My cat woke me up this morning at around 5:45 A.M. by digging into my ear with her tongue. She finds my ear wax tasty. De gustibus non est disputandum - There is no accounting for taste. Actually, the sensation of cat's tongue in your ear isn't as disconcerting as you might imagine. Just goes to show that I am a sick, sick man.
Today is a "Feria," meaning that no particular feast is being recognized in the Christian calendar today. So it's just a normal day in normal time. I've spent much of it chipping away at various non-urgent projects. Who doesn't enjoy crossing things off the "to-do" list?
Last night I went out with friends for Korean BBQ. It's been a long time since I've eaten this way, but we all got the hang of it pretty quickly. The basic idea is that you cook your food yourself on a grill in the middle of the table. It quickly becomes a cooperative project to flip things that need flipping, take stuff off that's done, and put more meat and fish in place. We had a real method going. Delicious and fun. Probably not a bad way to do a team building exercise!
I hear that Benedict is allowing priests to do the Latin Mass at their own discretion (they will no longer have to ask their bishop's permission). Seems to me that despite his assurances the move will undermine the authority of local bishops yet more and replace it with the authority of Rome. Also in "What are they doing?" category: Benedict restated some of the annoying things he said in Dominus Iesus a few years ago. Only the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox can properly be called "Churches" in his (infallible) view. I think these trends in the RC Church reveal deep deep problems in their communion. No doubt in a few decades they will face the same kinds of threats of schism faced by the Anglicans now, though along different fault lines. Sigh.
-t
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Feast of St Benedict
Today is the feast of St Benedict--always one of my favorite Saints since I really got to know him through the works of Kathleen Norris and then through his Rule and then from the Monks at Holy Cross. There is a distinctive Benedictine culture that I really respond to, spiritually and personally. Something about balance and gentleness and a method that is very practical and loving and yet rigorous. I miss my monk friends at Holy Cross. I really need to get to West Park soon and regroup.
I've been asked lately by more than one person for a list of possible presents. Who doesn't love presents? So here's a quick wish list...
I really miss my wife. Betsy is in Belfast studying Byzantine Greek. It's been three and a half weeks since I've seen her. Another week and a half to go. I know I'm definitely married because my fantasy of her return includes me cleaning the house from top to bottom before she arrives--that's a well trained husband. But as a friend married many years once told me, "A happy wife is a happy life."
-t
I've been asked lately by more than one person for a list of possible presents. Who doesn't love presents? So here's a quick wish list...
- iPod (available here and here)
- Gift Certificates for NCIX (a Canadian on-line computer store)
- A GPS unit suitable for car nav
- Ikea gift certificates (yeah, we've gotten to that age)
- A leather or "leatherette" edition of the BAS
- Icons... Who doesn't need more Icons?
- A Tascam HD-P2 Digital Recorder (It's basically a high-definition sound recorder, handy for recording sermons, concerts, or audio tracks for video, etc.)
- Camcorder
- Fish (Yes, living fish... I'm going to set up a small aquarium in my office)
- Anything off of our wedding registry
I really miss my wife. Betsy is in Belfast studying Byzantine Greek. It's been three and a half weeks since I've seen her. Another week and a half to go. I know I'm definitely married because my fantasy of her return includes me cleaning the house from top to bottom before she arrives--that's a well trained husband. But as a friend married many years once told me, "A happy wife is a happy life."
-t
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Good News
I got some very good news today, which makes me very happy. I can't share it right now for confidentiality reasons, but suffice it to say that I am very happy.
I'm not feeling entirely well in my body for some reason. Not sure if it's a summer bug or what. Feels like the kind of thing that is very transient.
-t
I'm not feeling entirely well in my body for some reason. Not sure if it's a summer bug or what. Feels like the kind of thing that is very transient.
-t
Sunday, July 8, 2007
A good Sunday
Things went nicely today. The sermon started coming together on Saturday night, and I finished in the morning. Ended up talking about the notion of spiritual humility. It was a nice chance to tie together themes of sacramental theology and spiritual development. Also took an apropos detour through the land of homiletics. I spoke of how preaching must primarily must be sacramental, not pedagogical, in character. Karl Rahner was helpful in this, though he himself thought that "even really existential" preaching would fail to be as "sacramental" as the actual Sacraments. Here is the best picture of dude I can conveniently find. 
-t
-t
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Preaching Prep
Saturday before I have to preach I often feel like I do at this moment: a bit anxious. I spent a good part of today researching the texts. This is a necessary step, but often not all that helpful. I think you have to be disciplined by the text and the act of reinterpreting it again and again, but you always have to avoid preaching in a way that demonstrates knowledge simply to demonstrate knowledge. I've heard many sermons that were perhaps interesting and even thoughtful, but failed to effectuate much grace because they focused on the scriptures as if they were a text and not the Word of God.
Thinking of them as the Word of God means engaging them at a deeper level, and that's where you want to take a congregation when preaching. The shortcut to this place for preachers is to focus on the relationship. "How do I feel towards God and God's people, reading this?"
Anyway, I'm thinking more about Namaan and the Hebrew Bible's story about him than the Gospel lesson about Jesus sending out his disciples on their second mission trip. I do get tired of preaching about mission, you know.
-t
Thinking of them as the Word of God means engaging them at a deeper level, and that's where you want to take a congregation when preaching. The shortcut to this place for preachers is to focus on the relationship. "How do I feel towards God and God's people, reading this?"
Anyway, I'm thinking more about Namaan and the Hebrew Bible's story about him than the Gospel lesson about Jesus sending out his disciples on their second mission trip. I do get tired of preaching about mission, you know.
-t
BVM Saturday
SMM follows a complicated liturgical calendar to determine which lessons, collects, and other variable materials are used at the daily services. It's the same calendar used throughout the Anglican Church of Canada and overlaps with many other Christian groups, as well. There is something special about knowing that thousands (even millions) of people throughout the world are hearing the same portions of scripture and praying the same prayers.
Sometimes we have a "local practice" that causes to deviate a bit from what other Anglican Churches might be doing. For example, we commorate St. Blaise (aka St. Blasius) on February 3rd (unless that's a Sunday or a more important feast, in which case we celebrate it a few days later). Blasius was a an Armenian physician and bishop known for healing throats by his prayers. In some places bonfires are lit to celebrate his day. So naturally we follow the old way of blessing throats on Feb 3rd by crossing a pair of (unlit) candlesticks over each person's throat and saying a special prayer.
Another "local practice" that we follow is the Catholic Custom of declaring Saturdays in "Ordinary Time" (i.e. not Adent, Lent or Eastertide) to be "Saturdays of our Lady." That means using prayers and propers that commemorate the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in salvation history and ask for her continued prayers in heaven. Since we also preach at the Saturday Mass, that means that I have had many opportunities to reflect and preach on Our Lady.
In doing so, I often come back to the way that Mary functions for us as both an example of God's love (that God loves us like Mary loves Jesus), but also how we are to love and nourish others in our earthly life. Mary is the very type and example of the perfect Christian.
This morning I ended narrowing down on an aspect of motherly love that we ought to emulate. It's that persistent, gentle love that manifests most clearly in the spirit of hospitality. It's that emotion I sometimes feel when I'm cooking dinner for Betsy. If she isn't home yet I can really focus on the task of cooking and be aware of how I feel. In hospitality-love there is an element of making room for the Beloved. Precisely as Mary did when said "Yes" to God's invitation to be the God-bearer.
-t
Sometimes we have a "local practice" that causes to deviate a bit from what other Anglican Churches might be doing. For example, we commorate St. Blaise (aka St. Blasius) on February 3rd (unless that's a Sunday or a more important feast, in which case we celebrate it a few days later). Blasius was a an Armenian physician and bishop known for healing throats by his prayers. In some places bonfires are lit to celebrate his day. So naturally we follow the old way of blessing throats on Feb 3rd by crossing a pair of (unlit) candlesticks over each person's throat and saying a special prayer.
Another "local practice" that we follow is the Catholic Custom of declaring Saturdays in "Ordinary Time" (i.e. not Adent, Lent or Eastertide) to be "Saturdays of our Lady." That means using prayers and propers that commemorate the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in salvation history and ask for her continued prayers in heaven. Since we also preach at the Saturday Mass, that means that I have had many opportunities to reflect and preach on Our Lady.
In doing so, I often come back to the way that Mary functions for us as both an example of God's love (that God loves us like Mary loves Jesus), but also how we are to love and nourish others in our earthly life. Mary is the very type and example of the perfect Christian.
This morning I ended narrowing down on an aspect of motherly love that we ought to emulate. It's that persistent, gentle love that manifests most clearly in the spirit of hospitality. It's that emotion I sometimes feel when I'm cooking dinner for Betsy. If she isn't home yet I can really focus on the task of cooking and be aware of how I feel. In hospitality-love there is an element of making room for the Beloved. Precisely as Mary did when said "Yes" to God's invitation to be the God-bearer.
-t
Friday, July 6, 2007
Dreams
I had a dream last night that I was at Holy Cross Monastery. I remember in part of the dream I was making a service leaflet for some upcoming event. later in the dream, Bede and Mary Gates and I were up late in the night talking in one our bedrooms. It felt good to be with them. I always appreciate dreams that bring me into the company of old friends.
-t
-t
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Baby Kunselman!
My sister-in-law (Molly) and her husband (David) just had a baby boy. They haven't decided on a name yet, but the little guy was delivered by C-Section at around 10:30 p.m. on July 4th: 7 lbs. 7 oz., 20 inches. Everyone is doing fine. I spoke to Molly today and she is doing well, though justifiably exhausted.
Birth is one of those experiences that changes the people who witness it. The same can be said of death or sex or war. They are initiatory experiences--baptism by knowledge. I certainly will never forget the first time I watched someone die (my Grandmother Johnson) or the time I saw an autopsy or did any of these other things that initiated me into the adult world of experience.
There are equivalents in the spiritual realm. You begin to see it when you speak frankly with people about their spiritual lives. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen nearly enough in our current church culture. Because spirituality is an aspect of human growth like anything else, people have spiritual lives whether they intentionally develop them or not. This is shows when you ask an atheistic about what gives their life meaning. They may say "Truth," or "Beauty" or "Compassion," but be reluctant to concede that those are all spiritual terms of reference. In this sense philosophy and religion overlap in their goals, language, and even methods (to some degree).
Alas, most philosophy makes a blunt instrument for spiritual development. So does most theology, I'm afraid. Thankfully post-modernism gives us permission to return to essentially phenomenological approaches. That, in turn, leads to the rediscovery of the medievals (as well as to the appreciation of Far Eastern approaches). Turns out that post-modernism isn't so scary after all.
I gave a sermon about post-modernism a few months ago. It was one of my favorites, though I had to be careful to walk the edge between teaching and confusing the congregation. I think I probably don't take enough risks in my preaching. Anyway, the best compliment I got on that sermon was from a graduate student of theology who said I had really opened up some possibilities for him that he hadn't seen before.
Great to give sermons that give people "ah-ha" moments, but as I mature as a preacher I become less and less concerned with preaching-towards-insight. Why? Because insight alone isn't enough to change us. It's helpful, but isn't enough. What is required, actually, is relationship. The goal of preaching is not to educate, or even inspire, but to RELATE to people in a way that transmits God's grace.
Anyway, this rant started because Molly and David had a baby. Good for them! Every blessing and joy...
-t
Birth is one of those experiences that changes the people who witness it. The same can be said of death or sex or war. They are initiatory experiences--baptism by knowledge. I certainly will never forget the first time I watched someone die (my Grandmother Johnson) or the time I saw an autopsy or did any of these other things that initiated me into the adult world of experience.
There are equivalents in the spiritual realm. You begin to see it when you speak frankly with people about their spiritual lives. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen nearly enough in our current church culture. Because spirituality is an aspect of human growth like anything else, people have spiritual lives whether they intentionally develop them or not. This is shows when you ask an atheistic about what gives their life meaning. They may say "Truth," or "Beauty" or "Compassion," but be reluctant to concede that those are all spiritual terms of reference. In this sense philosophy and religion overlap in their goals, language, and even methods (to some degree).
Alas, most philosophy makes a blunt instrument for spiritual development. So does most theology, I'm afraid. Thankfully post-modernism gives us permission to return to essentially phenomenological approaches. That, in turn, leads to the rediscovery of the medievals (as well as to the appreciation of Far Eastern approaches). Turns out that post-modernism isn't so scary after all.
I gave a sermon about post-modernism a few months ago. It was one of my favorites, though I had to be careful to walk the edge between teaching and confusing the congregation. I think I probably don't take enough risks in my preaching. Anyway, the best compliment I got on that sermon was from a graduate student of theology who said I had really opened up some possibilities for him that he hadn't seen before.
Great to give sermons that give people "ah-ha" moments, but as I mature as a preacher I become less and less concerned with preaching-towards-insight. Why? Because insight alone isn't enough to change us. It's helpful, but isn't enough. What is required, actually, is relationship. The goal of preaching is not to educate, or even inspire, but to RELATE to people in a way that transmits God's grace.
Anyway, this rant started because Molly and David had a baby. Good for them! Every blessing and joy...
-t
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Flight of the Conchords
I know this kind of humor doesn't appeal to everyone, but I certainly do enjoy it...
Cheers.
-t
Cheers.
-t
Bede's blog
My friend and spiritual director Bede has a great blog. In his entry this morning he talks about an experience of piercing insight. I love those moments--the Holy Spirit smacking us on the back of the head. Really "insight" is a little too cerebral to catch the meaning of this experience. Something about the Eternal coming into contact with the temporal. It's the true meaning of "sacramental." Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols is also called "How to Philosophize With a Hammer." Someone should write a Zen equivalent, "How to Meditate With a Rattan Cane Smacking Your Spine." Perhaps the Christian version would be, "How to Read the Bible While It's on Fire."
I sense good times ahead in my spiritual life. Some things are shifting around into an exciting configuration. Lighter, harder. Like jumping into a pool for the first time.
God be praised!
-t
I sense good times ahead in my spiritual life. Some things are shifting around into an exciting configuration. Lighter, harder. Like jumping into a pool for the first time.
God be praised!
-t
Vacation Recap
Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. Things got crazy busy just before my vacation. Now I'm easing myself back into work.
Unfortunately, this year Betsy and I are not taking our vacations together. Her Ph.D. Mentor--Linda Safran--thought she should go study Byzantine Greek in Belfast. It's a great opportunity for Betsy, she has Ancient Greek before, but the Byzantine dialect is it's own species. Belfast is one of the very few places where one can study it.
I traveled by myself down to New Jersey to start my vacation--beginning the longest period my wife and I have been apart since we've been married. Five weeks! Man am I missing her now! I'm still reflexively reaching out for her in the course of the day.
So I flew down to New Jersey to my mom's place and then we drove north after picking up my sister Lynne and nephew Charlie. It's a long drive to Monhegan Island, Maine, so we stopped halfway up and then did the rest of the drive the following morning. Monhegan is tiny: about a square mile in total land area! My mom rented this cottage for a week for the four of us. We had a great time feeding the ducks on the pond and walking the rough trails to the ocean cliffs. Ate lobster, of course.
We had limited electricity and instead relied on gas for light and cooking. When it got cold and wet I started a fire in the wood stove. It was charming and simple and the kind of place where one can experience real country dark. I forgot how much I'm missed the nice things about living in the country.
No TV, of course, so besides the local talent show we had to make our own entertainment. I read a ton of books. And I kept reading after the week on the Island was through and I came back to Toronto. Here's a list:
I also saw a bunch of movies including...
That is a lot of literature and film, even if it was over three weeks! But with my wife out of town there isn't much else to do! Wish I had time and space to describe each of these, but there isn't. I'll just highlight Stranger Than Fiction as being a really terrific movie--funny and poignant and TRUE. It brought me tears, which few movies do.
Yesterday I had another church interview. It's the place I really want, though now we'll have to see if they want me! There is a lot I could say about this particular interview, but unfortunately it's the kind of thing that I can't be very open about at this moment. I just hope I gave them a sense of how much love I have to give the church.
Anyway, now I'm slowly getting back into the swing of church. In particular I have to get ready to preach on Sunday! It will be difficult to NOT talk about Evangelism with these texts.
-t
Unfortunately, this year Betsy and I are not taking our vacations together. Her Ph.D. Mentor--Linda Safran--thought she should go study Byzantine Greek in Belfast. It's a great opportunity for Betsy, she has Ancient Greek before, but the Byzantine dialect is it's own species. Belfast is one of the very few places where one can study it.
I traveled by myself down to New Jersey to start my vacation--beginning the longest period my wife and I have been apart since we've been married. Five weeks! Man am I missing her now! I'm still reflexively reaching out for her in the course of the day.
So I flew down to New Jersey to my mom's place and then we drove north after picking up my sister Lynne and nephew Charlie. It's a long drive to Monhegan Island, Maine, so we stopped halfway up and then did the rest of the drive the following morning. Monhegan is tiny: about a square mile in total land area! My mom rented this cottage for a week for the four of us. We had a great time feeding the ducks on the pond and walking the rough trails to the ocean cliffs. Ate lobster, of course.
We had limited electricity and instead relied on gas for light and cooking. When it got cold and wet I started a fire in the wood stove. It was charming and simple and the kind of place where one can experience real country dark. I forgot how much I'm missed the nice things about living in the country.
No TV, of course, so besides the local talent show we had to make our own entertainment. I read a ton of books. And I kept reading after the week on the Island was through and I came back to Toronto. Here's a list:
- The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Anne Rice
- Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog, Raewynne J. Whiteley, Beth Maynard
- Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche
- The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
I also saw a bunch of movies including...
- A Mighty Wind
- Walk the Line
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 version)
- Spring, Summer, Fall, Winder ... And Spring
- Little Miss Sunshine
- United 93
- Hannibal Rising
- The Good Shepherd
- Hostel
- Stranger Than Fiction
That is a lot of literature and film, even if it was over three weeks! But with my wife out of town there isn't much else to do! Wish I had time and space to describe each of these, but there isn't. I'll just highlight Stranger Than Fiction as being a really terrific movie--funny and poignant and TRUE. It brought me tears, which few movies do.
Yesterday I had another church interview. It's the place I really want, though now we'll have to see if they want me! There is a lot I could say about this particular interview, but unfortunately it's the kind of thing that I can't be very open about at this moment. I just hope I gave them a sense of how much love I have to give the church.
Anyway, now I'm slowly getting back into the swing of church. In particular I have to get ready to preach on Sunday! It will be difficult to NOT talk about Evangelism with these texts.
-t
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
concert recap
The Concert on Sunday afternoon went extremely well. There was a nice crowd of people and all the choirs gave excellent performances. The Haydn Te Deum with orchestra was particularly exhilarating. I was extremely stressed out during it, however, as I was attempting to capture the goings on with video, 2 sets of digital recording equipment, and my trusty Digital SLR. Alas, it was too much to juggle and it ended up that I screwed up on the recordings. So while I got an excellent recording of most of the gallery choir performances, I didn't get much of the Ritual Choir or the Te Deum. It was my bad, I simply was trying to do too many things at once and messed it up. It didn't help that I was using unfamiliar equipment (a rented DAT).
Speaking of DATs, I am really coming to despise the TASCAM DA-P1. It's not intuitive at all. I wish Long and McQuade rented out the newer TASCAM HD-P2. The main difference between the two is that one records on DAT (Digital Audio Tapes) and the other on Compact Flash cards (the same as my digital camera). The price of the newer units is quite reasonable ($1000) and if I had extra money lying around it's the kind of tool I'd love to have lying around. Sigh.
Anyway, over the next few days I'm hoping to process some of the "take" from the concert to post on the web. Cross your fingers that I got some good stuff!
After the concert I met up with some of Betsy's friends and the four of headed over to the ROM to see the new "Crystal." It was a complex experience. There were some things we really liked and some things we absolutely did not. In the end we all felt that building was surprisingly difficult to abide. Something about all those weird angles makes one anxious.
-t
Speaking of DATs, I am really coming to despise the TASCAM DA-P1. It's not intuitive at all. I wish Long and McQuade rented out the newer TASCAM HD-P2. The main difference between the two is that one records on DAT (Digital Audio Tapes) and the other on Compact Flash cards (the same as my digital camera). The price of the newer units is quite reasonable ($1000) and if I had extra money lying around it's the kind of tool I'd love to have lying around. Sigh.
Anyway, over the next few days I'm hoping to process some of the "take" from the concert to post on the web. Cross your fingers that I got some good stuff!
After the concert I met up with some of Betsy's friends and the four of headed over to the ROM to see the new "Crystal." It was a complex experience. There were some things we really liked and some things we absolutely did not. In the end we all felt that building was surprisingly difficult to abide. Something about all those weird angles makes one anxious.
-t
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