A Beggar At The Table

This is nothing that earth-shattering, I suppose, but it is an observation.

When I was a young child my parents had a black-and-white television. I still remember when they bought their then-amazing 19″ Zenith colour TV from the TV store in Mountainview Mall in Midland. At any rate, I would, a few years later, invest about $60 in my own black-and-white TV, which I purchased at about the age 12, from either KMart or Zellers (also in the Mountainview Mall).

This TV still works, to this very day. Granted, it’s not the best TV in the world, but it works. Having said that, this TV is heading to the electronics disposal depot very soon, as its useful life is soon at an end.

You see, I already have a 13″ colour monitor for my vintage computer hardware, and as of the end of August, the analogue channels broadcasting in this region will be switched over to digital. To buy a converter box which is worth more than the TV— and the TV doesn’t have any cable port, just flat antenna terminals— is not worth doing, as far as I’m concerned. Maybe some cottagers might be able to use it (Kenora is a region considered to be remote enough that they are not being forced into immediate digital switchover) but even in such places, people usually have older colour TVs. There’s just no room left in this modern technological world for an old 12″ black and white TV.

That was the TV on which I would watch hockey, Emu-TV, all sorts of things. I remember trying desperately to pull in Ottawa TV channels using the rabbit ears from my basement room in Tincap.

Yes, it’s the end of an era. My children will never know what a rotary dial telephone or a black-and-white television were like. They hardly know VHS tapes or records. Such is this world. Things break, things change, and the old stuff is deprecated and destroyed.

Makes it even more remarkable that the Word of God is more and more relevant as the years go by.

This year, some of our youth, Kelly, and I, (and our kids) had the privilege of going to the annual Higher Things conference, entitled, “Coram Deo”. Higher Things is a Lutheran youth organization dedicated to encouraging Lutheran young people to be firm in their Lutheran faith— to “dare to be Lutheran”. I said “conference”, but this year there were three such conferences, in Las Vegas, NV, in Normal, IL, and in Atlanta, GA. We went to Normal, for proximity’s sake, although it was still over 1500 km away.

Their conferences, while certainly fun, also are based around solidly Lutheran preaching, teaching, and liturgical worship. We used Divine Service settings 1 and 3, Matins, Vespers, and Evening Prayer at various times during the conference, as well as having a time of late evening prayer as a group.

Getting there, as they say, is half the battle. And getting there really was a bit of a struggle this time around. We ran into a wicked thunderstorm system on I-94 the first evening we were on the road (July 10) and ended up driving through a deep puddle which was a result of some flashflooding as we made our way to Zion, Sauk Centre to stay the night. At the time, it seemed as though we had escaped the storm unscathed, but this was not so.

The next day was a great day for travel. Until, of course, the left rear brakes started smoking. Earlier that morning we had bought walkie-talkies for the road, and they paid for themselves right then and there, as Tyson, following us, was able to tell us exactly what was wrong. Stopping at about mile 181 on I94 to let the smoke stop, we then drove two more miles to Hasty, MN, where we spent the next four hours at the Hasty 183 Truck Stop. My left rear brakes had totally seized up! Fortunately, there was no damage to the brake drum or shoe, so it was just internal hardware which needed replacement. They checked the right rear and replaced the internal hardware on that brake, too.

Back on the road about four hours behind schedule, we stopped in Osseo, WI for supper, then drove to Marengo, IL, to stay with the Boyer family. I have thanked them several times already, but I do need to thank them again for their kind and generous hospitality toward a group of then total strangers, extending to even offering us a spot to stay on the way back.

Leaving there on the morning of the 12th, we arrived in Normal just in time to check in and drop our stuff off before the big sprint we call the conference began. A typical day at conference for me looked like this:
6 am- wake up
7 am- breakfast with my munchkin (Kelly and I each had one of the kids staying in our room)
8 am- Group Leaders’ Meeting
9 am-9 pm various services, sessions, activities
9:30 pm- munchkin to bed
11:00 pm- group devotions
11:30 pm- shower, prep for bed
midnight- lights out.

I don’t fall asleep right away, so I was running on fumes by Friday—and loving it!

The thing is, in spite of the lack of sleep, the actual stuff of the conference is just great. The theme was Coram Deo— before God. Pastor William Cwirla, the presenter of the first two plenary sections, ran us through Romans, quickly, and how we are guilty of sin coram Deo and saved from sin coram Deo. Our salvation Coram Deo leads us to serve our neighbour and live our lives of love Coram Hominibus.

Likewise, Pastor Brent Kuhlmann’s plenary sections showed us the difference between being saved by grace + works versus being saved by grace alone.

For breakout sectionals, I attended ones on the hymns of Paul Gerhardt, the value of hymns, the books of Ezekiel and Amos, the character of Eustace in The Voyage of the Dawntreader, and on keeping the eigth commandment in online usage and conversation.

I also spent far too much money at the CPH store and the Concordia Catechetical Academy stores, but somehow, I don’t feel guilty about that at all…

The food options at the conference were great. There was even bacon(and if you were there, you’ll understand wherefore bacon)! The university campus was reasonably compact, so even though it was warm the whole time we were there, you rarely needed to walk more than 10 minutes outside in the heat. The only negative was that the older elevators in the dorms where we were staying had intermittent failures; and as the conference basically filled the two dorms (dorms capacity: 1300, registration total: 1200) there were some serious traffic jams at the elevators from time to time. I did do the stairs down from the 12th floor a few times, and up from 7th (the girls of our group were on 7th, the boys on 12th) to 12th a handful of times.

As Kelly and I did have the munchkins underfoot, we missed out on a number of the free time activities. I did get to attend part of the President’s Reception, where it was first formally announced that there will be an HT conference at Brock University, St Catharines, ON (also at Concordia, Irvine CA, Wake Forest, Winston-Salem NC, and Northwestern Missouri U, Maryville MO)! Suffice it to say that we’re going to the one in Canada if we can at all make it work.

While at the conference, I had no internet access, and I found that strangely freeing. Having said that, I did check email and Facebook at the Boyer’s house both ways.

Maybe the neatest thing about the conference, as it always is, is the fellowship and encouragement from the brothers and sisters in the faith you get to know through the time spent together in worship, study, prayer, and play. In specific, our group connected up with a group from Poplar Bluff, MO, and I was an extra chaperone for the boys of the Marengo, IL group (which is why we stayed there). So our group got to know fellow youth from there— and also the Canadian contingent! St John’s Mount Forest, ON, Trinity, Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON and Christ, Petawawa, ON had groups there, including also youth from Montreal and BC. My aunt Nancy and cousin John Henry were part of the Mount Forest group. It was nice to see some family there!

The way home was relatively uneventful, as we were all tired. We stopped in various spots for food and gasoline, making it back to Marengo the first night (15th), then to Sauk Centre on the 16th. I preached in the Divine Service at Zion on the 17th, and we made it home to Winkler at 5 pm, dropping Cole and Kayla off and grabbing a couple quick groceries before pulling into our driveway at 6.

I’m thinking it’ll take a couple days to recover from the sleep deficit, but it was a great conference, with the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus shining brightly throughout.

Next year in Canada, eh?

The drive from here in Manitoba to Baltimore is long, to say the least. Yet, it is still significantly cheaper to drive than to fly for a family of four. So we drive. And drive. And drive.

One of the nice things about the drive is that you get to see places or things you might otherwise miss. I do believe you get a much better appreciation for the vast diversity of climate and landforms which exist in the continent by driving it (and I say this, having driven in 9 provinces and at least 13 states).

North America really is a wonderful place. And one of those places within our continent which Kelly and I have come to truly appreciate is a smallish city called Galesburg in Illinois.

It has, among other things, the quintessential downtown square, lots of older houses and buildings, a massive art supply store and warehouse, antique shops galore but also a full complement of the ‘new’ stores to get what you need while out and about on the road, a decent selection of hotels and motels, etc, etc.

But most impressive to us this time through Galesburg, and something we did largely on a whim, was viewing the churches in the central part of town. Admittedly, we did not go into any of them, as we were somewhat pressed for time, but from the outside it was quite easy to get the impression that these were churches built to last, by people for whom church meant something. Hewn stone and stained glass abound. Glorious buildings indicating a genuine faith in the glory of God and His gracious power.

I’m thinking that next time we’re in Galesburg we might just map out a couple extra hours to tour some of those beautiful church buildings. It would be a nice break from the road and time well-spent.

Things are not good in our province. While the Red flood is manageable, the Assiniboine flooding is the worst recorded; the analogue to the 1997 Red River flood to Winnipeg. Things are very bad up in the Brandon — Headingley stretch. The Canadian army has been called in to help with flood preparation and relief.

So please pray for the people of the Assiniboine valley region as they suffer through the flooding this year.

It’s been a really good day. Just thought you all should know that.

Nothing more to post than that, at the moment, though I have a book review to write. … Later.

It was a good event last year, and promises to be equally good this year. Issues Etc is hosting their 24-hour radiothon starting today at 4pm CDT. Tune in at www.issuesetc.org to listen and learn more of the Scriptures!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a thing called the Lutheran blogosphere. It started small, with a few hardy pioneering bloggers, then exploded into a huge group, then faded back into oblivion.

But all was not lost. Many of these erstwhile bloggers had looked each other up on Facebook, made and/or maintained friendships with each other. And they looked at one another on Facebook and said, “Wouldn’t it be nice, just for one day, to pretend it was 2006 again.”

Far be it from me to ruin anyone’s party; so I decided to host the party myself.

For our theme for this time, and it is a loose theme, I went with “Lent”. Any blog posts remotely connected to that theme which were submitted, and a few which I hunted down myself, have been added to this carnival. I hope you have as much fun reading the different posts as I’ve had compiling this!

First off is Rev. Alan Kornacki, who is a fellow graduate of the best Lutheran seminary in North America in my ever-so-slightly biased opinion, Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St Catharines, Ontario. His blog is largely devoted to his hymns and sermons, and here is a hymn he wrote for the first Sunday in Lent.

Next, a blogger who came on the scene after the carnivals had ceased, and the first submission to the carnival, Rev. James Leistico, with his post on the Ash Wednesday readings in the Treasury of Daily Prayer.

One of the stalwarts of Lutheran blogging, and one who has carried the torch through his excellent blogroll, “The Big Blogroll o’ Vark”, is the Orycteropus Afer. Here is his post on Ash Wednesday. He also helpfully provided one concerning April 1st. You’ll see what I mean!

Frank Gillespie has contributed a blast from the past, a 2008 meditation on cooking and Lenten hymnody called “Lenten Hymnody, The Windsor Saucepan Of The Liturgical Church Year“. With a title like that, you know you want to read it. So go for it!

Pastor Walter P Snyder of Ask The Pastor has a nice little article on The Stations of the Cross. It’s worth a read, especially to find out where this tradition came from and what it’s all about.

Snarfed without his knowledge or permission, but for your thought and consideration, the always interesting Anthony Sacramone, formerly of Luther at the Movies, with his newer blog Strange Herring, and a meditation on Rob Bell and universalism. (I know, it’s not strictly Lent, but it was posted on Ash Wednesday, so that counts, right?)

Dan of Necessary Roughness and now the podcast Time Out (podcasting! there’s something which wasn’t as big back in the olden days) has submitted a blog contemplating making a video cast of his podcast.

Rev. Hans Fiene has become perhaps better known for his Lutheran Satire videos than his blogging, but the impetus for the videos is an extension of his excellent blog, The High Mid Life. Here is his satire video concerning Ash Wednesday practices.

Likewise, Pastor Larry Peters has become a favorite of mine, as he is a thoughtful, deeply orthodox and confessional Lutheran pastor. His blog, Pastoral Meanderings, is always worth a read. Here is a recent post of his, on praying the Litany for Lent, as urged by Pres. Harrison of the LCMS.

Iggy Antiochus sent a list of links for our consideration, from Passion Week, 2010. In his own words:

Palm Sunday featured celebrations from around the world, including this one from Bethany, Naperville.

Also, as Palm Sunday shares it’s day with Sunday of the Passion, I featured the hymn “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth” with full text and various arrangements.

For Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week, I posted the complete St. Matthew’s Passion by JS Bach, with new posts hitting every few hours through the morning of Maundy Thursday. The first post starts here.

Maundy Thursday itself featured the Rite of the Washing of Feet and separately Stripping the Altar, beginning with this post.

For Good Friday and Holy Saturday, the entire St. John’s Passion is featured, starting here.

Finally, 4 posts on the 4 services that make up The Great Vigil of Easter.

Hopping across the pond, I dredged up a series of Passion Week posts by the Confessing Evangelical, John H, who was on a James Alison kick. (John H, I did this because I wanted to include you!)

An interesting post for comparing a Lutheran approach to Lent to that of other Christian traditions is the recent post at the Internet Monk featuring the Liturgical Gangstas. I know, it sounds odd to me too, but Pastor William Cwirla brings the goods.

Mollie Z. Hemingway, journalist, also blogs as part of the team at GetReligion. Here’s a recent post of hers about Bach, TV ads, and i-confession.

Here’s a different type of confession; though not strictly Lent themed, it’s a meditation on finding comfort in the Word in the middle of worry and trouble. Thanks to Loofrin for encouraging me to dig around in his archives.

Glosses from an Old Manse, down in Australia, gives us this post concerning the First Day of Lent.

Sola Gratia, a pastor’s wife in Minnesota, has this post about giving things up for Lent.

My wife, the lovely and talented Kelly of Kelly’s Blog likewise has a post about giving things up for Lent.

And my sister Rebecca has recently started blogging. She contributes a post on healthy hymnody.

My sister Naomi has some Lenten musings for us, as well.

Last, and probably least, is my own contribution to this carnival. Here are a few of my thoughts on Lent and the flood.

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit to the carnival! (If anyone would like to take on doing one of these again, please let me know!)

Every year around this time in Southern Manitoba, two things are happening simultaneously. There is the observance of Lent, and the preparation for the flood.

You see, the vast majority of populated centres in Manitoba are along major waterways. The city of Winnipeg, which is roughly 65% of the province’s population, is on the flood plain of the Red River, and its downtown is at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine. In a year such as this one, where both rivers are predicting higher-than-average water flows due to above average fall precipitation and above average snow pack, this is a great cause for concern.

Similarly, the cities of Brandon and Portage La Prairie are right along the Assiniboine, and there is some potential jeopardy to those communities as well. As such, part of the annual routine for these centres, and many smaller ones in this province as well, is flood preparedness, getting ready for when the flood hits, so that the communities are not destroyed.

It is an interesting thing that this year, the peak flood times are to be toward the end of Lent, roughly during Passion Week, if the current predictions hold true. For there is no need to fear an earthly, all-consuming flood; the truth be told, the flooding on the Red River valley, though often terrible indeed, is much less destructive than that of the tsunami that recently hammered Japan. But there is an earthly, all-consuming flood of sin, which is why we observe Lent.

Lent is that chance for us, as Christians, to once again pause and consider the great torrent of sin which each of us unleashes again and again, both knowingly and unknowingly. Because of the curse of sin, each of us are curved in on ourselves, focussed on our own selves instead of on God and our neighbour. And it is only through the good flood of Baptism that we are drowned to this old life and brought to new life. Only the blood and water which flow from our Lord Jesus can wash us and make us clean and holy. Only in this way are we preserved from being destroyed by the flood of sin.

So it is that in this Lententide we prepare our hearts and minds for Easter because, like Manitobans making flood preparations, the constancy of faith means we need to examine ourselves and our need for our Saviour. Then we rejoice ever the more when we hear once again that great good news of His death and resurrection which bring us life and salvation.

A few of us old-timers who still blog from time to time are going to have a little blog carnival, for old time’s sake. If you’re interested, I’d invite you to leave a comment here with the name of your blog, and a post which is somehow connected to Lent.

I’ll be setting up the carnival April 1. It is open to any confessional Lutheran bloggers.

I may also fish around for a few posts, depending on what sort of time I have. Busy time of year for us pastors!

See you at the carnival!

I will give a disclaimer here; I am not a musical professional, by any means.

But like many pastors, I have some training in music; I have played musical instruments for the last 25 years, and have sung for at least 30 years. On occasion, I find it necessary to write or re-write sheet music for a specific purpose for the church. Owning one of the big-name programs like Finale, even in the stripped-down versions, can be rather costly.

But here’s a cheap alternative:
Lilypond.
In fact, it’s free. As in GNU free. And it creates lovely output. It was created and is continually being tweaked and updated to make nice-looking sheet music.

Having said that, not everyone also has an old hobby of computer programming and scripting, so full-fledged Lilypond isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But there is an inexpensive program called Noteworthy Composer that I’ve been using since version 1.70 which I bought back during seminary. (I did upgrade it to version 2.1, which cost another few pesos… but yeah.)

NWC’s big weakness is that its printouts are ugly. It is easy to use and wonderfully simple yet powerful, but the ugly printout is a drawback. This especially became a big deal when I started engraving music for Kelly’s illustrated hymnal project.

So here’s the ultimate solution, courtesy of NWC user Phil Holmes: NWC2LY. It is an updated version of an older tool, which creates all the LY files you need to make Lilypond-engraved music. It does this by converting a NWC output file (NWCTXT, in this case) into the format Lilypond recognizes.

Thanks to all the coders who have made these tools available and made my life easier!