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Which Incredibles Character Are You?
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Thoughts on Confirmation

Confirmation is the completion of Baptism. By Baptism one is admitted into the Kingdom of God; in Confirmation one receives spiritual strengthening to live a Christian life within the Kingdom. This is the central theme of the Confirmation office in the Book of Common Praryer, as express in the Prayer of Invocation, which has been in use all over Christendom for at least fifteen hundred years. In this prayer the seven-fold gift of the Holy Spirit is called down upon the candidates. It is not merely something which we do but something which is done to us. We do not confirm ourselves. We are confirmed. – Frank Wilson, Faith and Practice [emphasis his]

This last Sunday will be a day that I hope I will never forget (and probably won’t). Not only was it Easter, but I was confirmed into the Episcopal church. When Bishop McPherson met with us before the service, he told us that when we he put his hands on our heads that he wanted us to look up at him. “I want to see Jesus in your eyes. Besides, it’s very hard to remember people by the top of their head.” When it was my turn, I went and kneeled in front of him, he put his hands on either side of my head and began praying the blessing from the prayer book. “Strengthen, O Lord, your servant Jessie with your Holy Spirit; empower her for your service; and sustain her all the days of her life. Amen.”

As he spoke, I felt different. It’s kind of hard to explain. The spiritual overflow was almost overwhelming. Then the application of the chrism in the shape of a cross onto my forehead was an outward and visible sign (in addition to the laying on of hands) that “sealed the deal” in a sense. I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit was in that place. He may have seen Jesus in my eyes and I definately saw Him in his.

Easter Sunday!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. ALLELUIA!

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This joyful Eastertide,
away with care and sorrow!
My Love, the Crucified,
hath sprung to life this morrow.
Refrain:
Had Christ, that once was slain,
ne’er burst his three-day prison,
our faith had been in vain;
but now is Christ arisen,
arisen, arisen, arisen.

Death’s flood hath lost its chill,
since Jesus crossed the river:
Lover of souls, from ill
my passing soul deliver, Refrain

My flesh in hope shall rest,
and for a season slumber,
till trump from east to west
shall wake the dead in number. Refrain

*Note: Stuff about confirmation coming soon (i.e., when I get the picture we took with the bishop)

Good Friday

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
So shall He sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked–
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

Open the flood gates

Last night’s Maundy Thursday service @ Grace was one of the most powerful services I’ve been to. Our offetory anthem was “O Bone Jesu” I usually don’t get emotional while singing at church, but this piece is so beautiful. This midi doesn’t do it justice, but listen anyway. Here’s the sheet music. But I digress. I choked up and almost teared up while we were singing it. Right after we prayed the Prayer of Thanksgiving, removed our surplices to show the black cassocks underneath and begun reciting Psalm 22 while Fr. Riley stripped the altar. The candles were extinguished, the linens folded, everything g-o-n-e. Then what really hit me was Fr. Riley got some water and a rag and began wiping down the table. So many things ran through my head of what this whole service represents. Tears streamed down my face. We left in silence when Fr. Riley and Fr. Powell took the reserve sacrement to the chapel.

O bone Jesu miserere nobis quia tu creasti nos tu redemisti nos sanguine tuo pretiosisissimo.

Zounds!

The book
The NPR story

They mentioned this book again this morning and talked about how some say it’s prounounced like wounds instead of sounds because it came from the shortening of “God’s wounds”. Though that one is nice to think about, Ms. Merriweather stated I could be either. What do you think?

Maundy Thursday

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 13:1-15
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord–and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Just as I thought

You scored as Sleeping Beauty. Your alter ego is Princess Aurora, a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty! You are beautiful and enchanting, and as sweet as ever. Sleeping Beauty 81% Peter Pan 81% Goofy 75% The Beast 63% Ariel 56% Cinderella 50% Cruella De Ville 38% Pinocchio 38% Donald Duck 31% Snow White 6% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

Two day work week…getting paid for five

I went to work Sunday night and ended up getting a fever around 3am. My supervisor let me go home about 30 mintues early (he’s really not as heartless as he sounds), and I went home to crash. I called urgent care @ Green Clinic around 11:30 to get an appointment for the afternoon. No such thing. All booked up for the day. Great. So I made an appointment for first thing the next day.
I felt better by morning (aka no fever) and went in around 7:30. I was the first one seen (hurrah!) by Dr. Brantley (the best doc in urgent care) and was diagnosed with a sinus infection. The only thing that bothered me is that I have pretty much the same symptoms that I had a year ago when I went in and had strep throat. Hmm. Well, at least I got an antibiotic that’ll kill either plus a decongestant that’ll help my sinisus out. To top it all off, I’ve probably lost a few pounds since all I ate yesterday was a hamburger.
I get to miss 2 days of work (he didn’t want me going back tonight) and I’ll be using a vacation day Thursday night/Friday morning for Holy Week activites @ church. So I’m only working 2 days this week and getting paid for all five. I need to do this more often.

Palm Sunday

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

To mock your reign, O dearest Lord,
they made a crown of thorns;
set you with taunts along that road
from which no one returns.
They did not know, as we do now,
that glorious is your crown;
that thorns would flower upon your brow,
your sorrows heal our own.

In mock acclaim, O gracious Lord,
they snatched a purple cloak,
your passion turned, for all they cared,
into a soldier’s joke.
They did not know, as we do now,
that though we merit blame
you will your robe of mercy throw
around our naked shame.

A sceptered reed, O patient Lord,
they thrust into your hand,
and acted out their grim charade
to its appointed end.
They did not know, as we do now,
though empires rise and fall,
your Kingdom shall not cease to grow
till love embraces all.

Click here to hear the beautiful tune of this wonderful Holy Week hymn.

I’ve got to stop staying up so late.

Bradford pear blossoms and a sunrise

Whereas most people get to see the sunset near the end of their day, I get to see the sunrise (when it’s not cloudy). This morning was one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve seen since going back to nights. The picture here isn’t exactly what I saw but fairly close. I love this time of year when the Bradford pear blossoms are out. The white puffs of trees make me smile; they’re so pretty and I’ll be a little sad when the ones we have out at the plant turn green.

BMI

No, I’m not talking about Body Mass Index and how chubby everybody might be. I’m talking about Brain-Machine Interface. Our thoughts to use a computer all without movement. Matt, a 25-year-old quadrapalegic (sp?) has a chip in his brain, using his thoughts to control the channels on the TV, play simple computer games, and move a robotic arm. Click here to hear the story on NPR’s Morning Edition
This story really interested me. I’m not sure what to think about it though. The ethical issues (which they mention in the story) raise a lot of questions. Should we really be able to control computers with our brains? Where do we stop and the machine begin?

Lent 5

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”"‘
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”"‘ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.”‘

Um, yeah it has been a while.

I really need to keep this stuff up more. As Adrienne mentioned in a comment, I’m not working twelves anymore. I have been really tired the last couple of days. I think I’m trying to get sick. I’m so physically exhausted and have been kinda short of breath the last couple of days. I guess I’m getting that crud that’s been going on. My illnesses are so wierd. Either I’m the only that gets it or I’m at the “tail end” of the cycle.

One more week of confirmation class. Last night I went over to do a catch-up class from when my car broke down. The a week off and then Easter! Yay! Afterward, I went the BJ (he had some catching up to do as well) to look for him a new suit. I was his fashion consultant and never really shopped for a suit for a guy before and it was so much fun! Matching shirts and ties and shoes. He’s going to look sharp on the 27th.

I had another guy hit on me this week. This one was a driver that had come in to pick up a load. He gave me a compliment and I smiled and said thank you but he kept on. Asking me for my digits and telling me that I could have his. I told him I wasn’t interested, but the dood wouldn’t leave well enough alone. I ended up having to walk to the back so he couldn’t see me and would leave. I went back out to the front and one of the loaders that had been looking outside said he was coming back. I scrambled back to the back again so he wouldn’t stay. When I left about an hour and half later, I heard him calling out after me from his truck. *Sigh* Boys.

Note to self: Don’t forget to link Raonna II & Jenn & Mel