Pictures

Here are two pictures we took on Saturday.



What kind of bird is this? Let me know, and you'll win a valuable prize!*



Here's a Western Tanager. The pictures aren't great, but I find it somewhat fun to take them. Gives you the idea of the species, at any rate.

*There is no valuable prize.

Santiago Oaks Regional Park

Saturday morning Libby and I made our way over to Santiago Oaks Regional Park in search of the Lazuli Buntings which, rumor has it, are flooding Orange County at the moment. As this bird is particularly an attractive one, and Libby and I had both never seen it, we undertook to make the journey despite a limited time frame and some stress on the part of my beloved (her TPA being due this Monday). We were well rewarded for our troubles, having one of our best birding trips in quite a while in terms of both new and beautiful species - too good in fact, as we birded longer than planned and were late for an obligation.

Obviously, then, we did see our Lazuli Buntings. We had one pair in a field of mustard near the base of the large dam in the park. I had hoped to take a picture of them, but was distracted by an interesting mammal. When we endeavored to find them again and take the picture, they had flown off.

The interesting mammal was the rarest species of the day, however, and thus the regret was pleasingly lessened. I noticed what I thought to be a coyote at the base of an oak tree while waiting for the female bunting to fly up out of some mustard. But this coyote began climbing the oak tree, which was bizarre, and I noticed a strong black line along the base of the tale. I brought the creature to Libby's attention and we walked down the hill toward the dam in hopes of getting a better view. We were disappointed to never gain a perfect view of the animal, it was wary and shy, moving about in the tree, and finally out of it and away through some low sage brush, but it struck us as being small for a coyote. As we were arriving at the main trail, we met a man walking his dog who asked us if we had seen the fox. He remarked that he, in his five years of visiting the park, had never seen a fox. I poo-pooed the notion, knowing well the ease with which eager wildlife watchers may falsely identify one common species for a rare one. Never the less, I kept the idea in mind.

I had the idea that it could not be a red fox, for I had read that a black line running along the length of the entire fox is diagnostic. The black in this animal stopped at the beginning of the back. I had thought, however, the tail seemed quite bushy and full for a coyote, and so I decided to give another animal a google when I got home. Namely, the gray fox, our native variety. I was surprised to find that they have a strong black line running along their tail - not their back, and I was further surprised, happily I may add, that they are very well known for climbing trees (that they are the only canid to commonly do so). I therefore have concluded (I am excluding other important evidences for the sake of space) that we did, in fact, see a gray fox, and we are very fortunate to have done so!

Hi, my name is Jonathan...

...and I'm addicted to Jane Austen.

"Hi, Jonathan," murmurs a collected feminine audience.

I always thought I had sense, that my sensibilities were so decidedly masculine that my pride would never succumb to the persuasion of this decidedly feminine author; yet I find my prejudices have been overwhelmed: I am now reading Emma. Really, really, I thought that, as a man, fielding objections such as "chick book", would save me from ever lounging in a park with a paperback novel navigating the intrigues of Regency England regarding contented matrimony. Perhaps, I think this must be the case, it is possible to appreciate Jane Austen as a man, manishly. Women are not as far from men as south from north: we are all hangers on in this grand thing we call humanity. And if that's not the case, lock me up in an Abbey!

In the same way, Austen has a lot to teach us, though the rigid conventions of her time have passed. She is still valuable today, because she understands humanity to its core, and her fiction addresses truly timeless questions. I think that I can read Austen with enjoyment now because, as Libby says, I've grown up a lot since I first tried. Now I perceive these questions, and ask them along with her. My first attempt at Pride and Prejudice, in High School, got me just far enough to know that I didn't like it and it was insufferably boring. When I read it last November, I couldn't put it down! I therefore feel inclined to recommend a Classical Education as valuable to the youth of our age. Thanks, Torrey Honors!

Must Read Article

AL Daily today has an article posted that I think is of great importance. I do not think that it is perfect, it is wide ranging and broad in its focus, thus lacking a rigor of thought that will ultimately be necessary in a very critical discussion. However, it is important because I think its overview is largely accurate, and not just for Europe, but for Western Civilization as a whole.

It is, shortly, about the "Cultural Wars" of Europe (a loaded term). It proposes that the war between traditional Western culture and the ascendant post-Christian relatavistic hegemony (the article gives a good idea of how intolerant the latter is), is of the utmost importance in the second war: that of the arriving Islamic immigrants in Europe and their assertion of their culture, which is of course non-Christian and absolutists not only in morality but in government, etc. Ultimately, I think this importance is completely obvious, but it's got to be said, anyway.

The article is in Commentary, and it is by George Weigel. It is called: "Europe's Two Culture Wars".

Happy May Day

To all of those hispanic protestors around the nation today: enjoy the day that the blood, sweat and legacy of Capitalism are allowing you. Oh, and next time? Try not to choose such an offensive day to bring forward your demands.

Perhaps you would rather have lived in the Soviet Union, where May Day protests celebrated the victory of the worker annually? Or maybe not, when someone does the math on how many Stalin actually murdered. Check out this blog: Catallarchy: How Many Did Stalin Really Murder? He does that math for us, and concludes that the Soviet Union is responsible for the deaths of 62,000,000 people.

I've never heard of Catallarchy before, but they remember, yearly, May Day. Today may not be a bad day to stop and think about that evil spectre of Capitalism.

Real American Hero

When I was a boy, my favorite toy was G.I. Joe. Ok, actually perhaps my favorite particular toy was my Winnie The Pooh. Everybody's got to have their teddy bear (mine was a general).

Back to the main point, however. My favorite genre of toy was G.I. Joe. I had quite a few. My brother and I would have big G.I. Joe battles that would last for days and never ever had a resolution. But they had lots of building, climaxing action! Also, none of our GI Joes ever died. The bad guys could die, but each GI Joe was a beloved character, and thus was not allowed (being a good guy) to die. This doesn't mean they never suffered bodily harm. On the contrary, they suffered great bodily harm. Consistently. Anyway, I had a medic so they were OK.

They also had to learn to fly, as the plastic bags sometimes failed as parachutes. And they had to learn to live on their own, as sometimes they went over the wall into the hospital parking lot. I remember that one got lost that way forever. Was it Duke? Snake eyes? I have a memory, but it's vague.

Ok, so I'm posting this because I found a jewel of a website! It lists all the GI Joe's (3 3/4") that were ever made. It is a snapshot of my childhood.

Here is my first G.I. Joe ever: Shipwreck. Shipwreck had to have back surgery, and very early on he lost the ability (such an important but flawed ability in these toys) to bend at the waist.

Here is my favorite GI Joe ever: Storm Shadow. He had a cool red backpack with a sword!

Here's my medic: Lifeline. I liked how he had the oxygen mask. Got shot? What you need is an oxygen mask!

I remember that my brother had this one: Crazy Legs. He was, if you read his personal information (I am remembering this from the top of my head) a pianist. You can check to see if I'm right by clicking on the link and poking around.

There're many others in there that I had, but I think these are pretty cool and I don't want to make the post unreadably long. You can also find out how much they're worth now on that site. The good news is that most of them have appreciated. The bad news is that I played with them extensively, probably draining them of all their value. But more good news! That's what toys are for!

Joshua Tree

Ok, some of the Joshua Tree Pictures! Try this link: Flickr Joshua Tree pics.

Here's a tantalizing preview:



That is Libby walking through a cholla cactus garden.

Out and About

Libby and I spent the last three days at Joshua Tree camping. It was a nice trip. We'll post pictures when we can. Here's the short version.

Monday:
Leave Apt. around 10:30. Arrive at North Entrance (Oasis of Marra) after noon. Poke around the oasis. Camp at Jumbo Rocks campground. We checked out the campsite, and saw gnatcatchers, quail, phainopepla, verdin, cottontails and a jackrabbit. Eat. White-crowned sparrows. Wind. Check out stars.

Tuesday:
Get up just before sunrise. Walk. Eat. Drive. Walk to 49 Palms Oasis (first in parking lot at 8:00 in the morning!). 49 Palms is really amazing and beautiful, but it got crowded, so we were lucky we showed up when we did. Black throated sparrows, white winged dove, bewick's wren, cactus wren, hooded oriole, hermit thrush, costa's hummingbird, ash-throated flycatcher, gray flycatcher, other various flycatchers, etc. Walk back. Drive long time through West Entrance to Hidden Valley. Brewer's sparrow. Barker Dam. Vaux's swift, many swallows, white-throated swifts, yellow-rumped and townsend's warbler. Jumbo Rocks to nap. Eat. Walk. Five jackrabbits! Fire. Stars. Sleep!

Wednesday:
Get up after sunrise. Eat. Pack up. Walk. Rock wrens, green-tailed Towhees, chipping sparrows. Drive south towards Cottonwood. Stop at exhibits. Note scratched and illegible surfaces. Upon one was scrawled in ink something about how Christian white men ruined the land and the Indians. Mourn. Drive. Cholla Cactus garden. Ocotillos blooming! Cottonwood Springs. House finches, ravens, kingbirds, warblers, sparrows, snakes and a warbling vireo. Drive to 10, off to Libby's parents house and then home a little after 6:00.

Shower and eat Jelly bellies.

Sayers Had An Illegitimate Child

Libby and I have been reading Dorothy Sayer's murder mysteries together lately. I'm not sure how long, but we're on our third novel and have read most of the short stories.

In reading these novels, I have been surprised not to find C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, or Charles Williams. In short, the novels are not the kind of 20th century Oxfordian Christian fiction that I expected. I don't think Sayers presents a plainly Christian world-view.

My previous exposure to Sayer's is mainly in regard to Dante: her translations and some papers. I've also read parts or most of her article on women and her famous work on education (The Mind of the Maker). Most of these works are from later in her life, and I suspect she either changed considerably or has a literary philosophy very different from the Inklings.

For example, her characters reflect contemporary ethical thought: not classical ethical thought (though they are familiar with it). Much of this thought either seems anachronistically wicked - a separate Aristocratic morality - or contemporary bad thinking - consequentialist morality. The former is demonstrated in Clouds of Witness, though she does a good job of painting a difficult moral situation in respect to some adultery, ultimately I cannot find any appropriate accusations leveled toward the Duke. The latter is demonstrated in Unnatural Death, where at one point Murbles argues that the murder may not be unethical - it prevents the Crown from getting money - merely legal.

I find that here, and in some other places, she's coming down on the opposite sides of questions from Scripture, the historic witness of the Church - and from the Inklings.

Many people would say, "So?" to this argument, and I think that's fair. I don't censor my own reading so that I only read books with which I agree. It is, however, much rarer that I pick up a book I expect to find agreeable and experience a disillusioning. Sayer's early fictional writings are such an experience.

Coming Soon: Another author I'm really enjoying - pooor Sayers' pen pales by comparison - is Flannery O'Connor. She's my favorite American prose as of yet - perhaps favorite American literature ever. (Can you count Eliot as American?) I'll post about her when I've digested her stories more fully: there's an awful lot to think about.

Gospel of Judas

You can read the text of the new Gospel of Judas here.

I think the text's nature alone is sufficient proof of its non-authoritative nature regarding the life of Christ (it's bizarre Gnostic gobbley-gook).

Irenaeus (student of Polycarp, student of the apostle John (eyewitness to Jesus' life) disproved the Gnostic interpretations of Jesus' life handily enough a couple thousand years ago. You can read his great work here.

I think it's neat as a historian to see a new text this old uncovered, but it doesn't really have any challenge to the Christian's faith, as claimed by the mass media. Hear The New York Times: "The text gives new insights into the relationship of Jesus and the disciple who betrayed him, scholars reported today."

Here's a question: if the Gospel of Judas is true, who wrote it? How would they know this truth? If, after the Last Supper Jesus revealed the true nature of his ministry, when did Judas get to tell someone else about it? Remember: even the Gnostic admitted he died very soon after Jesus' death. It must be their ministering angels told them about it: but that assumes a direct divine revelation that, ordinarily, most secular scholars would not respect. And most don't: only a few bizarros believe that the Gospel of Judas is filling in gaps in our understanding of Jesus' life. All it's really doing is filling in gaps in our understanding of old dead heresies. This is good for some academics' dissertations (especially scholars of Irenaeus), but it doesn't really matter very much to the culture or to Christians at large.

Embrace Our Commonality

The year? Nineteen thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.

The twin towers were still standing in New York. The U.N. declared "The Year of Older Persons." The human population surpassed six billions. War raged in Kosovo, and Bill Clinton was the president of the United States.

But, perhaps the most wildly improbably important event of all was the advent of a single motion picture. No, I don't mean that flop of a flick continuing (after a long, long time) the Star Wars franchise. I mean a tale of good, evil, misunderstanding, and peace. I mean Pokemon: The First Movie.

Rest assured that I and a good friend were there the night that it opened. Unlike many others my age, I made a point of not missing this movie in the theaters. How could I? A little yellow mouse with bizarre electric powers of appealling cuteness was calling me. Ladies and gentlemen, I was not able to turn a deaf ear to his siren cheep. Besides, if you showed up opening night, you got a free commemorative Pokemon card!

I admit that at the time I was disappointed in the film. Last night I gave myself the opportunity to reappraise my impression. This review is the conclusion of that reappraisal.

Pokemon really probably should never have existed. It's kind of fun to watch, sometimes, and I played the Gameboy game, but it really did only exist to create marketing opportunities, which isn't the kind of art that I would choose for my children.

Nevertheless, its authors made a good go of it. The TV show was consistently entertaining, mostly because it did not take itself very seriously. The flaw of the movie is that it does take itself completely seriously.

First, if you ever, for whatever unimaginable reason, watch the movie on DVD, skip, skip, skip!, "Pikachu's Vacation." It is boring, and it is rediculous.

Second, the movie is tolerable. It has one moment that is laugh out loud hilarious involving psyduck, and it even manages to be somewhat moving in the midst of slamming you over the head with a self-contradictory non-violent message. It condemns violence. Violently. In a world that exists so that Pokemon can fight each other. It asks simple questions (that have been asked in better ways before) to which the answer is Jesus, and almost gets it. To which I say, "Hurrah!"

However, instead of renting this movie, buying this movie, or otherwise patronizing it, read your Bible. You'll be the better for it.

Lastly, perhaps the most powerful voice against this movie is its cover.

Coming next week: a review of Pokemon: The Movie 2000.

Changes!

Ok, so the old ugly orange template is out after 2 years, 178 days, 10 hours and about 15 minutes. We'll try this one for awhile. Major pro: the lighthouse in the upper left (I was thinkin' of you, Lib!).

Also, we're now using Blogger comments with word verification. I'm pretty surprised I never had comment spam with Haloscan, but I'm thankful none-the-less. Perhaps my blog is just way below radar.

I've cleaned up and fixed some of the links in the side bar, I think none of them are dead or stupid now. Let me know if you find one.

Also, if you have a general impression (is this an improvement, or is it not, complaints, suggestions, etc) please share it. I'll listen and do what I can to make this a more pleasant viewing experience.

Back to the Santa Rosa Plateau

On Saturday, Libby and I made our way back to one of our favorite places: the Santa Rosa Plateau. Situated on the Eastern part of the Santa Ana Mountains, the plateau is a unique preservation of grassland prairie and oak land. Libby and I love the beautiful rolling green hills, and so made a point to return there this Spring after the recent March rains.



We took our binoculars (of course), and saw a lot of birds, but nothing new or out of the ordinary. There were a lot of raptors: we saw kestrels, Red tailed hawks, vultures and white tailed kites in abundance. We also saw a robin, spotted and California towhees, juncos, house and lesser gold finches, a house wren, lots of yellow rumped warblers, lots and lots of western meadowlarks (this is the best place in So Cal that we know of to see meadowlarks), and some savannah sparrows. I was a little surprised at the paucity of sparrows, but what's there is there. And of course, we can't see everything there is to see.

In some of the oaks that you can see in this picture was a group of three deer. Binoculars came in handy for seeing mammals, too. We saw three deer, some rabits and ground squirrels and eight (8) coyotes. I've never seen so many coyotes in one day before. We saw five of them together near the end of the day, hiding in grass near the plateau's famous vernal pools.




The grass wasn't as long as it was last year: last year you couldn't really see the remains of last year's grass like you could this spring. I missed the waves of grass blowing in the wind, but it was still refreshingly beautiful and lonely out on the trails.



This was a strange old bus stop that we found in the middle of the preserve. Maybe it isn't a bus stop, but Libby gave waiting for the bus a go.



This looks like a skink. We found two of these lizards on the trail, and I can't find a picture of them anywhere else on the internet. If anybody knows what it is, let me know. We also saw several other species of lizards (including Southern Sagebrush Lizards, a big black beaut on a fence post, Coastal Western Whiptale, and one Coast Patchnose Snake). I found these species listed at http://ecoregion.ucr.edu/full.asp?sp_num=22. To see them, you can do a Google Image Search.

In all, we had a great day!

Well, I had my last day with the 1st graders today. All day long, when I would walk around the room, kids would quickly hide little notes or pictures when I came near. By the end of the day, I had tons of "good-bye" letters. All of them very sweet. Some of the highlights were phrases like:

"I wish yow will stay forevr untill I go to secengrad." (Aww, he tried to make it a compound word.)

and

"Thank you for teaching me how to cownt coins." (Wow, so close. Good guess!)

and

"I will never ferget you." (How cute is that?)

and

"You are my friend. But do yo have to leave? yes or no" (This one makes me laugh; she's like, "please circle one")

Sigh.

Yep, so I'm off to Whittier Christian on Monday. And my grade level got switched to 4th for that one, instead of 6th. I'm looking forward to it, but it's hard to leave these guys.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Ovid

Inspired by a revisitation of Midsummer's Night Dream, I am now revisiting Ovid's Metamorphoses. Ovid's a grand old chap, his poems are bawdy yet bright, and he has little to no faith in anything substantial. Instead he has faith in the transitory nature of reality. Pretty quick fellow, really.

Nonetheless, I have (despite his concerted efforts) learned something about this world's substance in my re-reading of the classic.

1) Everything used to be white. It has sinced changed color either because, a) the gods' whims (Raven and Crow) or b) blood (Mulberry Tree berries).

2) Is it confusing or enigmatic? Enter the polytheistic Freudian school of metaphysical critical studies, it is the way it is because the divine lusts carnally after mortals. Don't question it, it's not a good idea.

3) Run out of humans? No problem! Humans grow easily from a mixture of fire, water and earth. They can be seeded in a number of different ways, but bones is a pretty good one. Oh, and when you form them all fully armed, disarm them immediately.

4) Beautiful young blond boys are not fair game to steal. Especially if the boy happens to be a young god; and especially if that young god is Bacchus.

5) Bacchus is like Elvis or the Beatles, but don't make fun of him, assault him, dishonor him or even be near him when he's with his groupies. His female cohorts will tear you limb from limb.

6) You have a right to really miss those happy golden years.

Any other Ovidian basics for life?

Meet Symbols they of Innocence and Love

On Thursday night Libby and I watched The Fox and the Hound, the classic Disney film. I hadn't seen it in years and years, so i was interested to see how it would go. I didn't remember the end, really, either. Which reminds me that I am going to be spoiling said end by the end of this post, so if you haven't seen the movie and think that you'd like it better with a surprise ending, it might be a good idea to stop reading at this point. However, if there's a statute of limitations on spoilers for movies, this one certainly should be past it

The basic plot is of course that there is an orphaned fox living with an elderly woman in the country and he meets the neighbor's young hound dog: forming a friendship that both animals claim will last forever. Everyone in the audience, however, knows that this can't work: the animals are natural enemies and so I had a sad inner ache for most of the happy parts. To combat this natural sadness, the writers through in a pair of clowns in the form of a red-headed woodpecker and a house wren that are always goofing off and messing up. They are somewhat annoying

The great part of the movie is the end: where the hound is redeemed by the love of a friend who is willing to die for his friend even though his friend wishes to kill him. I thought as a movie about friendship, the ending hit the nail right on the head: "greater love has no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friend." Thus the movie is intrinsically and powerfully a Gospel story, about loving your enemies, loving your friends, and sacrificing yourself for someone who is unworthy.

SPIES!

It's 2:00 in the morning, and my tired eyes ease me achingly back into inappropriate conciousness. Thud... thud... thud... The darkness fills with the workings of our wall clock, and I shift onto my back in pursuit of nocturnal comfort and a quick return to Neverland. That's when I hear the voices. Through the wall above my head emerges the distinct chattering of another human being. But this is no typical American voice, such as one would expect to hear in the United States of America. No, this voice's undulating currents lacked completely the harmonious rhythm of Spanish. This voice was from ASIA!

This certainly isn't the first time that I've heard an Asian voice above my head in the dark, and for months the inevitable questions had run their courses. Why are Asian persons living next door to me? How long have they been having late night conversations above my head? How can you live next to two people and never meet them? How can you never see them? How come I never even hear their front door open and close next door? How do they eat? Do they not sleep?

Our other neighbor is much more understandable. He listens to loud music very late at night, and his friends speak English and Spanish. I can understand some of the words that come through the wall, though that's generally unfortunate. His door opens and closes. Sometimes I hear clattering in his kitchen. And I even have reason to believe that he sleeps! This is normal human activity in La Habra.

But, no longer do these thoughts, this inexplicable anomaly of urban life, disturb, worry or agrivate me with their unapproachable enigmas. Yesterday Libby and I came to a shocking yet inescapable conclusion. Our next door neighbors are spies! It makes sense! Spies can come and go without making sound! Spies don't need to eat or sleep! Spies are just the kind of person to have their light on when you come home from work! Spies are just the kind of person to be speaking unintelligibly during the late hours of the night!

Now that Libby and I have exposed their clandestine dealings to the CIA, we expect our sleep to be much more restful... at least when our normal neighbor turns off his stupid subwoofer.

I want to share a conversation that I had with one of my first graders yesterday in class. First, some background:

I was about to give the "Coins" test, after teaching this whole unit. I was actually pretty excited to see how they would do; I've put a lot of work into my lessons and trying to reach them all at their different levels. We were sitting at the carpet and I asked if there were any last minute questions before taking the test. They did have lots of questions: none of them had to do with what the test was going to be on. So, I was about to send them back to their desks to get started when I heard:

Matt: I have a compliment!
Me: Oh? About me? ("Finally!" I thought. "I'm about to get some appreciation for all the hard work I do!")
Matt: No! About me!
Me: (dejected) Oh. Ok. (at this point, my master teacher leaves the room to have a good laugh)
Matt: Do you know why I'm so good at math? Cause it's in my name: Matth-ew!!!
Me: Ok. Well, let's take our test now.

And right after that:

Megan: (quietly) I have a compliment about you, Mrs. Rowley.
Me: Oh, really?! (I thought we could wait on the test to hear one more student comment, right?)
Megan: You're a good teacher!
Me: Aww, thanks, Megan.

I'm going to miss these kids when I go onto my next placement (which I just found out today: Whittier Christian Elementary, 6th graders).

P.S. For the most part, they did great on the coins test: 13/19 students got 90% or above!

Not the Cat, but the Cat's Meow Nonetheless

Last time I talked about a restaurant on this blog, it was about the best restaurant in La Habra: The Cat & Custard Cup. But on Thursday Libby and I went to a restaurant worth mentioning in Fullerton that was not nearly so pricey.

Out of the way in the fun downtown district of Fullerton (just north of Commonwealth on Pomona) is a little restaurant/ coffee house called Rutabegorz. Originally formed as a hang out place for hippies to get together and discuss their ideas, Rutabegorz retains its casual atmosphere, but also has added delicious full meals to their menu for moderate prices. And they have not just added a few meals to their menu, but a full 21 page spread of options spanning from many varieties of coffee, smoothies, sandwiches, hot entrees, appetizers, and desserts. Our limited experience of the food was excellent: I had a tostada piled high with fresh vegetables, beans and avocado. Libby had a stuffed zucchini with cheese toast on the side. These are big dishes, so we got lunch in the bargain!

An added bonus to this little shop is that they are celebrating their 35th anniversary for the second year by offering $1.00 specials. This month's special is a feta/pepita dip with chips. The pepita part of the dip is pumpkin seeds: its a really delightful and full hearty dip, we liked it a lot.

The experience was a little off putting at first, we didn't know what to expect, and when our waiter came and leant against the wall in a tie-die shirt I didn't know that it was a waiter, at first. But he was courteous, gave good service, and good advice for choosing a meal.

Overall, I'd recommend this place if you want to go somewhere cheaper and less crowded than the Ship, but you're in the same general vicinity. But there are also locations in Tustin and in Old Town Orange for people further South in Orange County for people who aren't in the area and still want to eat good food.

Ash Wednesday

Just yesterday Christians all over the world celebrated the holiday of Ash Wednesday. This is a morbid holy day: we are reminded of our own mortality, and charged to live a life pleasing to God. As a symbol of this dedication, we spend the days leading up to Easter excersising unique sacrifices and take on new disciplines. As Father David pointed out in his sermon Wednesday night, the sacrifices that we are undertake are truly insignificant in the scope of the call of Christ: we are called to become righteous, and giving up meat for 40 days doesn't and can't accomplish that purpose. But it may remind us of this purpose, and reinvigorate our striving toward righteousness. Of course, we can never hope to attain perfect righteousness on our own, but perhaps there is some hope in the ministry of the Holy Spirit (certainly we are not sinful in the life to come. I think that it is the Church that calls us to this discipline is an apt reminder of our personal insufficeincy (that is that it symbolizes the Holy Spirit's sanctifying work in our lives).

Here is the Prayer Book's exhortation in the Ash Wednesday service:

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great
devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and
it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a
season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided
a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy
Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of
notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful
were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to
the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation
was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set
forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all
Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the
observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and
meditating on God’s holy Word.

The whole BCP is provided by the Episcopal Church on-line: Book of Common Prayer

Lent exists because Easter exists, just as Christ died that He might be raised again. Therefore it seems proper to me that we enter into a time of penitence yearly, in rememberance of the lowering that Christ himself undertook.

I prepared for Ash Wednesday by reading T.S. Eliot's Ash Wednesday, a longish poem that draws on the same themes that this day addresses in the Church's life. I recommend it to any who is interested: Ash Wednesday