Two Weeks

Well, I've had my new MacBook for two weeks now. There are many things I really like about it, like how quickly it powers up and down, not having to worry about viruses, and Pages works really well and has some neat features. (I do wish it had some of the fonts that I liked using in Word, however.)

There have been some frustrations also. Like, Safari doesn't work as well with my blogging - does some funny things. I have to use Firefox for some things instead. Also, converting documents to Word (for sharing) is . . .  funky. Not all the formatting seems to be preserved. I had to download a program for burning DVDs to do what I like to do, and my laser printer has no Mac driver! :-( I must say, though, the folks at Apple have been very helpful and for the most part knowledgeable. I am happy that I made the switch, even though it has not been a smooth and seamless as I had hoped.

Christ Active in the Liturgy

"For what Christ was and did, he still is and does: it is he who preaches his Word, he who calls us to himself, he who binds the wounds of our sins and washes us in the waters of salvation, he who feeds us with his own life, he who is the pillar of fire leading us across the horizon of our own salvation history, lighting our sin-darkened path. He does it in Word and Sacrament . . ."

(Taft, Through Their Own Eyes, 139-140)

"For to be baptized in the name of God is to be baptized not by men, but by God Himself. Therefore, although it is performed by human hands, it is nevertheless truly God's own work. From this fact every one may himself readily infer that it is a far higher work than any work performed by a man or a saint. For what work greater than the work of God can we do?"

(Luther, Large Catechism)

LCMS Restructuring

Well, the proposal for the restructuring of Synod was unveiled last week at a special convocation. You can read it here. I am going to withhold a lot of comment for now. I want to think on these things more. Some of what was presented was expected, some a surprise to me. But this was my main overall impression: if this restructuring is to be done at the next convention, we are waaaay behind the curve! Too much "maybe this / maybe that" in the document. I expected a much more concrete proposal in many ways. I understand (and appreciate) the opportunity for feedback and study, but I worry that we'll talk a lot now, and the final proposal will be rushed through at the end when time gets short. Not the way to do it, seems to me.

I'm Now Fruity!

No, not in that way! :-) Me and my household have decided to switch over to Apple computers. There were many reasons behind our decision. So far, we are enjoying them. Going to take some getting used to, but so far so good. I haven't yet installed and tried Bootcamp to run the Windows only programs that I use, so we'll see how that goes.

Patristic Quote

"See how great is the power of the [liturgical] assembly!  . . .  Again, in the most awesome mysteries the priest prays for the people and the people pray for the priest; for "And with your spirit" is nothing but that. Everything in the eucharist is shared, for the priest does not give thanks alone, but also the people [give thanks] with him. For after he has first received their acclamation consenting that "It is fitting and right" to do this, only then does he commence the eucharist . . .  Why are you surprised that the people speak together with the priest, when they send up in common those sacred hymns even with the very Cherubim and the heavenly Powers?"

- St. John Chrysostom

(as quoted by Robert Taft, Through Their Own Eyes, 29-30)

Interesting!

I just read a comment over at another blog that the book of Holy Scripture which speaks of the Holy Spirit most frequently is . . . (can you guess?) the book of Chronicles! I now need to go investigate and read these books again, keeping an eye out. But how appropriate - the books which are so liturgically structured are filled with talk of the Holy Spirit.

Patristic Quote

"God is so good that he in no way permits an evil unless he knows how to draw good from it."
- St. Augustine

Thinking Out Loud

I just went through the Greek of the Holy Gospel for this coming Sunday: Mt 15:21-28, the Canaanite woman who cries to Jesus for mercy. I am struck by the connection to the Feeding of the 5,000 - the Holy Gospel two weeks ago! The disciples tell Jesus to send her away, just as they wanted to do with the crowds. Then, she makes reference to the dogs eating the scraps of bread that fall from the master's table. Why did she mention bread? And what scraps is she referring to? Could it be the 12 baskets of leftovers from the miracle? It is commonly said that there were 12 baskets of leftovers for the 12 apostles. Maybe. How about 12 baskets of leftovers for the 12 tribes of the New Israel? The New Israel that the apostles would feed. The New Israel that included this Canaanite woman - not by birth, but by faith!

Things that make you go hmmmmm . . .