The Story of Our Hymns: “Abide with Me” by Henry Francis Lyte — Anglican Compass
This is the first of a series on sacred hymns, the story behind them, their text, a recording, and a simple companion devotional. “Many a man who has labored in obscure places, practically unnoticed and un-praised by his own generation, has achieved a fame after his death that grows in magnitude with the passing years,”… via …
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Modelling, Quantum Mechanics, and Theology
Recently I wrote a post for another of my blogs entitled Do We Need a New Math to Understand Physics? where I discussed yet another article I linked to, Does Time Really Flow? New Clues Come From a Century-Old Approach to Math. It's probably too technical for most readers of this blog, although seeing Tolkien …
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Those Scientific Episcopalians (Not!)
The old home church tries to make it look good while mulling over if and when to re-open: The Episcopal Church approaches these decisions with great care and bases changes in our practices on solid, scientific data. I never thought the Episcopal Church was particularly "scientific." In fact, looking in the rear-view mirror one thing …
The Ornaments Rubric Explained — The Porcine
If you’ve ever done a little research into Anglicanism and vestments, you have encountered the Ornaments Rubric. It sits before Morning Prayer in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the 1559 BCP. It reads as follows: “The Morning and Evening Prayer shall be used in the accustomed Place of the Church, Chapel, or Chancel;… via …
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Maybe We Americans Sometimes Need to Pray for the Queen
I was watching this, a recitation of the traditional Morning Prayer service by Len Finn at St. George's Anglican Church in Burlington, Ontario. https://youtu.be/eTOLfdQ6MDY It's "traditional" because it's from the Canadian 1962 BCP, their "final true Anglican prayer book" before they went off the deep end like their counterparts south of the border. (Technically it's …
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The Birds are Still Singing
It's fair to say that it's been a spring for the record books. COVID-19 has upended our country in general, but for those of us in academia it's especially bad. For my part the jolting transition to online has been easier on me than my students; I think that the academy has a rough road …
Spiritual Communion as past and future experience. — Ad Orientem
[We] must affirm Christ's objective presence in the Eucharist, and must maintain that “Spiritual Communion” is not the same as the Eucharist. We can understand liturgical contemplation and “Spiritual Communion” as receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit by recalling the sacraments we have already received, recalling our baptism, which is praised by the Early… via …
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Church Homecoming, Virtual Episcopal Style
"Homecoming" is a term that usually evokes a lot of maudlin blubbering in Evangelical circles (especially Southern ones.) Images of "old-time" religion and hymns, "dinner on the ground," and churches and families getting together cloud our eyes with tears and our minds with nostalgia. Bill Gaither was wise in tapping into this the way he …
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The New Normal — Stand Firm
Every single morning now, when I fire up the interwebs, there are at least three articles about the “new normal.” Some of them ponderously explain that there will be a new normal. Others disparage the very idea of there being a new normal. The more interesting ones try to imagine what the new normal will… via …
Positive Infinity 