A magical moment on the zinnias this morning. Is it a monarch?
There was so much insect life on the zinnias that we decided to delay spraying with pyola! I am engaged in a life and death struggle with Japanese Beetles all of whom feast on the zinnias or the roses. But when there are ladybirds or bees or wasps or other insects on the zinnias, I don't mind.

Unitarian Universalist Shootings in Tennessee

Two people died in the Sunday shootings by Jim Adkisson at the Tennessee Valley UU Church. So far, reports indicate that he is sane.

The reported sequence of events has Adkisson entering the UU church at around quarter past 10:00 a.m. on the morning of July 28, as the congregation’s children were staging a rendition of the musical "Annie Jr." Adkisson reportedly carried the shotgun into the church inside a guitar case, then pulled out the gun and blasted three shots into the crowd. Adkisson was then reportedly tackled and restrained by members of the congregation.

Witnesses said that Adkisson walked right past the young performers and aimed his shotgun directly at the pews before firing; the attack was so sudden that for a moment some in the congregation thought the noise from the gun was part of the show, reported the article.

Said UU member Marty Murphy, "We heard the first shot. It sounded like a bomb went off. We thought it was part of the program at first." Added Murphy, "The second shot is when everyone started calling 911 and telling everyone to get down." Another witness said that McKendry started toward Adkisson, who shot him down with a gun blast.

Police say 58 year old Jim Adkisson expected to keep firing until officers killed him. Instead church members tackled him and held him for police.

Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen says, "It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to attain a job.. His frustration over that. And his stated hatred for the liberal movement."

Police say they are investigating the case as a Hate Crime.

Joe Lauria on Huffington Post calls it an act of terrorism.

A report written by a Knoxville PD officer, Steve Still, who spoke with Adkisson, said that the alleged gunman had targeted the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist church "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country," according to the article, which cited a document that had reportedly been obtained by news station WBIR-TV; continued the report, "and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country’s hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets."

David Gibson has a point: Where is the religious community's voice on gun control? The numbers are staggering: 30,000 Americans die each year from gun violence, but gun control has not emerged as a significant agenda item for faith-based organizations. Why is it, in cases like this, that the Second Amendment of the Constitution trumps the First Amendment? Should we worship in the company of armed guards??

Oral traits of Mark's gospel

Its ironic that the NRSV translation of Mark steadfastly retains instances of "euthus" in chapter one by translating them as "immediately" (v.23, "Just then" and v.28 "At once" are exceptions) but takes the opposite course when it comes to "kai," thus making it hard to recognize two oral traits of Mark's gospel. 1:6 for example has four instances of "kai" rendered by "Now" in the first case, "with" in the second and "and" in the third and fourth case. "Kai" is omitted from the translation of the beginning of vv.7, 9, 13, 16,19,21,22,23,27,28,29,31,35,37,38,40,41,42,43,44 where it plays a syndetic function. There's a lot to be said for Tyndale's version (below with verse divisions inserted--click the link for full text) and the KJV translation when trying to identify oral traits of Mark 1!

Chapter 1
1 The beginnynge of the Gospell of Iesu Christ the sonne of God
2 as yt is wrytten in the Prophetes: beholde I sende my messenger before thy face which shall prepared thy waye before ye.
3 The voyce of a cryer in the wildernes: prepare ye the waye of the Lorde make his paches streyght.
4 Iohn dyd baptise in the wyldernes and preche the baptyme of repentauce for the remission of synnes.
5 And all the londe of Iurie and they of Ierusalem went out vnto him and were all baptised of him in the ryver Iordan confessynge their synnes.
6 Iohn was clothed with cammylles heer and with a gerdyll of a skyn a bout hys loynes. And he dyd eate locustes and wylde hony
7 and preached sayinge: a stronger then I commeth after me whose shue latchet I am not worthy to stoupe doune and vnlose.
8 I have baptised you with water: but he shall baptise you with the holy goost.
9 And yt came to passe in those dayes that Iesus cam from Nazareth a cyte of Galile: and was baptised of Iohn in Iordan.
10 And assone as he was come out of the water Iohn sawe heaven open and the holy goost descendinge vpon him lyke a dove.
11 And ther came a voyce from heaven: Thou arte my dere sonne in whom I delyte.
12 And immediatly the sprete drave him into wildernes:
13 and he was there in the wildernes xl dayes and was tempted of Satan and was with wilde beestes. And the aungels ministred vnto him.
14 After Iohn was taken Iesus came in to Galile preachinge the gospell of the kyngdome of God
15 and sayinge: the tyme is come and the kyngdome of God is at honde repent and beleve the gospell.
16 As he walked by the see of Galile he sawe Simon and Andrew his brother castinge nettes into ye see for they were fysshers.
17 And Iesus sayde vnto them: folowe me and I will make you fisshers of men.
18 And strayght waye they forsoke their nettes and folowed him.
19 And when he had gone a lytell further thence he sawe Iames the sonne of zebede and Ihon his brother even as they were in the shyppe mendinge their nettes.
20 And anone he called them. And they leeft their father zebede in the shippe with his hyred servauntes and went their waye after him.
21 And they entred into Capernau: and streight waye on ye Saboth dayes he entred in to ye synagoge and taught.
22 And they merveled at his learninge. For he taught them as one that had power with him and not as the Scribes.
23 And there was in their synagoge a ma vexed wt an vnclene spirite yt cried
24 sayinge: let be: what have we to do with the thou Iesus of Nazareth? Arte thou come to destroye vs? I knowe the what thou arte eue that holy of god.
25 And Iesus rebuked him sayinge: hoolde thy peace and come out of him.
26 And ye vnclene spirite tare him and cryed with a loude voyce and came out of him.
27 And they were all amased in so moche that they demaunded one of another amoge them selves saying: what thinge is this? what newe doctryne is this? For he comaundeth the foule spirites with power and they obeye him.
28 And immediatly his fame spreed abroade throughoute all the region borderinge on Galile.
29 And forth with as sone as they were come out of the synagoge they entred into ye housse of Symon and Andrew with Iames and Ihon.
30 And Symons mother in lawe lay sicke of a fever. And anone they tolde him of her.
31 And he came and toke her by the honde and lifte her vp: and the fever forsoke hir by and by: and she ministred vnto them.
32 And at even when the sunne was downe they brought to him all that were diseased and them that were possessed with devyls.
33 And all the cite gaddred to gedder at the dore
34 and he healed many yt were sicke of divers deseases. And he cast out many devyls and suffred not ye devyls to speake because they knewe him.
35 And in the morninge very erly Iesus arose and went out into a solitary place and there prayed.
36 And Simon and they that were with him folowed after him.
37 And when they had founde him they sayde vnto him: all men seke for the.
38 And he sayd vnto them: let vs go into the next tounes that I maye preache there also: for truly I cam out for that purpose.
39 And he preached in their synagoges throughout all Galile and cast the devyls out.
40 And there came a leper to him besechinge him and kneled doune vnto him and sayde to him: yf thou wilt thou canest make me clene.
41 And Iesus had copassion on him and put forth his honde touched him and sayde to him: I will be thou clene.
42 And assone as he had spoke immediatly ye leprosy departed fro him and was clensed.
43 And he charged him and sent him awaye forthwith
44 and sayd vnto him: Se thou saye no thinge to any man: but get the hence and shewe thy silfe to ye preste and offer for thy clensinge those thinges which Moses comaunded for a testimoniall vnto them.
45 But he (assone as he was departed) beganne to tell many thinges and to publyshe the dede: in so moche that Iesus coulde no more opely entre in to the cite but was with out in desert places. And they came to him fro every quarter.

Purple Finch Update

The injured female purple finch plus male purple finch feeding together in our window box this weekend. She is doing well and clearly has support. We have been fortunate to provide food for them both.

Today's Guardian calls for clerihews. Since my brain is fried (along with my power board), this suits me just fine today.

So, how do you write one? Well, the first thing you need to know is that these poems are biographical, focusing on a specific detail of a well-known person so as to poke gentle fun at them. There are four lines of no set length, although the first two are usually short and the second two long. The first line is usually wholly or partly made up of the subject's name. These lines rhyme AABB, with portmanteau words and other linguistic innovations encouraged to achieve the rhymes. Although the results are (or at least meant to be) funny, Clerihews are rarely satirical and never abusive. Behind the wit, you can generally sense great admiration for the subject. If anything, most Clerihews are best seen as ironic eulogies.

It was a weakness of Voltaire's
To forget to say his prayers,
And one which to his shame
He never overcame.

   -- Edmund Clerihew Bentley

"Walter Bagehot, editor of the Economist from 1859 to 1877, advocated
  `animated moderation' in writing. And Sir Walter Layton, Crowther's
  immediate predecessor, spent hours rewriting his staff's articles--so many
  hours that one of his frustrated colleagues hit back with a clerihew:
   Sir Walter Layton
   Has a passion for alteration
   Would to God someone could alter
   Sir Walter."

St. Thomas Aquinas
Tried to incline us
To read through his 'Summa';
I'm afraid it's a bummer.

Computer woes: fried power board

Alas, the power board on my Mac burnt out recently and is being replaced. Not that I knew what had happened at the time...just that the battery wasn't recharging. But it did lead to the discovery of a nearby repair shop with very helpful guys who diagnosed the problem within five seconds. Replacing the part however is taking a wee bit longer...

Codex Sinaiticus on line today!

Parts of Codex Sinaiticus go on line today here. Here's a history of how the project came to be from AP.

In the past, anyone wishing to examine the document first hand would have had to approach the British Library "on bended knee," said Christopher Tuckett, a professor of New Testament studies at Oxford University.

"To have it available just at the click of a button is fantastic," he said. "You could do in two seconds what would take hours and hours of flicking through the leaves."

This 4th C text is the oldest complete text of the Septuagint and the NT. Its a good text to use instead of reconstructed Greek New Testaments for example because it establishes the state of an ancient text. There are English, German, French and Russian translations. Its very exciting to see Mark's gospel! Here's the opening. The ending of Mark is at 16:8.

Happy Feast of Mary Magdalene!

Our visiting priest on Sunday preached on John 21 (the gospel reading for the feast of MM) rather than the assigned gospel passage--bless him! And there are good reasons to do so.

The image is by Dr. He Qi at Wycliffe College, Toronto.

The only biblical passage celebrating marital sex: Prov 5:15-19

Reading Proverbs for a section in my book about the composition of same, I was fascinated to read of Proverbs 5:15-19 in notes from the Jewish Study Bible that this is the only passage in the Bible explicitly celebrating the pleasures of marital sex. And where does this occur in the lectionary???

"As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame.."

325 CE and why it matters--Derek Olsen

For anyone who missed it, Derek Olsen has a post worth reading on yesterday's Daily Episcopalian: AD 325 and why it matters. The subsequent comments also repay attention.