December 2009
3 posts
Advent and the Modern Mind
Matthew J. Smith is a Candidate for the Ph.D. in literature at the University of Southern California. He holds an M.A. from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. from Biola University. Matthew will be co-leading the elective adult class in the forthcoming Education Hour at St. Matthew’s Church.—- In Anglicanism, the season of Advent is linked to the remembrance of end-times events. This...
Sermon for the Last Sunday in Advent
By my friend, The Rev. William Martin of All Saints Anglican Church, Mills River, NC -blakeAdvent IV December 18, 2009 Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice. The theme of this Sunday is truly one of repentance and mourning. The Gospel and Epistle for the day do not exactly reveal these spiritual habits, but they are clearly present. They are to be found...
The Riches of the Poor: A Glimpse of our Haitian...
by Christopher Becher and Ted de la Haye As the sun beats down high onto the coastal hills northeast of Haiti’s capital, a group of young children, boys and girls all under the age of 14, walk down a dirt trail following the valley’s contours to the sea. Three boys lead the way with buckets in each hand, silent save the sound of dry dust kicked up with each step. The tallest wears rain...
November 2009
1 post
Bishop Wilson: A First Century Disciple
Bishop Wilson - A First Century Disciple Lisa Marion, O/OSB St. Matthew’s Church, Newport Beach, CA My anxiety grew as I circled the parking lot looking for a place to park. I had been invited to dinner with Bishop Wilson from the Sudan and the clergy from our church. I had been waiting for this day for some time. It was the culmination of weeks of planning; emails, phone calls and...
October 2009
4 posts
Captain James T. Kirk
Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
My first Baptism as a deacon
The mother of the child I baptized snapped this pic of me, unknowingly. I love the clouds. It was a peaceful day at Crystal Cove. Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
My life in books
My mother pointed out the humor in my stack of books: Sent via iPhone Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
Ritual, Eucharist, & Wendell Berry
I’ve been re-reading Wendell Berry’s short novel, Remembering. This book deals with a man’s relationship to himself, his family and his heritage. He is seeking to find his place in his vocation and his familial environments. Every act of remembrance is sacramental and pulls him into deeper meaning. Berry’s writing is so poetic and beautiful it is easy to get caught up in...
September 2009
5 posts
Poem: O God of Love
O God of LoveWho didst invest,Thy Sacred Heartwithin our breast,Burst forthwith heat of newborn flameAnd purge away our sin and shameThat we may burn as torches of light,Before the Shrine of Thee, O GodWho loves through human heart. The Most Reverend Robert Sherwood Morse, 1950 (my mentor in Berkeley) Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
Is there a Third Way?
“Is there a third way, a Christian way? It is my growing conviction that in Jesus the mystical and the revolutionary ways are not opposites, but two sides of the same human mode of transcendence. I am increasingly convinced that conversion is the individual equivalent of revolution. Therefore every real revolutionary is challenged to be a mystic at heart, and he who walks the mystical way is...
photos: SF Jazz, Red Poppy Art House
Fujifilm, Neopan 1600, pushed to 3200iso. Will Blades on the Hammond B3. Amendola on Percussion. See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from the daily photo | Comment »
Worship & Psalm 95, Redux
I’ve recently been going through Massey Shepherd’s commentary on the American Prayer Book. He has some great background on Psam 95, or, The Venite. I can see why this is the Psalm to “start the day.”“The Venite is a jubilant summons to the whole world of nature and man to worship its Creator, Provider and Judge, with joy and with thanksgiving, in beauty and in awe....
photo: Fuji Neopan 1600, Window light
I love real film grain. This is ‘straight’ from the negative, no cropping, no photoshop. Posted via email from the daily photo | Comment »
August 2009
29 posts
Photo: Vegas in Summer
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photos: cupcakes, sandwiches, apps
See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from the daily photo | Comment »
Tozer on Scripture
“To get to the truth I recommend a plain text Bible and the diligent application of two knees to the floor. Beware of too many footnotes… It is a dangerous and costly practice to consult men every time we reach a dark spot in the Scriptures… A few minutes of earnest prayer will often give more light than hours of reading commentaries.” -AW Tozer, The Early Tozer, Check with...
Fire in the Sky
Sent via iPhone Posted via email from the daily photo | Comment »
When Preciseness becomes Meaningless
“I have already said that the tragedy of a certain theology (and piety) was that in its search for precise definitions, it artificially isolated the sacraments from the liturgy in which they were performed. The liturgy was relegated to the category of secondary, decorative and ritual elements having no bearing on the ‘esse’ of the sacrament. By doing so, however, theology lost...
photo: sweet white corn @ farmers market
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O grant me understanding, and I shall live. Psalm...
This verse begs the question, what is understanding? Is understanding simply the acquisition of knowledge? Is it faith? Wisdom? My reaction is that it is all of the above and more. I think a solid understanding of the scriptures comes through time - experiences coupled with education and guidance from others. There have been times, where I learned more in 2 hours of silence than from a 20 minute...
St. Joseph of Arimathea Chapel, Berkeley, CA
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Psalm 119 and the love of God's word
Attempting to pray through the Psalms is a difficult task. We are confronted with things we don’t want to necessarily hear or think of. It’s amazing how in Psalm 119, the Psalmist continually thanks God for his judgements and for his laws. There is a continually pleading with God for understanding of His law, and the strength to keep it. So many times we are simply content to come to...
Happy St. Bartholomew's Day!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_the_Apostle Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
Photos: John Ringhofer of Half Handed Cloud
These photos were from a show in San Francisco earlier this year. Please visit Half Handed Cloud’s website See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from the daily photo | Comment »
Lord, have mercy on me a sinner
Today’s Gospel came from St. Luke’s account of the Publican and the Pharisee who both walk into the temple to pray. A Publican is a public servant, most likely, a tax collector - and a Pharisee was a Jew who strove to keep every letter of the Jewish law - written law or oral law. At first glance, the Pharisees were seen as the Holy and set apart, because their public worship was...
me in john muir woods
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Untitled
file:///Volumes/2008HardDrive/iMacPhotos/city/DSC_8545.JPG Posted via web from blake schwendimann daily photo | Comment »
As we give ourselves away to God, we give...
Austin Farrer on Trinity 11:AT one time the Christian priest used to stand on the further side of the table, as though setting forth Christ to the people; now he stands on this side, as leading the people in offering Christ to God. Both positions are right, and we do not know which to choose. For when Christ gave away the bread and the cup, he put his body and his blood at the entire disposal...
Coptic Baptism & Chrismation Shot on 35mm Film
See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
Feast Means Joy
Every time I read back through Schmemann’s For The Life Of The World I am renewed, refreshed, and challenged. In his chapter on the “Time of Mission” he challenges us to see Feasts and Celebrations as an integral part of our Christian identity. We have come to see a “parties” as a break from our real worship, our real duties - instead of incorporating the Feast into...
The Two Ways
There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways. -Opening sentence of The Didache Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
Where do you find solitude?
“The goal of our life is not people. It is God. Only in him shall we find the rest we seek. It is therefore to solitude that we must return, not alone, but with all those whom we embrace through our ministry. This return continues until the time when the same Lord who sent us into the world calls us back to be with him in never-ending communion.”- Henri Nowen, The Way of the Heart ...
The Venite and the Redemption of Time
The song of praise known as the Venite is a call to worship as we start our day. In the Anglican tradition, we pray the Venite together every day in Morning Prayer . This song contains a large portion of Psalm 95 and Psalm 96. The latin, Venite means “O Come” as in, “O come let us sing unto the Lord.” This call to worship has an implicit evangelistic message. The people of...
Austin Farrer on The Bread of Heaven
” The bread of God falls like the manna from heaven; bring out your baskets, hold out your arms. God will fill your empty vessels if you will uncover them. You who come to this sacrament, what are your wants? Open the gulf of your desire, that God may fill it. (You) Who desires holiness, who desires to care more for others than for himself, who hungers and thirsts for the Spirit of...
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Like a good neighbor
Prosecutor: OC Woman shot her neighbor for trimming plants http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7732/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Frda3h6D Sent via iPhone Sent via iPhone Posted via email from Blake Schwendimann | Comment »
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Jim Gaffigan Cake Comedy
via youtube.com
Gotta Love it
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“To love is to share”
– Bishop Robert S. Morse, first Archbishop Anglican Province of Christ The King Bishop Morse would always talk to me about love, and a love for God - that this love relates to mission. How can we love something and keep it to ourselves?
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Great sermon on the significance of the Blessed...
“When we first wake up, the initial sensation is always that of night, not of...”
– Alexander Schmemann, For The Life of the World