US Air Force Acknowledges New Aircraft

Little know fact, the United States Air Force spends more now on Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (such as Predator Drones) than on traditional, piloted aircraft. Of course, UAV's do, in fact, have pilots. It's just that the pilots fly the vehicles remotely from bases. There are a lot of advantages of this besides lowering the risk in operations over hostile territory. Without the weight of pilot, human interface (cockpit), or the life-support/survival equipment associated with pilots, these airplanes can have incredible range and time-over-target. If pilots become tired, no problem, they just get up and another pair takes their place in the command centre! The current (declassified) record for a single Predator flight is 40 hours and 5 minutes (source).

The existence of the "RQ-170 Sentinel" has just been declassified. It looks like a smaller version of a B-2 Bomber: flying wing with no tail. Few details have been released, but the aircraft is obviously designed to minimize radar signature. It is believed that it does not carry weapons (but that assumption is really just based on the RQ designation declassified by the Air Force). Aviation Week says that it is probably a "tactical, operations-oriented platform and not a strategic intelligence-gathering design" (source). But a lot bloggers point out features of the design that suggest an internal weapons bay.

I have a great story, incidentally, that an USAF officer told me about a Predator giving operational support during the invasion of Iraq. I don't think it's a classified story, but I'm not going to share it online. Suffice it to say that these things are amazing. I imagine that the new "Sentinel" has made major advancements over the late-90's-era Predator.

Capt Richard Koll, left, and Airman 1st Class Mike Eulo pilot a Predator UAV from a base in Iraq before handing control off to a team in the United States. The guy on the left flies while the one on the right operates sensors and weapons systems. (source)

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The "Crazy" Season

Advent, the period leading up to Christmas, has a way of bringing out the crazy in people. In the past few weeks a number of situations in church-land and beyond have seemed to escalate in intensity and anxiety. Several people that I counsel or have pastoral charge of seem to be having a harder time than normal, and I really think it's because of the added pressure of this season. Between the holiday parties and gifts and church events and services, things are getting more crazy in every way.

For example.... A few days ago I was assaulted by a mentally ill person known to our community. I don't want to share too much on this for legal reasons, but it is something much on my mind, obviously. I got punched in the stomach while standing in the doorway to the church by someone because they thought, in their delusional state, that this was a good idea. I was actually talking to 911 at the time, and the police did come and arrest this person for assault. Luckily, my ample ninja-priest tummy has a near-magical ability to absorb punches, so I'm absolutely fine. The person that hit me was not very strong. The last (and only other) time I was assaulted was in Los Angeles when I did social work, and I could write a whole set of "lessons learned" from both occurrences.

So... the precautions we take at the church to lock doors and install video cameras may seem excessive for some, but then something like this happens and we all realize that due vigilance is required, especially for those of us in urban ministry. As this story has gotten out, a LOT of my colleagues have shared similar incidents. One guy I know was chased out of St. Thomas' by a mentally disturbed person. It can happen to any of us, at any time.

The police are handling it and I suspect this person will be re-institutionalized, which is the best thing for it. I just wish that we had a better way to help the severely mentally ill than the criminal justice system. It's a shame that we've criminalized mental illness.

What concerns me now, however, is the way that this "craziness" fits a December pattern. I know a lot of other people that find this time of year very, very difficult. I, myself, find it difficult to maintain a positive attitude when I worry about the church deficit or certain parishioners that are having a hard time coping right now.

And yet there is a lot to be positive about. We recently had five new people join the church. Next week I'm going to expand the Contemplative Eucharists to Saturdays. The Women's Bible Study is flourishing. I'm thinking of starting some kind of house church event. I think most people in the parish are extremely happy with the way ministry is happening here. So why is my soul troubled?

I've wondered whether this is displaced anxiety from my coming fatherhood. Yet I was similarly anxious last December, so maybe not. And when I think of the baby I'm mostly excited. I get a lot of prayer and meditation these days, but what I experience are strong feelings of concern and love that ache with something close to nostalgia or regret, not joy and elation (as I have felt at other times). All I have to do is attend to my feelings at the Contemplative Eucharist on Wednesdays or the Healing Prayer service on Saturdays and there IT is--that feeling of December anxiousness.

The Advent Prose (Rorate Coeli) resonate remarkably well with it. We've been singing a modern English translation in place of the Gloria/Kyrie on Sundays. It's a searching, longing melody that just aches with desire for the fulfilment of God's Advent promise. "Pour down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness." It's a haunting musical/liturgical meditation on the hope of the prophets. Perfect for the crazy season upon us.

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Sermon - Advent 1 2009

Doug Clark, our Intern, preached this sermon on the first Sunday of Advent. He was deeply troubled by the movie "2012" and the hype surrounding it and decided that he needed to offer a pastoral response through this sermon.



Here's the audio...


Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...

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Sermon - Reign of Christ 2009

On Reign of Christ Sunday (the last Sunday after Pentecost), we had a baptism at the church. I preached this sermon with that, and the Kingship of Christ, very much in mind. Enjoy...



Here's the audio...


Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...

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Facebook Profiles turn out to be Accurate...

It's well known that people lie about themselves when they create on-line profiles for things like dating sites. Turns out, however, that Facebook is different...

[W]hen University of Texas researchers began studying Facebook friends, they expected that users also would exaggerate accomplishments and offer an enhanced version of themselves. To their surprise, they discovered that Facebook profiles typically gave an accurate and realistic impression of the user’s real-life personality. (source)

In this sense, Facebook is used more as a normal communications tool rather than as a means of self-promotion. How about that?

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Our Lady of Guadalupe

Probably the most important pilgrimage site in the Americas, the Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Mexico City is an incredible place. I've been there twice and have been incredibly moved both times by the pure devotion, warmth, and affection of the pilgrims there. Definitely something you don't want to miss if you are ever in D.F. (Mexico City).



Doug C. sent me this video of the crowds singing "Happy Birthday" to this patron saint of Mexico.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

One of the best ways to work of stress, I find, is good video game. My favourite genre are so called "First Person Shooters." This genre of twitch-gaming is one of the most action-packed, violent, and challenging types of gaming experience. It rewards fast, accurate reactions that take practice to develop. One of the newest such games is "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." I've been playing recently and have to say it's a cinematic, exciting, and immersive experience. In it, you take the part of several different special ops soldiers tasked with a wide variety of missions. In one mission you have to capture an arms dealer fleeing through a Brazilian Flavela slum teaming with angry militia. In another, you have to escape on foot after your convoy in Iraq is ambushed. One minute you are directly airstrikes from a Predator drone and in another you are sneaking past Russian dog patrols in a pine forrest. Thrilling, thrilling stuff.



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Ice Pilots NWT

My new favourite show is "Ice Pilots: NWT" on the history channel. It's a reality TV show about a small airline (Buffalo Air) in the Canadian North that keeps some very remote villages and towns supplied. These are the sorts of places that are only reachable by road three months of the year! One of the things that makes Buffalo Air unique is that they rely mostly on piston-powered airplanes, many of WWII vintage. We're talking PBY's, C-46's, DC-3/C-47's, C-54's. The extreme cold, poor weather, rough runways, and short hauls make these tough, un-pressurized propeller aircraft ideal.

Good times for you aviation buffs out there!



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DJ Spooky: Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica

DJ Spooky is an amazing musician and composer with a very sensitive ear. He wrote a piece called Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica after visiting Antarctica. I heard an interview with him on NPR in which he impressed me with his depth of craft and engagement. You might get a sense of what I mean from this clip from Sinfonia Antarctica....



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Complexity

A complex and challenging day at church today. It was the Daycare's 30th Anniversary, so we celebrated by inviting all the parents and having special refreshments. We were supposed to have a bouncy castle, as well, but they never showed. I know that both the Daycare Manager and the President of the Daycare Board spoke to the bouncy-castle company, so I'm at a loss to explain the no-show. Ah well, I still called up the Daycare Staff and blessed them and thanked them for their work.

Another complicating factor today was a new liturgical arrangement. The chairs we arranged in a kind of U configuration. The bottom of the "U" included the Presider's Chair. Just in font on that (heading "liturgically East") was the Ambo (lectern). In font of that was a small Credence Table. In the centre of the assembly stood a square altar with a minimum of hardware. At the top of the U stood another square table with the tabernacle, icon, and menorah. The purpose of the Menorah is to make a nod towards the Jewish heritage that we share with our Abrahamic brethren.

We also changed the music all around, substituting a modern translation of the Advent Prose for the Gloria and changing the Lord's Prayer and the Sanctus and other bits and pieces.

All in all, it went quite well. I just wish I could have spent some more time exploring the reasoning and implications of this set-up with the congregation. Alas, there was way too much going on today to do much of that. Just as well, liturgy should really be able to stand on its own without a frame.

There were a dozen or more visitors, which was great to see, plus the usual Messiah crowd. So attendance was up today. I really try not to let the attendance matter too much, as it is one of the surest ways to make yourself insane as a pastor, but it's hard not to notice.

Short meeting with two of the Wardens after church (the other is out of town) to discuss various matters, some of which weigh heavily on my mind when I allow them. Right now, heading into Christmas, is one of the most stressful times of the year for most priests and ministers I know. This is a tough job, and I'm uncertain that most people understand why. Any one piece of it--the pastoral care, preaching and liturgy, administration, strategic planning/ops, dilegent study of "such matters as promote the spreading of the Gospel"--could easily be a full-time responsibility. It's the breadth of the responsibilities which is the hardest part to deal with!

Anyway, 'nough complaining. I've got some important recreation to do now! If I don't get some serious football time in, I'll be useless on Tuesday.

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Thanksgiving Fragments

This morning I said Mass at Trinity Chapel, which is always a little liturgical treat. It's a pretty straight-forward BAS Modern-Rite Holy Eucharist. Interestingly, they have an organist so we can sing a hymn and some of the service music. This would be a great place to do some paperless singing sometime.

After that I've been running from one thing to the next. Not crushingly hectic, but busy. I assembled the second Ikea table that we'll be using for the Advent Liturgy configuration. I also showed some architecture students around the place (every year or so a group of students are tasked with writing a paper about the place for an Architecture course at George Brown). Meanwhile, our cleaners are stripping and waxing the Nave floor. The Yoga folks have been complaining about how dirty the floor has been lately, and this is apparently due to the need for a stripping and rewaxing of the floor--precisely the kind of detail one learns about in the exciting field of Parish Administration!

It's been a season for minor repairs and upgrades to the building. Yesterday Bell fixed a phone line and the roofers took a look at their project. The organ tuners also did their work. Next week the electrician will come by to install another exterior light for the playground. Soon the security camera people will come and install some interior cameras. And we have an appointment with the church handyman to install a new doorbell! Amazing how quickly these kinds of projects accumulate!

Yesterday we had an excellent meeting of the Christ-Centred Character Group. Our Resource Centre continues to take shape. Recently we've made the decision to change the name to "Centre for Excellence in Christian Education." Concerns were expressed about using "Anglican Resource Centre," you see. Right now we are still waiting on some grant requests we've submitted, but I remain optimistic that we'll get some money and be able to roll it out this winter. We've already been able to lend out a few materials here and there.
Behold: Turducken!

For Thanksgiving this year we'll going out with some friends to a restaurant that specializes in southern cuisine. I'm anxious to try Turducken for the first time. Imagine a Turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken! Some people even add a quail inside the chicken and possibly a hardboiled egg in the centre. They also advertised a gravy made with bourbon and Grand Marnier. Yumm!

This year I'm thankful most of all for Betsy and our soon-to-come son. Bringing new life into the world turns out to be fulfilling to the extreme. It's neat to see how it has shifted Betsy and my relationship in positive ways and how I'm already beginning to think differently about many things. I think I'm becoming a father....

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Synod

Michael Hudson took this picture of me (and Claire Goodrich Dyer) voting at Synod last weekend. The Synod was fairly short (just the morning), but important. There were several key votes, all of which passed nearly unanimously with only small amendments. One of the things we did was vote through some important changes to the Canons designed to give more flexibility to the Diocese. We also cleaned up some canons to modernize the language a bit. We also approved plans and priorities documents that will be implemented in policies.

Today they (Diocesan Staff) will be counting the votes from the election. My name was on the ballot to be a rep to national synod, but there were a LOT of names of that ballot. I would be proud to have most of them represent me, so if I don't get elected I'll be content. We'll see!

For me the best part of synods (including this one) is seeing lots of my colleagues and talking shop. It's a place to touch base and share ideas and hatch hair-brained schemes!

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