Deus Misereatur

  Fox Chapel Publishing has compiled several short articles and instructions from various authors and presented them in a glossy 96-page softback, "Complete Starter Guide to Whittling: 24 Easy Projects You Can Make in a Weekend". This manual is ideal for starters and newbies, experimenters, and those who have launched out on their own and spent some time attempting whittling and carving.  This manual begins with the basics. It covers safety, four types of carving/whittling cuts, sharpening knives, and the different cutting-edge pitches that distinguish normal knives and carving knives. I enjoyed this part since I didn't realize that there are different pitches of cutting edges. It helped to explain why I was having difficulty when using my normal pocket knife. Though most of the book is for using simple pocketknives for whittling/carving, yet some of the projects clearly used other carving tools. The 24 projects in the book range from extremely simple to a bit more advanc...

  The following is what I wrote and sent to my congregation this past week: Many years ago, an Anglican churchman compiled a spiral booklet that has supplemental seasonal prayers that focus on missions, evangelism, service, and giving. It’s titled “Spend and Be Spent”. I doubt it’s still in print anywhere, but I have an old copy that I have used for about 15 years.   The supplemental prayer for the First Sunday in Advent is drawn from an ancient 5 th Century liturgy and is attached to passages from Romans 12: “ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality ” (12:9-13).   This supplemental prayer addresses God’s love, and how that should impact our interactions. I feel li...

  “ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture ” (Psalm 100:1-3). Joy-filling LORD, Creation-making Lord, People-preserving LORD, it is to you we pray, O Lord, hear our prayer. First, we give you our thanks for upholding us through this last year. We specifically give you thanks for ( think of definite things to give thanks for here… ). May our whole lives be serving you with gladness. O Lord, hear our prayer.   Further, Lord, we implore you to look on those who don’t know you. To take notice of those who don’t know that you are God. To watch over and restore those who have forgotten that you made us, and we are yours (…). Bring them into your sheepfold, call them all by name. O Lord, hear our prayer.   We also ask you to govern our nation, with all of its present strife. We hav...