Super Bowl XLIV

On Sunday morning I preached what turned to be a prophetic sermon. I used the Super Bowl as a "hook" for my sermon and took a sharply pro-Saints stance. Yet I wasn't at all confident they could win the big game. The Colts are just so cold, clinical, and seemingly unstoppable! And for the first half of the game it did seem like the Colts were in control. Remember that the New Orleans Saints are known for having one of the worst franchine records in the NFL. They are famously futile in their efforts to win.

But all that is the past now after a glorious come-back from a 10 point deficit. What a game! The Saints knew that they would have to take some risks, so risk they did. Even though they didn't all payoff (remember that 4th and short at the Colt's goal line?), when it mattered they came up big. How about that Offside kick to start the second half? Or the interception on Payton Manning that all but sealed the game? Amazing.

I must say, I was a little nervous when I smoked my yearly Super Bowl Halftime Cigar on the back deck--but after the game I almost had another!

Yet the best moment, for me, was after the game when Drew Brees (The Saints' Quarterback) held his 1 year-old son Braylen in his arms. Drew was crying and whispering to his son, who wears earphone at games to protect his hearing. I could totally imagine how Drew felt. How proud he was to hold his son in his arms and share that triumph.

Yes, winning would have meant something to Payton Manning, but for Drew Brees, a Quarterback that was passed over in his career, it meant redemption. It meant that the commitment that he and his coach had made to New Orleans had worth it. What joy. What beauty!

-t

Confirmations, Midwives, Ballcocks, and Pork Roasts!

Sunday was fantastic. Between confirmations and Back-to-Church Sunday we had 115 people in church (that's more than last Easter)! Eric brought in a soloist and a trumpeter. Bishop Blackwell preached and presided. He is a retired bishop with a long connection to Messiah. He was baptized, married, and ordained deacon in our church. So was his wife (they met at Messiah)! He was very pleased with what he found. "It has energy," he said, "so many churches I visit now are just dead." Yep, that's how I feel!

The confirmations went off without a hitch. One of the candidates has special needs (Autism) and didn't feel comfortable coming up the rail to being confirmed with the other candidates. So the bishop I went down to him. One of the members of the congregation remarked that it was one of the most moving things he had ever seen in church. "I had tears in my eyes. It was like, 'If you can't come to God, God will come to you.'" Indeed. We gave all the confirmands crosses and many congratulations.

Younger kids we ecstatic when we set up the "Bouncy Castle" during coffee hour. This is a huge inflated room that the kids can jump around in. We rent one for the kids once or twice a year. Always a hit.

But the confirmation joy isn't over yet. On Thursday we are taking the kids to Holy Cross. it's going to be amazing! we aren't going to be back until Sunday evening! We have great plans...

Also, the kids want to have a nice dinner together (just the six of them). It just so happens that a VERY nice restaurant near the church owes the church a free meal. The owner often parks in our parking lot despite many warnings not to. He said he'd give us free meals to make up for it. So I think I'm going to cash in that chit. I sent the owner a note yesterday. I feel pretty good about being able to give our kids that gift! Being the neighbourhood priest is all about that kind of opportunity.

An amazing day a church. Tons of people and a lot of happiness! It will be interesting to find out how that affects this upcoming Sunday. I won't be there (with the confirmands at Holy Cross), but the Rev'd Marili Moore will. I hear she is going to be singing one of the most difficult eucharistic prayer settings in the missal. The Marili is a trained opera singer, so this setting won't be hard for her.

I feel as though all the cylinders are hitting at Church of The Messiah. The machine is just purring in perfect time! There is still a lot to do. There is plenty to improve upon, but still, I'm extremely pleased with how things are going!

Sunday afternoon I had to stay until around 3:30 waiting for the the guys to come pick up the bouncy castle. After that I came home and watched football until I started falling asleep. Went to bed early--ah... the Sunday afternoon nap!

This morning the day started with a trip to the Midwife. This visit was with the "back-up" midwife. The practice assigns you two midwives, a primary and back-up. That way, if one midwife is tied up with a birth, you always have a backup. But if neither are conflicted than you have both with you (in such a case the primary deals with mom, the secondary with baby). Our secondary midwife turns out to be connected with us in a tangential way. She sings for the Pax Christi Choir--and I did their website! I know the Artistic Director, Stephanie Martin, well from SMM days! She even remembers Betsy taking pictures of one of their concerts last year!

We did the usual check-up measures (sugar/protein in urine, blood pressure, fetal heart rate, baby size and position). Everything looks good. In fact, our boy is now head-down in the womb, which means he will likely stay that way for the rest of the pregnancy. We asked about whether we could travel for American Thanksgiving (a resounding, "no") and about breast pumps and such things. At the end of the meeting I asked whether the midwife would mind praying with us. She seemed happy with that, so I said a prayer.

After dropping Betsy off at school I picked up a pork roast for dinner. Got it going in the crockpot and then started fixing a broken toilet. I replaced a broken ballcock and seat. Now I'm just chilling out with a little football recorded from yesterday.

-t

John Madden Retires

John Madden, the most-winning NFL coach in history and probably the most famous sport caster, also, just announced his retirement from game commentary. There is a lot to admire about this guy, besides his love for Turkducken the guy was an honest-to-God Football Genius. I mean, he saw through the game to levels of insight that were incredibly impressive. Non sports fans may underestimate him, but there is probably no one alive that understands football as deeply as John Madden! He will be missed!

-t

Super Bowl Sunday Recap...

Sunday started in the normal fashion. I got up early and took a long shower. Had breakfast (part of the "new way for Tay") and then went to church. I'm always the first one there on Sunday mornings. I unlock the building, tweak the arrangement of the chairs, set up the video camera to record the service, put on the first pot of coffee, start the communion bread thawing, put out the leaflets, etc., etc.

I wasn't exactly sure where I was going to go with the sermon until I started preaching it. Right away I could feel the energy and conviction welling up and I knew it was going to be a good one. Indeed, several people commented on it afterwards. I ended up preaching about some of the ways in which Authority operates in spiritual matters. I discussed the difference between relational authority and positional authority and how authority has changed in our current culture. Finally, I made a strong argument for the notion that the Gospel of Jesus ought to feel authoritative for us--it ought to make us a bit uncomfortable in the way that it is when the Doctor tells us we need to do something about high blood pressure or the Dentist tells us to floss more. Anyway, I was pleased. I'll post it shortly.

After church I did my usual post-church routines--putting away and tidying up various things. When that was done I headed home to prepare for our Annual Super Bowl party. I'm such an extrovert that these kinds of events really feed me, so I look forward to this party every year.

After changing clothes I met up with a buddy that took me in his truck to pick up the keg. Now, I didn't think we'd be able to handle a "Full Keg" with its 58.7 Litres (i.e. 124 Pints)! So instead I opted for a 30 Litre bad-boy that was still about 62 pints worth of golden goodness of the gods. I opted for Stella. I was surprised by how easy this whole process went--no fuss no muss. I get my deposit back when I return the keg and the pump. I put it on the back deck to stay cold. It was a big hit. Now I just have to finish it! Hard to know how much is left, actually, but I suspect I'm close to the bottom. I just hope it doesn't freeze in the cold weather.

Anyway, back to the party. Good attendance: a real mix of people including church folks, University connections, and then random people that Betsy and I know. They brought food and everyone had a great time. One of my favourite memories would be smoking fine cigars (a gift from a friend) on the back deck during half-time.

The game itself was, of course, fantastic. In the end we were all on our feet felling and screaming. What a game!

Cleanup was relatively easy. Monday was a day for being relaxed and doing as little as possible, though I did manage to do some laundry. Today it's back to work, though I had to cancel Trad Com (BCP Traditional Communion) because of the weather!

-t

Super-Bowl Snacks...

Check out this bad boy: a model stadium built entirely from snack foods:



I'll quote the recipe from the Holy Taco blog:

The Greatest Snack Food Stadium Ever Built

Ingredients:

The Field:
1 Pound of Guacamole
15 Oz. Queso Dip For The Steelers End Zone
15 Oz. Salsa For The Cardinals End Zone
2 Oz. Sour Cream for the Field Lines

The Players:
15 Vienna Sausages
Helmets - 3 Oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese

The Goal Posts:
1 Slim Jim for Each Goal Post
1 Oz. Monterey Jack Cheddar To Anchor (each)

The Stands:
58 Twinkies
1 Pound of Bacon
1 Bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos
1 Bag of Cheetos
1 Bag of Corn Tortilla Chips
1 Bag of Chex Mix

The Blimp:
20 Oz. Football-Shaped Summer Sausage (optional) (on second thought, no, this isn't optional. Go buy one.)

TOTAL CALORIES: 24,375
TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT: 1,285
TOTAL COST: $86.47
TOTAL DELICIOUSNESS: 1 Billion trillion, dude. One billion trillion.

Directions:
1. Put all your ingredients on an empty table and take a really crappy photo.
2. Take one pound of guacamole and smear it on the center of a baking tray, leaving a section on either end for end zones.
3. It's important here to fill one end zone with one filling, and one end zone with another, so that neither team receives home field deliciousness. We chose salsa for the Cardinals, and Queso dip for the Steelers.
4. Take sour cream and put it into a turkey baster, then squeeze gently to make the yard lines across the field.
5. Vienna sausages make delicious players, and tiny cheese wedge helmets help keep them from getting concussions. Two different types of cheese helps to distinguish the teams. The goal posts are made from Slim Jim's, that we cut up, then stuck together with tooth picks. Monterey Jack cheese was used as an anchor to keep them standing, with a tooth pick linking the two together. At no point was it necessary to "snap in to" any of these slim jims. Cutting worked better.
6. Now that the field is finished, you can begin constructing the stadium around it, which you will also eat. It's important to lay down some paper towels, so that no food comes in contact with your disgusting table top. (Because if you're a person who makes this, you definitely have a disgusting table top.)
7. The twinkie is nature's brick. You can make your stadium as large as you want, depending on how many twinkies you have at your disposal. We had 58. And probably could have used 90. Use tooth picks to secure the twinkies to one another. This outer stadium wall will provide a delicious dessert when the contents of the stadium have been eaten.
8. The bacon wall is the most important part of the stadium, because it keeps the throngs of screaming fans, in this case chips, from falling on the field, in this case the guacamole and salsa. Insert tooth picks into the first row of twinkies, and then weave the bacon in and out of them, so that it forms a pliable wall.
9. Without the fans, there would be no game. It's no different in your snack stadium, so select four different kinds of snacks to fill the stands. Be sure to use pieces of bacon to separate your crowd into sections.
10. As you can see, the chips give the feeling of a crowd of crazed fans. Especially the cheetos, who can barely contain their excitement at Vienna Sausage Roethlisberger and his delectable team.
11. At any major sporting event, a blimp shows up. In this case it's a 20 ounce summer sausage, that's shaped like a football. It doesn't float, we just took out the wire in photoshop, so don't get freaked out. (source)

Football's Magic Yellow Line

Here is a short video someone sent me about how they create that magic yellow first-down line that you see in NFL coverage now:


Interesting that they use an audio signal to carry the data--I bet that makes a lot of sense when you consider how carefully the audio signal is synced to the video.

-t

A Fine Cuban

Last night we had some friends over to watch football and enjoy each other's company. One couple was just back from vacation in Cuba. Naturally, they bought some fine Cuban Cigars and shared them with us. Being on the deck in the frigid cold smoking them and talking about our wives (who declined to join us) and jobs and the prospect of starting families was one of the most satisfying conversations I've had for a long time. Equally great was rejoining our ladies by the fireplace and sipping Elmer T. Lee (a Christmas gift from a certain friend). I'm so grateful that God has seen fit to give me so many blessings. I try to be equally grateful when times are tough, but it goes against human nature.

Anyway the question is whether smoking a cigar can be a "spiritual" experience. I think the answer is obviously "yes." A rabbi once said that when we get to heaven God will ask one question: "Did you enjoy my creation?" I certainly will have an answer ready.

Incidentally, it's been many, many years since I've smoked a cigar. Like Bourbon, Scotch, or Fellini movies, it's an acquired taste. And even though I enjoyed the cigar last night even more than I expected, I won't be buying them for myself anytime soon! It's a special occasions kind of thing.

Also striking is how uber-masculine this all was. I thought of a line from a Pablo Neruda poem, "The smell of barber shops makes me cry out loud." Having been in a barber shop recently (all straight razors and barbercide jars that look like they belong in an antique shop), I know what he means. It's an extraordinary comfort sometimes to relax into conventional gender expectations and just be a guy! I felt that way when the Barber was teasing me about not having much hair to cut and I certainly felt that way on my porch with the Cohibas last night.

I'm sure there is a sermon in here somewhere. I'll be thinking about that night for a while.

-t

Perfection

Sunday morning started off weird--I made a couple of dumb mistakes--nothing important, just enough to keep me humble. For instance, I was reciting the Gospel lesson from memory, but then got a little flummoxed on the last line! Arrg! Then I managed to dent a silver patten during the offertory. Again, not a big deal, silver is soft and can be easily reshaped, but I felt like an idiot for about 15 seconds. Then I took a breath and remembered that our worship is always imperfect, and that the grace happens when the priest can lift it up anyway.

After the service, a person I have been getting to know gave me a precious gift of some insight into her soul. It was a nice moment that made me very grateful to God--the sort of thing that keeps you going in Pastoral Ministry. So after that I was in a great mood. It's funny how fickle a pastor's self-confidence can be--which is why you should never, ever make your pastoral ministry dependent on how good you feel! Of course, that's easier said than done. Detachment is perhaps one of the most important of spiritual virtues to develop for the sake of ministry.

In the afternoon/evening we had a little Super Bowl Party--that went well except that my team, the Patriots, lost. I can still hardly believe it. So much for perfection. I guess like worship, football is imperfect.

-t

Christmas 1

This morning's service went just fine. Kind of low-key at church--lots of people out of town this weekend. Descent sermon--I'll post the recording when I get a chance. After church we took Betsy's cousin to see a play downtown. We saw "Funny Business," a musical comedy held over from the Fringe Theater Festival. It's an earnest production, rough around the edges but with lots of energy. Betsy and I don't see nearly enough theater anymore, so this was a nice change.

Anybody see that Patriot's vs. Giant's game last night? Very exciting. I was rooting for the Pats all the way--hard to go against a winner.

-t

Day Off

It's my day off, and I almost went in to church. A handy man was doing some work for us and I almost went in to supervise, but then realized it would by my umpeenth Monday going in "for just a few hours." So instead I did a little work on the car (new wipers and headlights) and watched DVR'd football. I saw the New England comeback last night, but the Sunday night game of the Eagles vs. the Cowboys had to wait until today. Both games had the outcome I wanted, so that was pleasing.

I picked up Betsy at the airport Sunday night without incident. She had a good trip seeing her family. I was very happy to see her coming home. While I waited for her to get through customs, I noted the remarkably similar attitude of all the people coming through the International Arrivals checkpoint: a mixture of exhausting and relief. So I picked her up and brought her home. Anna had prepared a nice supper of pork roast and potatoes.

Betsy encountered a surprise when she came into our bedroom--a kitten named James. I adopted James while Betsy was out of town. He's an adorable 4 month-old "Domestic Medium Hair" tabby (white and brown). I'll post a picture in tomorrow's blog. I got him at the Toronto Animal Shelter. It's a much better facility than I expected. The cats their have much better life than I thought thanks to the tons of volunteers that come in shifts to play with and groom the cats. Denise is still getting used to "the intruder," but I think they'll work it out soon. They spent the first 3 1/2 days separated, but I decided to turn them loose on each other today. Denise still hisses when the kitten gets within 5 feet, but neither wants a fight, so I think it will work out okay. But I know that both want to sleep in our bed with us, so that will be an interesting challenge tonight!

-t

"Traditional" Communion

Today is technically my day off, but I did go into the church for an hour or so. Good thing I did, as there were a few things for me to deal with. There are also a number of things happening tomorrow that require some preparation. Among them, my first "pure" Canadian BCP service! Sure, I've done the "1962 Rite" Eucharist more or less as it appears in the BAS literally hundreds of times. But the BAS re-ordered the rite to follow current scholarship about how the different pieces of the Eucharist were sequenced through most of Christian History. The 1962 Canadian BCP, on the other hand, is very much a product of the Reformation. Considering that I grew up with the American 1979 BCP (which also benefited from modern liturgical scholarship), it's understandable that I find the ordering of things in the Canadian BCP Communion downright weird. Putting the Gloria after Communion? Saying the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of the service? How about that Exhortation?

Anyway, I'm aware that most of the churches that claim to be doing a "Traditional BCP Communion" service are actually varying from the BCP rubrics to one degree or another. So I could do the same thing without much difficulty at COTM, but I think I need to let these reforms be driven to the congregation rather than my own prejudices. I suppose that means that I'm approaching this service with a pastoral point of view, rather than an evangelistic or theological point of view. That is, it's clearly about providing a meaningful experience of worship to a small community of faithful people already part of our community rather than witnessing to a larger community outside our doors. Nor is it aligned with contemporary Anglican theological understandings about worship, the human person, or other things. The BAS version of the Rite "fixes" many of these problems, but as I said, this is about the needs of the people who come every month, not about growing the church or being "correct." So I'm happy to give them whatever they want--they deserve to be able to pray the way that makes them happy.

I've got other fish to fry. There is a lot to decide at the Corporation meeting tomorrow night. Can't really say much here about what that list includes, but I can say that they are the sorts of changes that have been waiting for my arrival. It will be interesting to see how much people think I'm responsible for these changes and how much they see that these are really decisions that were made long before my arrival. I'm just the occasion for action to finally be taken.

Mowed the lawn today. Also made a trip to Home Depot. Fixed dinner and did some stuff around the house. Much more to do before tomorrow. Right now I'm watching football.

-t

Holy Cross

On Holy Cross day I went back to SMM for a farewell mass. It was a rainy night, and the sound of the rain on the roof and coming through the open clerestory was quite romantic. I preached a solid sermon that people liked. At the offertory Stephanie Martin premiered a beautiful piece dedicated to me. Matthew (COTM's Director of Music) was impressed and wants to do it here, too. I was quite moved by the music and almost missed the moment when they cense the lady chapel. There were a lot more people than expected--so many that we nearly ran out of bread at the service and definitely ran out of chairs at the potluck! Rob Castle said some nice things about me and presented me a purple stole as a gift from the parish. I also got to say some things.

It was great to see everyone, but I definitely felt as though I had already moved out. No doubt the general busy-ness of COTM has contributed that feeling.

Worship this morning at COTM went well. We are starting to get a bit more dialed-in. The chancel guild even "vested" the chalice in a more traditional manner for me--though the corporal wasn't folded quite correctly, yet. No worries, we have years to get it perfect and there are many other things that are of larger concern. For example we have a big meeting of the "Corporation" (Wardens + Clergy) on Tuesday. Many things to discuss and decide.

Now it's time for some football!

-t