An Incredible Weekend - With the Feast!

I think I must be the luckiest guy in the world sometimes (and luck, of course, has nothing to do with it!). This past weekend I got to participate in a retreat out at the the Holy Cross Chaplaincy at UBC in Vancouver, and also head over to the Island in a Cessna 172 for some time with the awesome people of All Saints of Alaska. I have to say to that it was so amazing to be with everyone out there in BC, including friends old (Jay, Milissa) and new - (Matthew D., Mark N., Dave P. Raphael L. among many others), and my awesome sister and Mom & Dad! Thank you so much to you all for your amazing friendship and generosity to this guy from across the mountains.

And, I also got to meet the little boy that Krista and I have been blessed to be asked to serve as Godparents to - Owen P.E. Lanteigne!

Here's a picture from the Festal Divine Liturgy of the Annunciation that was served at the retreat on Saturday. It was so amazing to see Vladika Lazar and these three amazing priests - Fr. John, Fr. Justin, and Fr. Christopher at the Holy Altar together... well, you can't actually see Fr. Justin in this picture, but hey - there's Christian! Hey Christian!.

My boss sent these to me...

Some fun activities for when your friends call in sick...

Tribute to Joni

Just thought I'd write a little blurb to pay tribute to a pretty awesome woman. Joni Mitchell is truly an awesome talent. Of course being from Saskatoon and all, she can't help but be awesome :). It wasn't until she went off to the rest of the world and became more recognized that we (Canadians) truly started to recognize her work on a more local basis. Funny how that often works. Especially with the "don't know what you've got til it's gone concept.


A few years back I went to an exhibit at the mendel art gallery in Saskatoon. It was an exhibit of Joni's paintings over the years as well as her photography. It was pretty outstanding. I was a fan of her music for many years prior and then seeing her other talents within the realm of the arts heightened my admiration even more. Anywhoo, just thought I'd post a few pictures here of this pretty outstanding woman. I like this one of her playing the dulcimer, I think it was taken in 1970....wonderful instrument. Anywhoo, enjoy the pictures and please feel free to post a comment if you think Joni is awesome too...

Indiana Jones and St. Chad

I just stumbled across this amazing article about the recent discovery of the tomb of St. Chad under the floor of the nave of Lichfield Cathedral in North England. This is incredibly cool, and slightly reminiscent of Indiana Jones style archeological excitement... St. Chad arrived in the Lichfield area in 669 AD to serve as Bishop to the Mercians, and lived near the Church of St. Mary. He was a gifted missionary Bishop and holy man. Later, he moved to the new Church of St. Peter. These two ancient Churches are the ones discovered under the floor of the cathedral, along with a now-famous artifact called "the Lichfield Angel." Another tidbit, of course, is that this is the Cathedral Church that Bishop N.T. Wright served as Dean through the 90s.

The Repose of Saint Ephraim the Syrian

The Wesley brothers called him "the man of the wounded heart." And he was also a bit of a rascal when it came to dealing with heretics - sneakily glueing the pages of their books together!

Holy Father Ephraim pray to God for us!

Taking the plank out of one's own eye...

Methinks Good ole' Joe Brodsky writes well about the value of taking a good, honest, look at oneself. Not always a comfortable thing to do, by any means, but certainly a wholesome practice at this time of year. There's a time for everything: for forgiving others, and maybe even ourselves... and then, with a stroke of holy luck (a great phrase from Miles Coverdale), looking beyond ourselves and our dead-ends (circumstances!) to be present to the vitality constantly attempting to break in upon us.