Weblog

The Garden Chronicles

Surely you remember last year’s unforgettable installment of Better Gardening Through Photoshop, where we first viewed the garden out back here at the Rectory. Actually we first viewed it almost exactly one year ago, in Into the Garden, followed closely by Garden Redux.

But if you’re new here, take a gander now:

Garden in need of some work...

Ah, one could gaze upon it for hours in peace and serenity.

But not really.

This year, what with our warm winter, warm spring and early summer, it’s looks like this:

The Garden

Totally overgrown and random.

A parishioner restored the Marian statue, some plants grew in to fill up the empty spaces, and there’s a bad case of Elephant Ears, which I don’t think anything can be done about.

Just yesterday via my iPhone:

the Marian Garden

Still it’s a huge improvement, and with a little tweaking it’s going to be great, even though the simplicity in the first photo is pretty nice. Nonetheless, it will be a perfect place to pray I tell you!

We just need some wax myrtles in the background beyond the fence, maybe some holly trees. Then some giant liriope where some of the stones are, with a box hedge and some cast iron plants… Something like that. Easy and low maintenance.

Splash, out.

Lightoller and God

As we all know it’s been 100 years this weekend that the Titanic sank like tons of iron to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Charles Lightoller was second in command on board the ship, and was one of the few surviving crew. His testimony has been crucial throughout the years in all of the hearings and subsequent recreations. What’s often gone unsaid is that Lightoller was a devout Christian, and ascribed his survival to his faith in Jesus Christ and a Biblical spirituality. Here is his testimony to the Christian Science Monitor:

While the Titanic was sinking, and during the whole time I was working at the boats, I held to the truth, thereby eliminating all fear.

I was on the port side where all boats were got away without a hitch, the last one, a flat-bottomed collapsible, floating off the deck. I called on men to follow me up on top of the officers’ quarters to cut adrift the last boat. We had no time to open it up, so just hove her down to the deck.

I ran across the deck and could see that all material work was finished, so from where I was above the bridge, I walked into the water.

The sudden immersion in this penetratingly cold water for a few seconds overcame all thought, and I struck out blindly for the crow’s-nest which is on the foremast and then just above the water. I found myself drawn with great force against the grating covering the mouth of the huge forward blower. In this position I went below the surface with the ship.

A doubt never entered my mind as to the ability of divine power to save me. These words from the 91st Psalm came to me so distinctly: “”He shall give His angels charge over thee.”

Immediately, I think, I was thrown away from the blower and came up to find a piece of wood in my hand which seemed to be attached to the top of the funnel by a wire. A second time I went down and again came to the surface.

My piece of wood was gone, but alongside me was the flat-bottomed collapsible boat which I had thrown down on the other side of the ship. This I laid hold of, but made no attempt to board it.

It was clear to me there was a divine power and it seemed perfectly natural to rely on it with the spiritual understanding spoken of in the Bible. With the sinking of a great ship like the Titanic, there was also the fear of suction to overcome, and at this time the forward funnel fell, throwing the boat, me, and other survivors about twenty feet clear of the ship, so that of suction we felt nothing.

About thirty of us floated the remainder of the night on the upturned boat. At daybreak we found two life-boats floating nearby, into which we were taken. Reaction or effects from the immersion were none; and though surprise has been expressed by very many, it only goes to prove that “with God all things are possible”.

Linx

Who am I kidding? I “recently retired my website” my earlobes.

Ben Franklin’s Rules of Personal Finance, is just what it implies. And it’s very good advice (obviously.)

Non-Native Native Art is, well this is just what it implies also. Web names have taken on a whole new trend in becoming exactly what they mean. Not that there was never not a trend towards that. But there wasn’t. Was there? Whatever, it’s a fun site.

Medjugorje Documents is a collection of documents from the Diocese of Mostrar relating to the Medjugorje phenomena.

Medjugorje with a Mask is another collection of documents which examine the Medjugorje phenomena more closely.

And that’s that for these links, which have been sitting open on my desktop until I locate them somewhere. And I am entirely more likely to find them here than anywhere else! Hence the return of the weblog…

On the Third Day

Sweet Petunia

Photo for the day, for my Project 365, wherein I post a photo a day for a year.

It’s a petunia out in the garden, taken as I was moving plants around for the cold weather blowing in.

Similar to the photo posted yesterday, it was taken the day before I actually posted it on my photo-a-day-photo-shoot-extravanganza.

But I’m guessing that’s OK, and that the project 365 police aren’t going to come after me for being a day behind on this. Because … I’m not really a day behind. I’m early, and have been planning ahead.

Tomorrow on the other hand, will find that I’ve taken zero pictures today, and will have it’s own photo of the day at which point we’ll be all caught up, and everybody can breath a sigh of relief and stop stressing out over this entire issue. (Not that anyone was of course.)

“Around here we’re always on the go. We don’t need caffeine bringing us down!” Name that commercial?

Splash, out.

Fr. Kenneth Allen