News for today's 2018

Hollywood Should Bring Back the Western!

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">Hola Cowboys and Cowgirls! You know what we need more of? Westerns! Hell yeah! Hollywood needs to start making good westerns again. I think Westerns is what’s missing from the movies the studios put out each summer. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-9Q9kg_9XxWqgLY5zPZfQwFF5dgjv62jhT0XoT7-8fmnVBE9ZUhwFSjS5xwfiFdNCLXFvuzz-IgvQPawgQ56S1allP10Si0pZ8IiXaVS6ZwT_97xNBM577ByHOQW7xHjHdps_DqCNcml/s1600/john_wayne_american.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-9Q9kg_9XxWqgLY5zPZfQwFF5dgjv62jhT0XoT7-8fmnVBE9ZUhwFSjS5xwfiFdNCLXFvuzz-IgvQPawgQ56S1allP10Si0pZ8IiXaVS6ZwT_97xNBM577ByHOQW7xHjHdps_DqCNcml/s1600/john_wayne_american.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yeah, I know they still make some every once in a while. Maybe one or two a year, but that’s not enough and the ones they make aren’t that good. When was the last great Western? Silverado back in 1985? Really? It’s been that long? Yeah, Unforgiven was made in ’92, but I didn’t really like it that much.  I haven’t seen Django Unchained, but that’s not what I would really call a Western. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh yeah, they did remake True Grit in 2010. I almost forgot about that. It was definitely better than the John Wayne version from back in the day. The Coen Brothers proved that really good westerns can still be made today. Jeff Bridges was better than John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon was WAYYYYYY better than Mac Davis as Le Bouf and Hailee Steinfeld was considerably better than Kim Darby as Mattie Ross. In fact, Kim Darby annoyed the shit outta me in the original. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I was watching Big Jake the other night when I started thinking about the need for more Westerns. Big Jake is my all-time favorite John Wayne movie. I never cared for his war movies, but his Westerns were cool. In fact, let’s rank them … <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">1. Big Jake<br />2. Rio Bravo<br />3. The Shootist <br />4. Chism<br />5. El Dorado<br />6. McClintock<br />7. Hondo <br />8. Rooster Cogburn <br />9. The Undefeated<br />10. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, as good as those John Wayne movies were, lots of other actors made great and even better Westerns. Jimmy Stewart, Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper, Bert Lancaster, Glen Ford, Alan Ladd and the list goes on and on and on. In fact, let’s list the 10 Best Westerns of all Time, shall we? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">1. Big Jake<br />2. True Grit (2010) <br />3. The Magnificent Seven<br />4. The Outlaw Josey Wales<br />5. Silverado<br />6. High Noon <br />7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid<br />8. Rio Bravo<br />9. The Shootist<br />10. Brokeback Mountain<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, the reason they don’t make Westerns anymore is because they can’t blow shit up and cowboys aren’t super heroes and all that crap. All the big studios want to do is fancy special effects and CGI. They don’t tell stories anymore.  Stories about a cowboy out on the range, rounding up the doggies, working hard from dawn to dusk and fighting for truth, justice and the American way! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">You can’t use fancy automatic weapons in Westerns either. No Glock .40’s with eleven shot clips or Bushmaster AR-15’s or any of that stuff. Cowboys carried six-shooters and had to be fast and accurate. These guys today just open fire willy-nilly, blasting away hoping to hit someone. That doesn’t take any skill! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2I2zfzYdJ8raqN8TsT214NVHIhcKjaSZFuczRAeNHhBUwJdpNYzhCem2qS-lzbvqiT5vrNTxtRBWaMyDuB2ZjxPAitgEsHFFUJXaqFEraY8R8PRdRHdvQF44mm85m1fudXhpqNFn9WyMy/s1600/Raquel+Welch+Hot+Cowgirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2I2zfzYdJ8raqN8TsT214NVHIhcKjaSZFuczRAeNHhBUwJdpNYzhCem2qS-lzbvqiT5vrNTxtRBWaMyDuB2ZjxPAitgEsHFFUJXaqFEraY8R8PRdRHdvQF44mm85m1fudXhpqNFn9WyMy/s1600/Raquel+Welch+Hot+Cowgirl.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">HBO made Deadwood with Timothy Olyphant and that was a good show. Olyphant is tall and lean and makes for a good cowboy. Also, I guess you could make the case that Justified which also stars a cowboy hat wearing Olyphant as a US Marshall is a kind of a modern western. I love that show. So obviously Hollywood is still capable of making a good western, they just don’t. And that’s sad. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/jayman68" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

Hollywood Should Bring Back the Western!

Hola Cowboys and Cowgirls! You know what we need more of? Westerns! Hell yeah! Hollywood needs to start making good westerns again. I think ...

Watch This Video - Humorously Makes the Point Why You Can't Trust Steven's Friends to Set His Salary

5:31 PM Tukiyooo 0

As we await installment 2 of Stuart Watson's expose discussing Furtick's friends who help set his salary, I want to post this video from almost two years ago.<br /><br />This video shows how much Steven and his buddies love and adore each other. How on earth can these guys who absolutely slobber over each other be the ones who hold each other accountable financially or otherwise?<br /><br />In the video notice how Craig Groeschel plugs Steven's book. They tell their respective congregations just how lucky they are to have their Man of God as their pastor.<br /><br />And if you can make it all the way to the end, you'll see Steven tell the story of how thrilled he was when his friend Craig Groeschel flew on a plane to surprise Steven and be the one to introduce him before he spoke.  <br /><br />Watch this video. It is funny.<br /><br />But very creepy.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="301" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/30585079?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe></div>

Watch This Video - Humorously Makes the Point Why You Can't Trust Steven's Friends to Set His Salary

As we await installment 2 of Stuart Watson's expose discussing Furtick's friends who help set his salary, I want to post this video ...

Waste Not, Want Not (Musical Tribute)

4:41 PM Tukiyooo 0

The following chart shows the amount spent on sewage and waste disposal construction as a percentage of wages and salaries.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qet4Nw8ZgGROdFCQkAoDBgeH3KLthNW88uUKjFvZP9sg6sTZ2Jz2XunzcxBWDGTWTB7aO_cHzj5lp5ps_NxBnMZgn-KHdumB2Mssm9siGyMBCMzZMpwqERohhYozVmyPM8KsjQVllzk/s1600/Waste+Not,+Want+Not.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qet4Nw8ZgGROdFCQkAoDBgeH3KLthNW88uUKjFvZP9sg6sTZ2Jz2XunzcxBWDGTWTB7aO_cHzj5lp5ps_NxBnMZgn-KHdumB2Mssm9siGyMBCMzZMpwqERohhYozVmyPM8KsjQVllzk/s320/Waste+Not,+Want+Not.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qRvrj-x1lSo" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Waste+not,+want+not">Waste not, want not</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>If you do not waste anything, you will always have enough.</i></div><br />I must admit that some posts are done mostly for the puns.<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=nFQ">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

Waste Not, Want Not (Musical Tribute)

The following chart shows the amount spent on sewage and waste disposal construction as a percentage of wages and salaries. Click to enlarge...

The Science Of Doctor Who Presented By Professor Brian Cox

3:30 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5Lstotzjz3lRNJf9-it5jNxTG640O3lDv9klNoi1SD4eY-nNRgoF4J0fKpzkoX_CSFGo9UxVnvunLIJd2MxYyUSIpn7wg9qJPvpXZHEIERJ364dt_3sVTWdAui_lIqWDdmF3W9PLyInp/s1600/608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5Lstotzjz3lRNJf9-it5jNxTG640O3lDv9klNoi1SD4eY-nNRgoF4J0fKpzkoX_CSFGo9UxVnvunLIJd2MxYyUSIpn7wg9qJPvpXZHEIERJ364dt_3sVTWdAui_lIqWDdmF3W9PLyInp/s1600/608.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The BBC have released programme details for a new one off special: <i>The Science Of Doctor Who</i>. The show, presented by Professor Brian Cox, will air on Thursday 14th November as part of the BBC's Doctor Who 50th Anniversary schedule</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Science Of Doctor Who</span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For one night only, Professor Brian Cox explores the universe of the world’s favourite Timelord, Doctor Who.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brian takes an audience, with the help of celebrity guests, on a journey into the wonderful universe of The Doctor, in a specially recorded programme from the lecture theatre of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brian reveals the science behind the spectacle and explains the physics that allows Doctor Who to travel through space and time. Fun, but filled with real science, it’s a special night for Who fans as well anyone with a thirst for understanding.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brian is in the unique position of knowing The Doctor’s universe inside out as well as the reality behind the drama. When the TARDIS travels through time and space, Brian understands the physics involved. And when it comes to life on other planets, Brian knows the real science that could prove extra-terrestrial life might just really exist in our galaxy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch <i>The Science Of Doctor Who </i>on Thursday 14 November at 9pm on BBC Two</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

The BBC have released programme details for a new one off special: The Science Of Doctor Who . The show, presented by Professor Brian Cox, w...

SLIMFESSIONS klout perk !

2:31 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pP6PZsu9MxQ/Umg76eNb1GI/AAAAAAAAKU4/y_92sU_W9qM/s1600/IMG_20131023_132539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pP6PZsu9MxQ/Umg76eNb1GI/AAAAAAAAKU4/y_92sU_W9qM/s320/IMG_20131023_132539.jpg" width="313" /></i></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The summer has come to an end and we are approaching the holidays again fast!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>With that in mind we have all done it, and all it does is makes us feel guilty in the end after.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm taking about over eating all those sweets around the holidays whether it be cookies, brownies, pies or even cake!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I received the SLIMFESSIONS perk from klout and it came with a journal and a coupon redeemable for a free product of my choice.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>So since I'm on a smoothie kick lately I grabbed the vanilla shakes in the slim fast line at my local stop and shop because they are quick and easy, plus they are sweet and helps with those sweet tooth <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">cravings!</span></i></div>

SLIMFESSIONS klout perk !

The summer has come to an end and we are approaching the holidays again fast! With that in mind we have all done it, and all it does is make...

Ecotools lashes klout perk!

2:21 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WXUhfcs_V5c/Umg8Jhv7tsI/AAAAAAAAKVU/EBgfp9jzdaE/s1600/13+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WXUhfcs_V5c/Umg8Jhv7tsI/AAAAAAAAKVU/EBgfp9jzdaE/s320/13+-+1" width="320" /></i></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>I've been a member on klout for quite some time now and have received really cool perks to try out!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Whatever topics your influential in such as beauty, food, pets, fitness etc. you'll get to try out products for free!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>It's totally awesome and I love being a member!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Recently I received a perk from them that includes false eye lashes and the tools to use to make your lashes ever so fabulous!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>

Ecotools lashes klout perk!

I've been a member on klout for quite some time now and have received really cool perks to try out! Whatever topics your influential in ...

PASTORAL LETTER REGARDING THE SHOOTING AT SPARKS MIDDLE SCHOOL

2:14 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">      </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; text-indent: .3in;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; text-indent: .3in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; text-indent: .3in;">      </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in;">            <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: 0in; text-indent: -90.9pt;">October 22, 2013<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: 0in; text-indent: -90.9pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: 0in; text-indent: -90.9pt;">Dear Episcopalians of the Diocese of Nevada,<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: 0in; text-indent: -90.9pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-indent: -1.0in;">                                 Tragic school violence has happened again. Only this time it has happened here. We are naturally shocked and grieved. Such things should not happen. But they do. Last week in Austin, Texas a high school student shot himself to death at school.  Two months ago, a high school student shot a classmate in Winston Salem, North Carolina. In January, there was a high school shooting in California and a middle school shooting in Atlanta. One advocacy group reports that there have been 16 school shootings in the United States so far this year. It seems they are happening more and more often. When a school shooting happens at our doorstep, we ask, “What does God think of this? What is God saying to us in this moment?”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: 0in; text-indent: -90.9pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">       Back when I was teaching religion to law students, I read something theologically profound in a law review article by a great legal scholar, Robert Cover. He said, “Violence is always an act of despair.” That statement has stuck in my mind for nearly 20 years. “Violence is always an act of despair.” All of the things we really want we get from loving relationships. We want respect, kindness, understanding. We want to be heard and held. Everything we truly desire is a fruit of communion. It happens in mutual, caring, appreciative relationships. It is only when we despair of ever having what we truly long for that we resort to violence to get something less, something that will never satisfy. So yes, “violence is always an act of despair.” Nothing could be more explicitly despairing than a murder-suicide.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: 0in; text-indent: -90.9pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">         Despair is giving up on ourselves, giving up on each other, and giving up on God. Violence is despair in action. I don’t know the details of what happened at Sparks Middle School. But I know this much: it was a single act of despair by a boy, who some say had been bullied. Whatever his pain was, it overflowed his capacity to hold it, so he poured it out on others. Such acts are committed in the context of a society of people who are giving up on themselves, each other, and God. It is a hard, hard thing for a teenager to live in hope while growing up in a hopeless society.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That is where the Church comes in. We are here to share good news with those who most need to hear it. That’s our first Mark of Mission. It is our responsibility to insure that every young person, like that tragic boy with the gun in Sparks, has heard the word of God: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            “I know the plans I have for you . . . . plans to prosper you<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">             and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We have good news for the poor, both the materially poor and the spiritually poor. We have the good news that the world’s judgments about us are wrong. Our judgments about ourselves are wrong. God sees us through kinder eyes -- eyes that see something very good in us. The Bible says:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Rejoice . . . The Lord has taken away the judgments against you . . . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">             For the Lord your God . . . will take delight in you with gladness.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">             With love, he will calm your fears<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">             He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As if we were pony express riders, God has put hope in our saddlebags and said, “Get that hope to my people. They are dying -- and killing -- for lack of hope. Give them my hope.” Our first priority as the Church is to deliver hope to the lonely people beyond our walls who need to hear the good news words; but more than that, they need us to live those good news words. Our neighbors need us to make room in our hearts and space in our lives for them. They need us to delight in them, to calm their fears with love, to rejoice over them with songs. They need us to be Christ for them. That’s what it means to be the Body of Christ. God wants to act through us to give our neighbors hope and a future. Evangelism is not selling someone something they don’t want or need. It isn’t talking someone into holding the same opinions we do. It isn’t recruiting people to support our Church. Evangelism is giving people a little friendship and a modicum of hope before they load their guns.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            Some of my friends will be disappointed in me, but I am not going to politicize this tragedy. The Episcopal Church clearly supports reasonable restrictions on gun purchases, the same restrictions supported by the overwhelming majority of Nevadans, and a substantial majority of the rank-and-file of the NRA nationally. As a member of Bishops Against Gun Violence, I am on board with all of that. But laws and regulations -- right, reasonable, and necessary as they may be -- will not be nearly enough to prevent gun violence. There have been school shootings where better laws would have made a difference. But, at Sparks Middle School this week, I don’t know whether the law our legislature passed last session, had it not been vetoed, would have made any difference. So I make no political point.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            Instead I make this spiritual point: When people despair of being loved -- not just cared for, but being appreciated, respected, delighted in, and rejoiced over -- when we lose faith in our own loveliness and the capacity of others to enjoy us, then we compensate with fantasies of violence. We imagine ourselves as armed heroes, which is a short step away from armed villains. We shift our hope from the power of love to the power of violence. That, brothers and sisters,  is a spiritual issue, a moral lapse, a failure of faith, hope, and love. It is the fundamental corruption of the soul. It corrupts the soul of the individual and it corrupts the soul of the nation. The first province of the Church is to address that spiritual issue, that moral lapse, that failure of faith, hope, and love.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            So I call on each of our congregations and on each Church member, to pray this week for the victims of the Sparks Middle School shooting – the wounded and the dead, the frightened and the bereaved. And I ask you to pray for the Church, not that we will grow in numbers and institutional vitality, but that we will set aside all trivialities, all self-will, all distractions in order to fully embrace God’s mission. Do more than pray. Think and talk and plan about what you can do to share God’s love with the folks outside our Church walls who need Christ’s love so desperately. How can we tell the story of redemption? How can we prove by our own actions that it is true? How can we be the light of which Isaiah sings in the Surge Illuminare:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            “For behold darkness covers the land;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">                        Deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            But over you the Lord will rise<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">                        And his glory will appear upon you.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            Nations will stream to your light<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">                        And kings to the brightness of your dawning.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            Your gates will always be open;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">                        By day or night they will never be shut. . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">            Violence will no more be heard in your land.” Isaiah 60<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Violence will no more be heard in your land.” That’s God’s promise to us if we open the gates, if we bear his light to the violent, despairing, broken, hopeless people who are our brothers and sisters.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">                                                                                    Yours in Christ,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">                                                                                    Dan Edwards<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">                                                                                    10th Bishop of Nevada<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

PASTORAL LETTER REGARDING THE SHOOTING AT SPARKS MIDDLE SCHOOL

October 22, 2013 Dear Episcopalians of the Diocese of Nevada, Tragic school v...