house of blair

We just returned from our vacation in San Diego. The parents are tired. The kids are cranky and in need of sleep. Nevertheless, it was a good four days of nothing but Shamu, Pandas, and the beach. There are also a lot of other pictures of Iain, Vacation Bible School, the first round of swim lessons, and Heidi’s family’s yearly swim party. Summer has begun.

All the pictures here.

Swim Lessons

Vacation Bible School

San Diego (Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Old Town, etc)

The Many Faces of Iain

In the tradition of ‘Gnar Wars’ and a hundred other Star Wars spoofs…

From a recent post from Father Stephen:

In the classical Christian understanding of what it means to be human - we do not exist alone - but as participants in a common nature - and though our fall from grace has left us damaged - so that we generally experience ourselves as autonomous individuals - this is not our proper end - salvation restores us to a place of proper communion with God and with other persons. There is an extension, an enlargement of the self, such that our life can no longer be defined simply by reference to the self, but must be seen as it exists in communion with God and others. Thus love becomes the defining act of our existence.

and further on…

But if the human person and his salvation are understood in a proper participatory sense - nothing could be more normal than the intercession of the saints. It is simply a description of what it means to actually share a common life - the life of God. How can those who share in the common life of God not care for and pray for one another? How can they not solicit each other’s concern? Far from distracting from God - it draws us towards a right understanding of God - who is the Lord of Hosts - not the God of the autonomous individual.