My Current Fave Song!

Mudcrutch - Scare Easy

Let me tell you, people, this one is an addictive little earworm (in a good way) !!

My love's an ocean
You better not cross it
Yeah
I've been the distance
And I need some rest
Yeah I had somebody once
And damn if I lost her
I've been running
Like a man possessed

I don't scare easy
Don't fall apart
When I'm under the gun
You can break my heart
And I ain't gonna run
I don't scare easy
For no one

Yeah, I am a loser
At the top of my game
I should have known
To keep an eye on you
Now I got a God
It ain't never the same
Yeah, I got a dream
That don't ever come true

I don't scare easy
Don't fall apart
When I'm under the gun
You can break my heart
But I ain't gonna run
I don't scare easy
For no one

Sun going down
On a canyon wall
I got a soul
That ain't never
Been blessed
Yeah and I'm a shadow
At the back of the hall
Yeah, I got a sin
I ain't never confessed

And I don't scare easy
Don't fall apart
When I'm under the gun
You can break my heart
And I ain't gonna run
I don't scare easy
For no one

And I don't scare easy
Don't fall apart
When I'm under the gun
You can break my heart
But I ain't gonna run
I don't scare easy
For no one

Cardinal Kasper: FAIL!

From here:

Speaking on the day that the Archbishop of Canterbury met Benedict XVI in Rome, Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council of Christian Unity, said it was time for Anglicanism to "clarify its identity".

He told the Catholic Herald: "Ultimately, it is a question of the identity of the Anglican Church. Where does it belong?

"Does it belong more to the churches of the first millennium -Catholic and Orthodox - or does it belong more to the Protestant churches of the 16th century? At the moment it is somewhere in between, but it must clarify its identity now and that will not be possible without certain difficult decisions."

With all due respect, Cardinal Kasper, this seems a very clueless thing to say. You cannot have known many Anglicans! Does the phrase via media mean nothing to you? The moment Anglicanism comes down firmly on one side or the other (be catholic or reformed), in that very moment, Anglicanism ceases to exist. It is of the essence of Anglicanism not to clarify this issue.

A wise son maketh a glad father ...

A wise son maketh a glad father ... Proverbs 15:20

For most of 1991 and early 1992, I worked in Tyler, Texas for the famous Christian Reconstructionist writer, Gary North. Gary once remarked to me that if a person had identified his true vocation (calling) by age 30, he was ahead of most people in our country.

I sometimes wonder what Gary would have to say about my son Eliot, who identified his vocation by age 3 !!

Eliot is about to turn 14, and plans to enroll in the College for Creative Studies in the Fall of 2012. God willing, he will study Industrial Design, probably focusing most of his efforts in the automotive arena. Here are some recent drawings Eliot has done.




He won an award at the 2008 Avanti Awards for this one:



Just yesterday, Eliot and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bill Jagenow, owner of Brothers Customs in Royal Oak. We spoke with Mr. Jagenow about the possibility of Eliot doing some apprentice work (Bill's shop builds Old Skool hot rods) for them this summer.

Seeing this young man of mine reach for and fulfil his dreams gives me a kind of joy and hope that very little else has been able to produce in me. My son has made me a glad father.

Roman Catholics Get Own "Clown Mass" ...

Clowning around at Mass ... not just for Episcopalians any more!!

Giant liturgical puppets ... what next?!?



From here: Mr. Potato Head Concelebrates the Holy Mass?

An audio "pill" for 1928 BCP Withdrawal Symptoms!

When in the midst of this ongoing Anglican diaspora I left my 1928 BCP parish of The Episcopal church, I worshipped for a time where my beloved 1928 BCP was not used.

Needless to say, after 15 years of worshipping (about the spelling of which, more later*) according to the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, I developed severe withdrawal symptoms from this experience. I found it difficult to pray, with all the words gone wrong and rearranged to mean as little as possible. I trembled often, and couldn't stay in my own lane when I drove. I had it bad.

But then, I discovered this beautiful Lighten Our Darkness choral evensong CD at the Prayer Book Society website.

Evensong for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Clergy and Choirs of St John's Church, Savannah, Georgia

The Anthems are Non nobis Domine by Byrd & And I saw another angel by Stanford and there are three choirs used, the Church Choir, the Boys and the Girls Choirs. This recording presents a fine example of the most widely loved of all Anglican services, Sung Evensong. It comes from a church with a fine musical tradition as well as an informed commitment to traditional liturgy and music.



I must have played this CD five times a day the first week after I received it. It is fabulous, and revived my soul as nothing else at the time was able to do!

*I cannot help but mention that Anglican worship in America began to go downhill at just the same moment when folks started spelling worshipping and worshipped as worshiping and worshiped. Coincidence? I think not!

How I Got Pissed Off at the Episcopal church ...

Few people know the real story of why I left TEc ...

My parish undertook to swap the Gentlemen's Room with the Ladies' Room, because the former was a larger space, and the Ladies coveted it. Fair enough.

But in the process of the swap, the beautiful antique urinals were simply walled over ... not moved to the new (smaller) Men's Room! Instead, modern rinky-dink Home Depot™ urinals were used. It was a travesty.

"But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first urinals, when the foundation of this new Men's Room was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice ..."

"Who of you is left who saw this Men's Room in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?"

The Bishops' Chauffeurs.

I painted this painting, The Bishop's Valet, several years ago. Little did I know that my brother, the Rev. Charles Erlandson, and I would one day be driving Anglican bishops around to airports, luncheon meetings, etc.



I had the first such opportunity, in May 2004. I was to drive (then) Canon Bill Atwood to the AAC's A Place to Stand - Michigan conference. Of course, since that time Atwood has been consecrated bishop!

Then, last summer, I was privileged to give Bp. Paul Hewett (Diocese of the Holy Cross) a ride to and from the Detroit Metro airport, so that he could attend the St. Michael's Conference for Youth.

Just this past week, my brother had the opportunity to chauffeur and have lunch with Abp. Valentino Mokiwa of Tanzania! I guess that trumps me, an archbishop and all.

It makes me think that, in my retirement, I would like to build kool kustom kars (like the bubble-top in my painting) for Anglican bishops (only the good ones!!!) to drive around.