and his wife already knew that, since they spoke to each other primarily in English, so why should I not consider that name as well? So it'll be in the pot if I should ever be so blessed as to have four daughters (purely academic at this point).
4. Pokey, I love the future.
5. I need new glasses. Glasses that say, "I will analyze your data and I am very young, but not so young you shouldn't give me giant sacks of cash. Trust me, I am a trained professional." My current ones have the eccentric mathematician thing going for them, but they're quite scratched and still a bit crooked from that time I was in a car being hit on the head by a 4-yr-old for a few hours until they broke. They exude the "I'm a poor math student" vibe.
6. I will be in church tonight.
7. I'm a bit annoyed that the new "blogger" is not capable of autoformatting numbered lists.
8. Internal corporate stylesheets dictate the use of "e-mail" rather than "email". I am so very happy.
2. The new jorb is going fine, I'm going to have to learn SAS and data mining and that sort of stuff. I don't know a bloody thing about programming or databases (well, not quite true on the former, but I maintain a studied ignorance of the latter, since it's what my dad does for a living). This'll give me a jump on it, I suppose, I won't need to know it for a few months.
3. I was thinking about awesome names for children, and then I realized all the ones I'd been thinking about were the names of the children of St Nicholas II the Passion Bearer. Except for Olga, it doesn't quite sound the same in English, though I suppose the tsar and his wife already knew that, since they spoke to each other primarily in English, so why should I not consider that name as well? So it'll be in the pot if I should ever be so blessed as to have four daughters (purely academic at this point).
4. Pokey, I love the future.
5. I need new glasses. Glasses that say, "I will analyze your data and I am very young, but not so young you shouldn't give me giant sacks of cash. Trust me, I am a trained professional." My current ones have the eccentric mathematician thing going for them, but they're quite scratched and still a bit crooked from that time I was in a car being hit on the head by a 4-yr-old for a few hours until they broke. They exude the "I'm a poor math student" vibe.
6. I will be in church tonight.
7. I'm a bit annoyed that the new "blogger" is not capable of autoformatting numbered lists.
8. Internal corporate stylesheets dictate the use of "e-mail" rather than "email". I am so very happy.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
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