A blessed Pentecost

Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott
- Martin Luther

Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord!
Be all Thy graces now outpoured
On each believer`s mind and heart;
Thy fervent love to them impart.
Lord, by the brightness of Thy light
Thou in the faith dost men unite
Of every land and every tongue;
This to Thy praise, O Lord, our God, be sung.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thou holy Light, Guide divine,
Oh, cause the Word of Life to shine!
Teach us to know our God aright
And call Him Father with delight.
From every error keep us free;
Let none but Christ our Master be
That we in living faith abide,
In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thou holy Fire, Comfort true,
Grant us the will Thy work to do
And in Thy service to abide;
Let trials turn us not aside.
Lord, by Thy power prepare each heart
And to our weakness strength impart
That bravely here we may contend,
Through life and death to Thee, our Lord, ascend.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Glorious!

Below is a glance at Grace Lutheran Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma- served by my internet friend, Pr. Mason Beecroft- where the historic liturgy of the Western church is celebrated every Sunday, thereby putting the emphasis where it belongs: not on the worshiper, but on Jesus.

It reminds me of a congregation to which I belonged during a difficult period in my life, and for which I still have a great deal of affection: Immanuel Lutheran in Alexandria, Virginia. Would that all our churches were like Immanuel and Grace!

The Hawks' season ends... in hope and with heads held high

The Blackhawks- who remain the heir apparent to the NHL's Western Conference- will not be displacing the aging Detroit Red Wings as the conference representatives in the Stanley Cup Finals this year. A 2-1 overtime defeat at the hands of Detroit tonight assured that.

But tonight's result only delays the inevitable. Simply making the playoffs and winning one series would have made this season a success for the resurgent Hawks. To get to the conference finals is more than any of us hoped for at the beginning of the season.

This defeat is relatively easy to take. Detroit should enjoy it while they can. The youngest team in the NHL- my Blackhawks- are already among the league's elite, and will be contending for Stanley Cups for the next decade.

This is a moment, not for disappointment- who actually believed that the Hawks would win the Cup this year, anyway?- but for pride, and a sense of eager expectation for October and the next season.

And for the decade of glory to come.

I grew up rooting for the Hawks to grab Lord Stanley's mug springtime after springtime, and it's a tradition I'm glad to have back. It's been much too long.

One more thought: Watching hockey on TV is a poor substitute for either being there in person- or, failing that, listening on the radio. That's the way I followed the Hawks in all those playoffs of my youth.

It was a joy doing so again, over the internet.

Hendry's lame excuse for trading De Rosa

Apparently the Cubs' disastrous Mark De Rosa trade was somehow all about which side of the plate he hit from.

Hello! Isn't having a competent second baseman and an adequate substitute if a third baseman is needed for an extended period a higher priority than the relative ratio of right-handed to left-handed hitters on the roster?

Mr. Hendry... who cares? Skill trumps whether one is right-handed or left-handed- and the trading of De Rosa (sorely needed especially now that third baseman Aramis Ramirez is hurt; never mind the Cubs' lack of production this year from the second base position De Rosa filled so well on a regular basis last year) literally maimed the Cubs over the esoteric issue of how many right handed versus left handed batters are available.

De Rosa is reportedly on the block again... and Hendry can redeem himself at least in part by doing his utmost to get him back.

Jim, it's not a question of whether you've "earned the trust" of Cub fans. This is exactly the kind of idiocy I've grown accustomed to over a lifetime of rooting for the Cubs, and there's no excuse for it. You blew it in trading De Rosa- and frankly, at the moment this Cub fan, who has defended you for years, emphatically does not trust you.

Thank you to Red Madsen...

...and all those like him.

PHOTO: Arlington National Cemetery

BELOW: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's speech to the mutineers from Gettysburg. What Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels) says about the Union army is true of Americans who have fought all over the world ever since that day.

It looks like the Hawks are toast

Coming back from a 3-1 deficit with two of the three remaining possible games on the road is all but impossible.

Certainly yesterday's 6-1 drubbing at home does not fill one with confidence that the series will even come back to the UC.

Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 3 in OT

I didn't get a chance to blog this last night, but the Hawks beat the Wings 4-3 in overtime to cut Day-twah's lead in the series to 2-1.

Obviously tomorrow afternoon's game is huge. If we win, were back in it- though we're still going to have to win at least once in Detroit to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. If we lose, it's going to be real, real tough.

Whatever the outcome, my pride in this young Hawk team- the youngest in the NHL- is profound. I would have considered this season a success if we'd just won one series in the playoffs. To have come this far this early speaks volumes for this young team's maturity- and the Hawks' bright prospects for the next decade or so.

ADDENDUM: The Hawks' Marty Havlat says on his Twitter page that he' going to have his favorite sushi tonight: octopus.

Sort of says it all, doesn't it?

HT: Cyberbrethren, Rev. Paul McCain

This is humor. But it's still too believable for comfort!

NHL Tries To Woo Fans By Increasing Scoring With Bigger Nets, 3-Point Line

From the Lyric Opera of Chicago...

The nirvana of my childhood is passing away

When I was little, Chicago still had its wonderful Riverview amusement park at Belmont and Western. But the place I always looked forward to visiting was a much smaller and less elaborate venue- Kiddieland, out in Melrose Park.

Tragically, this icon of my youth is closing due to a family dispute after more than eighty years.

I often wish that I lived back in Chicago again. Today I'm wishing it more than ever. I'd really like to pay the place one last visit. I really regret the times I drove past the place on previous visits, never bothering to stop and relive those joy-filled evenings when I was small and the world was simple.

From the minature railroad (amazing how big a deal it was to me back then!) to the thrilling aroma of manure at the pony rides (somehow that smell will always have wonderful associations for me), Kiddieland was the one place in the world which I identified with happiness back in the days when I was a little tyke. And once again, I am reminded that I am getting old.

Oh, fuss and feathers.

We lost again, this time in overtime.

But there is also Jesus

Indulgences are making a comeback in the Catholic church.

"Why are we bringing them back?," one bishop rhetorically asks. His answer: "Because there is sin in the world."

Yes, there is. And there is also a Savior, through whose merits full forgiveness of all sins is available to all those who repent and believe.

Purgatory was invented relatively early in Christian history in order to answer a question which arose out of the Church's practice of praying for the dead: since prayer cannot help a soul in hell, and is not needed by a soul in heaven, why bother? A better answer, which would have done less violence to the heart of the Gospel, would have been, "Because God is able to take our prayers into account years before we offer them- and because it does us good to be able to pray for our Christian loved ones who have gone before us into the next life now, when we are missing them the most. It helps us feel close to them again, and it soothes our aching hearts to do something which can somehow help them. "

That biblical and pastoral answer, alas, was not the one that was given. Later the selling of indulgences- time off from the suffering of purgatory in expiation of some part of the penalty of sin Christ somehow did not bear on our behalf- turned a theological disaster into a pastoral one, and was the occasion of the Reformation.

No person of good will believes that the Catholic church is about to go back to selling indulgences. But the renewed emphasis on them is a sad reminder of how far apart Lutherans and Catholics still are on the very heart of the Gospel: the sufficiency of Christ's atonement and its full efficacy for all who believe, without need of "get out of purgatory free" cards from the hierarchy.

Joe Biden, standup comic

Read the wisdom of our vice-president, laugh yourself silly- and speculate as to how many nightly comedy programs these would have been on had George W. Bush said them.

Obama and the 'real' Catholics

This Lutheran appreciates George Weigel's take on the President's Notre Dame speech- and on Mr. Obama's intrusion into the question of just what constitutes a "real" Catholic.

Bummer.

Losing the opener against the Dead Things was a bitter pill. Tomorrow night we'll have to play three periods of hockey instead of just two.

Jeremy Piven says it well:

Save the octopi- and the hockey fans of Detroit- needless agony.

*People for the Ethical Treatment of Cephlapods

(More bravado).

It's Day-twah.

Let us therefore gird up our loins, and- since the Ducks are goners- save some octopi.

Bears fourth in the NFC?

Sports Illustrated is picking the Bears fourth in the NFC due to their trade for Jay Cutler.

I'm optimistic, too. But fourth in the conference?

You know, Charlie, I never considered that question before.

On the other hand...

moar funny pictures

(This is what's called bravado.)

On second thought...

see more Political Pictures

Let's go, Ducks!

Steve Rosenbloom is right.

Yes, this Blackhawk team is good enough to theoretically beat the Red Wings. Theoretically.

But if Hawk fans have a brain in our collective heads, we'll be rooting for Anaheim.

As much fun as it would be to beat Detroit, it's much more important to beat somebody.

HAWKS OUST VANCOUVER, 7-5!!!

A hat trick for Kaner!

Conference finals, here we come!

Hmm.

You’re St. Melito of Sardis! You have a great love of history and liturgy. You’re attached to the traditions of the ancients, yet you recognize that the old world — great as it was — is passing away. You are loyal to the customs of your family, though you do not hesitate to call family members to account for their sins. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

I did have sardines for dinner!

Blackhawks can wrap it up tonight

Didn't get a chance to comment the other night on the Hawks' 4-2 victory over Vancouver to take a 3-2 series lead. They're back in Chicago tonight, with a chance to close out the series and advance to the conference finals.

But it won't be easy. The Canucks are a good team with its back to the wall. And whether the Dead Things or the Quackers win the other series, it figures to be an uphill battle in the next round- if we get there. And if somehow we get into the Stanley Cup Finals, we figure to be heavy underdogs against anybody we draw.

But of course, if we win tonight, for the first time I personally will have visions of the Stanley Cup dancing in my head anyway. And after all, I didn't expect them to get past Vancouver.

Which they still might not. Keeping my fingers crossed; nothing is in the bag yet.

Don't count us out just yet!

Perhaps those who see an inevitable decline of U.S. influence in the world need to think again.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Miss California wins the debate- simply by saying "no comment"

Carrie Prejean- who so thoroughly trumps these two bozos in the class department that she wins the debate by simply saying "no comment-" seems to have become a lightning rod for all the snarky bile the cultural Left seems to think indicates cleverness, or constitutes an argument, or something. Do either of these guys actually think that breast implants have anything to do with gay "marriage?"

In any event... what is this, if not hate speech? Miss California wins this exchange with ease.

Hawks win in overtime, 2-1; tie series!

Just after Andrew Ladd tipped in Boland's shot to win it, I submitted my name to the Star Trek Name Generator over at Facebook.

The result: I'm a Klingon named H'ohk.

Black H'ohk. Obviously.

Do You Hear the Poodles Bark?

Do you hear the poodles bark,
Barking the bark of angry mutts?
It is the high-pitched yelp of pedigreed dogs
Whose mouths will not be shut...

I've been looking for this literally for years. And at last, I've found it!

Les Miseranimals, from The Animaniacs!

Notes for those unfamiliar with the musical can be found here (though note: the song referred to as "Bitten in the Gut" is, in reality, "Bitten in the Butt."

Calling a spade a spoon

When it comes to MSM nomenclature for the political and theological ideology of public figures,tmatt of GetReligion gets it.

In case you haven't noticed, liberals are invariably described as "moderates," radicals as "liberals," moderates as "conservatives," and conservatives as "far Right."

Why it is impossible to defeat a liberal in debate

Keep your order simple

see more Engrish

Good point

see more Lol Celebs

After viewing, push the red button here.

HT: Lori Sievert

On the theoretical feasibility of warp drive

Really!

I don't care of one of the Fathers did say it

Deer do not eat reptiles.

HT: Stones Cry Out

Ridge would beat both Toomey and Specter

According to a new poll by a Republican pollster, if Tom Ridge runs for the Senate from Pennsylvania, he'll cream Pat Toomey in the Republican primary and beat Arlen Specter in November.

HT: Real Clear Politics

We lost

3-1 Vancouver. The Canucks take back their home ice advantage.

We've gotta win Thursday night, guys.

More good news for the GOP

Things are looking good for Sununu in New Hampshire.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Man stoned to death for adultery in Iran

Feminists take note: a man has been stoned to death in Iran for adultery.

The woman was not, because she repented.

And he didn't?

HT: Drudge

Leno and Letterman should listen to this guy

see more Political Pictures

Don't look now...

...but as of today, it looks like the Republican Mike Castle will defeat Joe Biden's son for the Senate in Delaware next year.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Read all about it

A couple of economists from Forbes apparently think that the recession is over.

HT: Real Clear Politics

You couldn't prove it by me, but...

...a couple of economists from Forbes magazine say that the recession is over.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Ridge weighs race for Specter's seat

Former Gov. Tom Ridge, another socially liberal Republican, is considering challenging former Congressman Pat Toomey for the Republican nomination to run against turncoat Sen. Arlen Specter (Whatdayoftheweekisit?- Pa).

Ideologically, Ridge is no great improvement on the former RINO. Unlike Toomey, though, the polls indicate that Ridge would have a real chance to beat Specter, and at least return the seat to the Republican caucus.

HT: Drudge

Hawks beat Vancouver 6-3

We steal home ice!!!

We scored as many goals against Luongo tonight as St. Louis scored in their whole series against him!

To bad about the Bulls- who have every reason to hold their heads up high in defeat.

In Iran, the law doesn't count

Iran's highest judicial authority reprieved Dalara Darabi, a young woman sentenced to death for a murder she says her boyfriend committed- when she was seventeen.

The barbarians in Tehran hanged her anyway.

Gay "marriage-" and gay hypocrisy

Andrew Brietbart on a point which I've also noticed: the strangely selective hostility of the homosexualist Left toward those who oppose the redefining of marriage.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Jesse Jackson sued for not showing up to make speech

He pulled the same stunt on us- without notice- at Wright Junior College in Chicago when I was SGA president there, and we were fighting the institution of tuition.

Of course, we didn't pay him a fee...

HT: Drudge