On our way back from picking up the engine, we were driving north through Kentucky on I-75, trying to find the NASCAR race on the radio, when we heard this preacher. In our estimation, he was not an Anglican.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
St. Luke's Anglican Parish - Landrum, South Carolina
When I realized that my son and I would be trekking to North Carolina to pick up the motor and transmission he bought on ebay, I looked at what Anglican contacts I had in the area. It was to be a weekend trip, so we hoped to visit an Anglican parish on Sunday morning before heading back to Detroit.
We ended up visiting St. Luke's Anglican Parish in Landrum, South Carolina. It is only a few miles from the North Carolina border, and so did not involve a huge amount of extra travel. Our friend, Fr. Peter Geromel, is the Vicar at St. Luke's.
The parish meets at Landrum Presbyterian Church (see photos below), which was easy to find. Our visit was on the Third Sunday in Lent.
The service was that of Holy Communion, from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, by the book, with no funny stuff, which I really appreciated. The 1928 BCP is still what I am most at home with, and it was great to worship by it once again.
I didn't get an exact count of those present, not wanting to turn around to count those behind us, but I would say that we numbered about 30 souls.
We sang one of my favourite Lenten hymns for the Sermon Hymn, which was #61 (The Hymnal 1940), The Glory of These Forty Days.
The sermon itself was given by the Rector Emeritus, Fr. Frederick Holck, and was very helpful to me in my Lenten journey. Fr. Holck opened by stating that the foundation of any Lenten discipline must be that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. He warned about treating Lent as a mere appendage to an unchanged life, as if we were to put a small patch of new cloth onto a worn and threadbare garment. It is our entire lives which must be changed, and without this, adding or subtracting things as Lenten "disciplines" is of little use. What matters is a new creation (new fabric from top to bottom), and meeting Christ is a life-changing experience, Fr. Holck told us.
I wondered about my own life and devotion. Sometimes it does seem as if my Christian faith and worship are merely things I have added on (as I would add one more hobby) to my life, and that perhaps I have wandered from the devotion which I once had. It was a sobering thought, and I sat through the sermon very convicted, staring at the gnarled tree in the window (see photo above).
Fr. Holck told a great story to illustrate what the wrong kind of Lenten devotion looks like, one which does not change our core. His story was of a Catholic priest in New York City, who was heading to the rectory after mass when he was held up at gunpoint. As he opened his jacket to reach his wallet, the thief became distressed at seeing the priest's clerical collar. "I did not know I was robbing a priest!", he said, and offered repeated and profuse apologies. The priest, seeing the distress of the young man, offered him a piece of candy, in an effort to calm him. The thief's reply was telling: "Reverend Father! I do not eat the candies in Lent!!"
And so it is with us who add Lent as a mere appendage to our "same old" lives.
I always give "extra credit" to any parish which does not have the Passing of the Peace, and St. Luke's earns full marks for this.
In all, a very profitable way to spend a Sunday, and a highly recommended place to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness".
We ended up visiting St. Luke's Anglican Parish in Landrum, South Carolina. It is only a few miles from the North Carolina border, and so did not involve a huge amount of extra travel. Our friend, Fr. Peter Geromel, is the Vicar at St. Luke's.
The parish meets at Landrum Presbyterian Church (see photos below), which was easy to find. Our visit was on the Third Sunday in Lent.
The service was that of Holy Communion, from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, by the book, with no funny stuff, which I really appreciated. The 1928 BCP is still what I am most at home with, and it was great to worship by it once again.
I didn't get an exact count of those present, not wanting to turn around to count those behind us, but I would say that we numbered about 30 souls.
We sang one of my favourite Lenten hymns for the Sermon Hymn, which was #61 (The Hymnal 1940), The Glory of These Forty Days.
The sermon itself was given by the Rector Emeritus, Fr. Frederick Holck, and was very helpful to me in my Lenten journey. Fr. Holck opened by stating that the foundation of any Lenten discipline must be that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. He warned about treating Lent as a mere appendage to an unchanged life, as if we were to put a small patch of new cloth onto a worn and threadbare garment. It is our entire lives which must be changed, and without this, adding or subtracting things as Lenten "disciplines" is of little use. What matters is a new creation (new fabric from top to bottom), and meeting Christ is a life-changing experience, Fr. Holck told us.
I wondered about my own life and devotion. Sometimes it does seem as if my Christian faith and worship are merely things I have added on (as I would add one more hobby) to my life, and that perhaps I have wandered from the devotion which I once had. It was a sobering thought, and I sat through the sermon very convicted, staring at the gnarled tree in the window (see photo above).
Fr. Holck told a great story to illustrate what the wrong kind of Lenten devotion looks like, one which does not change our core. His story was of a Catholic priest in New York City, who was heading to the rectory after mass when he was held up at gunpoint. As he opened his jacket to reach his wallet, the thief became distressed at seeing the priest's clerical collar. "I did not know I was robbing a priest!", he said, and offered repeated and profuse apologies. The priest, seeing the distress of the young man, offered him a piece of candy, in an effort to calm him. The thief's reply was telling: "Reverend Father! I do not eat the candies in Lent!!"
And so it is with us who add Lent as a mere appendage to our "same old" lives.
I always give "extra credit" to any parish which does not have the Passing of the Peace, and St. Luke's earns full marks for this.
In all, a very profitable way to spend a Sunday, and a highly recommended place to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness".
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Father-Son Bonding via the Medium of Lynyrd Skynyrd
I used to be quite the Lynyrd Skynrd fan, starting around the age of 15. I still am, I suppose. They go over the same sort of material, with the same sound, multiple times. Some might even say that they made essentially the same record several times over. Maybe, but it is a very good record.
I had either forgotten or underestimated, however, how much of a Skynyrd fan my 17-year-old son is. We were tooling northward up through Kentucky when this gem came on the radio, and we both loved it, grooving on the great guitar work:
What a great track. Yes, the worldview leaves something to be desired, buy my son and I are precisely agreed about that, too.
We talked about the group some more, and then it occurred to me to tell him how when I lived in NYC, I had this exact Lynyrd Skynyrd belt buckle. The photo really does not do justice to it; it absolutely sparkled, like a red glass taillamp lens on a shoebox Ford.
I had either forgotten or underestimated, however, how much of a Skynyrd fan my 17-year-old son is. We were tooling northward up through Kentucky when this gem came on the radio, and we both loved it, grooving on the great guitar work:
What a great track. Yes, the worldview leaves something to be desired, buy my son and I are precisely agreed about that, too.
We talked about the group some more, and then it occurred to me to tell him how when I lived in NYC, I had this exact Lynyrd Skynyrd belt buckle. The photo really does not do justice to it; it absolutely sparkled, like a red glass taillamp lens on a shoebox Ford.
Kinda wish I had not thrown it away. I would have liked to hand it over to my son as some kind of Rite of Passage:
Son, I bestow upon you this Lynyrd Skynyrd belt buckle. I pronounce and declare you to be now a man!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Boycotting Berea.
Over this past weekend, my son and I made a quick trip down to North Carolina to pick up this motor and transmission which we had purchased on ebay last week.
Most of the weekend was great, including the driving. But coming back through Kentucky, we had a very annoying experience. We were trying to make good time back to Michigan, and so we were pleased that the pace of the Kentucky drivers was brisk.
We decided to stop at this Travelers' Center at Berea, to use the restrooms. I had a good feeling about it, since they correctly place the apostrophe on the sign.
But the good feeling didn't last long. The city of Berea in all their wisdom, decided to make us go on a 2-mile tour of their town to reach the Travelers' Center, just so we could see how great their town was. The thing is, we were in kind of a hurry. They sent us off at Exit 77 rather than Exit 76, which was much closer to the Travelers' Center.
But the great offense was yet to come. The place was CLOSED! Totally locked up! No access to the restrooms! As a courtesy, they might have thought to put on the sign: CLOSED on Sundays.
Most of the weekend was great, including the driving. But coming back through Kentucky, we had a very annoying experience. We were trying to make good time back to Michigan, and so we were pleased that the pace of the Kentucky drivers was brisk.
We decided to stop at this Travelers' Center at Berea, to use the restrooms. I had a good feeling about it, since they correctly place the apostrophe on the sign.
But the good feeling didn't last long. The city of Berea in all their wisdom, decided to make us go on a 2-mile tour of their town to reach the Travelers' Center, just so we could see how great their town was. The thing is, we were in kind of a hurry. They sent us off at Exit 77 rather than Exit 76, which was much closer to the Travelers' Center.
But the great offense was yet to come. The place was CLOSED! Totally locked up! No access to the restrooms! As a courtesy, they might have thought to put on the sign: CLOSED on Sundays.
It was about 50 miles to the next rest area. And now we knew why everyone drives so fast in Kentucky: They are trying to get into Ohio or Tennessee, so they can pee.
The one redeeming feature of Berea (which I am officially boycotting for their lack of hospitality!) was this space-age looking High School:
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Automotive Art of Lawrence Gardinier
The other day, I featured the automotive art of Ed Tillrock.
Today, I'd like to show you the work of another artist we met at the 2012 Detroit Autorama, Lawrence Gardienier. His stuff is exquisite. He works in acrylics, and I got to talk to him about his technique. He uses very small brushes, and magnifying lenses to see what he is doing. He also mentioned that he is, like myself, self-taught.
The results are spectacular! It is not often that I see a painter's work and think: "Wow, I wish I had painted that!" But Larry's work does that to me. Well done, sir!
Today, I'd like to show you the work of another artist we met at the 2012 Detroit Autorama, Lawrence Gardienier. His stuff is exquisite. He works in acrylics, and I got to talk to him about his technique. He uses very small brushes, and magnifying lenses to see what he is doing. He also mentioned that he is, like myself, self-taught.
The results are spectacular! It is not often that I see a painter's work and think: "Wow, I wish I had painted that!" But Larry's work does that to me. Well done, sir!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Kodachrome - on the Mourning of the Loss of Film
An artist friend posted a question about film vs digital on her blog, and this was my reply:
Oh, ABSOLUTELY!This song now appears to have been prophetic!
I have two nephews who are incredible photographers both, and who bemoan the loss of film. I have a feeling that they will be buying and freezing (or otherwise preserving) film and using it for a long time.
The amount of information captured, and the continuous-vs-discrete thing just makes film totally own digital. I find this so emblematic of what is wrong with the world that I started to write a song about it. We have done what is necessary to allow EVERYONE to be a "pretty good" photographer, while disallowing the best of the best to produce their optimal work. Or, if not "disallowed", then at least "discouraged".
Along those same lines, one of my nephews got a gig as a photographer in Africa for several months on the strength of a "Frankenstein" camera he built with a modern digital body and a coveted 1968 Minolta lens.
Why use a lens created in 1968? Because back then, they didn't know how to make the lenses perfect, and there was some natural distortion to the shape of the lens which makes stunningly beautiful shapes in the out-of-focus portions of short depth-of-field photographs. Now, manufacturers know how to make the lenses perfect, and something has been loss.
The world is crazy. I miss film.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Vinsetta Garage - The Restaurant
When Woodward's legendary Vinsetta Garage closed its doors a little while back, it was a sad day for me.
But making a cool restaurant out of it seems as good a thing to do with the space as anything.
It's only about 2 miles from my house, so I'm sure I will get a chance to eat there after it opens!
Read about it here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
