Another gem, from indexed.

Seems like something that we would do well to teach in our congregations.

This is a little late in a day. I hope it’s never to late to wish Mozilla a happy birthday. Check out some images of their lair, from Wired.

If you’re an IE zombie or a Safari zealot, you may not have experienced the glories of Mozilla. Among other things, they brought us the wonderful Firefox browser. I’ve used it for years. On my Mac, by the way, I’m on Beta 3. If you’re a Mac user, upgrade to the beta today. It’s faster and more reliable than 2.0, at least for me.

I wonder what would happen if every sermon in Episcopal congregations were this powerful and this persuasive? Maybe we wouldn’t be in sharp decline. Maybe we would be focused on mission and evangelism, rather than mindless preservation and petty bickering.

I can tell you that my sermon this morning can’t hold a candle to this masterpiece. I do what I can, but S. M. Lockridge really had the gift. Enjoy.

And, by the way, I’m not saying that everyone should seek to imitate this inimitable preacher. I’m just saying that what passes for preaching in most Episcopal congregations isn’t very effective at doing the thing it’s supposed to do — proclaiming the Good News.

Tomorrow is the Conclusion of the Octave of Easter Day. Or the Second Sunday of Easter. Or my favorite, Quasimodo Sunday. Whatever it is, don’t call it Low Sunday, please. There’s nothing “Low” about a Sunday in Eastertide. If you’re clergy or a choir member and you’re tired from Holy Week, get over it. Fill the church with love and Good News, and the church will fill with people. Fill the church with noise and whining about how great last week was, and how the church is empty, and the church will indeed stay that way.

So tomorrow, please don’t preach about “Low Sunday.” Preach about Thomas, doubt, and faith. Preach about Jesus Christ. Preach about the power of the Good News. Sing alleluias with all the gusto you can muster.

If you stick to the “Low Sunday”  theme, this is what you’re doing. Stop it!

Cartoon from ASBO Jesus.

Gun owners killing other people is one good reason for gun control. Gun owners killing a couple of hundred other people is an even better reason. How can this be, you ask? Read on…

A gun belonging to the pilot of a US Airways plane discharged as the aircraft was on approach to land in North Carolina over the weekend, the first time a weapon issued under a federal program to arm pilots was fired, authorities said Monday.

Airline and federal officials said flight 1536 was not in any danger as a result of the incident, which occurred about 9:50 a.m. MDT on Saturday. There were 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board the flight at the time. No one was injured.

I think pilots should focus on flying the plane. That’s enough to keep them busy. Keeping bullets from puncturing the plane’s skin and thus killing everyone on board is one thing that we can prevent pilots from worrying about.

From Channel 7 in Denver, via Upgrade: Travel Better. Image from the latter.

Wal-Mart, everyone’s favorite evil corporation, had attempted to trademark the smiley face. Yes, the wholesome yellow grin that has graced our lives since 1963. Yes, the happy face invented by Harvey Ball, who is not Wal-Mart.

Well, it turns out that Wal-Mart got a little testy over some parody sites, notably www.walocaust.com and www.walqaeda.com. No sense of humor for these oppressing, insurance-refusing, employee-cheating types.

Justice was served a few days ago, when a US court sided with the parodist. The judge made it clear that Walmart does not own that smiley face.

Yes, you can go back to using emoticons without losing sleep. Incidentally, in the course of conducting extensive background research for this posting, I noticed a helpful list of all emoticons. Who knew that wikipedia could be so useful. =O

Boing Boing brings us this story.

DEEPWATER, Mo. — Officials are trying to decide whether to file charges against a Missouri man who fatally shot his wife while trying to install a satellite TV system in the bedroom of their home.

Patsy Long, 34, of Deepwater, died after being shot in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun on Saturday. Her husband, Ronald Long, fired the shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means.

I have nothing further to add.

Everyone seems surprised by the disastrous opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow this week. One traveler was quoted as saying, “It is diabolical. I am a frequent traveler and this is the worst experience ever. It is absolutely shocking.” Shocking? This is Heathrow, remember. Long known as one of the worst airports in the world, especially for connecting passengers. Even ridiculous US security measures look sane compared with draconian practices employed at Heathrow until very recently. BAA (the operators of Heathrow and other London area airports) are not exactly known for their competency. Why am I writing about this at 7WD?

I mention all this because there’s no reason for it. I’m an Anglophile, but every time I go over to the Mother Country, I cringe at the gateway through which I must pass. And, yes, I always try to find a flight to Gatwick or Standstead, but they never quite seem to work. Travel is great, but airports and airline service seem to get worse year by year.

I also mention this because as much as we might occasionally like to point to the poor leadership in our churches, which do surprisingly well with few resources, it might reassure us that British Airways and BAA with resources that dwarf any church budget, were unable to figure this one out. Good luck, Heathrow travelers. And don’t say you were surprised…

Image from The Telegraph.

For drawing us to this clip, I offer thanks to the Simple Massing Priest.

Ever since one particular Easter Vigil some years ago - when our son was being confirmed - my dear wife has associated the Easter Vigil with this Mr. Bean sketch from Rowan Atkinson. <snip /> It’s the Beanian “Alleluia” in Lasst uns erfreuen that moves my sweetheart to gales of laughter - and causes her to associate the sketch with the Easter Vigil.

Enjoy!

Recently the Barna Group got lots of attention for its study of young people and their attitudes toward Christianity. It’s worth reading, but it might depress you. Toss out everything you think you know about patterns (”they’ll come back someday”) and culture (”they don’t come to church because they’re not spiritual”).

This week’s issue of Leading Ideas has an anecdotal piece that illustrates the current situation. It fits perfectly with my own experience, by the way. Here are a few choice bits about why younger adults don’t come to church. I’ve bolded the key points.

One reason is the perception that worship is passionless. This is not because young adults do not care for traditional worship or liturgy. There is actually resurgence in older forms of liturgy among young adults, but the churches they flock to for this type of experience do it very well and are clear about why they do it. Young adults just will not tolerate watered down, unexplained ritual or poor quality, half-hearted worship. This generation desires to experience God in wholly different ways than did their parents – with their hearts as well as their heads.

Young adults desire clarity in a world filled with uncertainty. The lack of a clear, unified vision for our churches is a stumbling block. We must find a way to clarify our vision and renew our commitment to making disciples and changing our world. <snip />

Read more »

A commenter has supplied the cultural result of what happened 75 years ago today.

This is from Wired:

1933: Two British research chemists miss an important detail … and make polyethylene.

Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett worked at Imperial Chemical Industries’ research laboratory at Winnington in County Durham. Their equipment was faulty when they attempted to react ethylene and benzaldehyde under high pressure. They produced a waxy lump of what the British call polythene.

Unbeknownst to the researchers, oxygen had leaked into their apparatus and catalyzed the reaction. <snip />

During World War II, polyethylene was a military secret. It was used to insulate cables on newly developed radar devices. Large-scale, commercial polyethylene production began after the war to create a plethora of plastic kitchenware, toys, containers and packaging.

Plastic is a mixed bag. Ahem. On the one hand, it’s helping us wreck our planet that much more quickly. On the other hand, it helps us make all sorts of amazingly wonderful things. On the whole, I believe I’ll fall into the “Plastic is Good” camp.