Well, evil won over good in the Patriot’s victory over the Colts, so Western civilization is doomed, but we already knew that. Meanwhile, the Packers have the same record as the Colts, with Brett Favre enjoying a remarkable second wind in his stellar career. As an Oklahoma Sooner, I am proud of how team-alumnus Adrian Peterson broke the NFL single-gamerushing record by pouring on 296 yards for the Vikings, and this as a mere rookie! Another ex-Sooner distinguishing himself is former offense coach Mark Mangino, the big, big man who is now head coach at the University of Kansas. That team came from nowhere, unranked and unheralded, and is undefeated, with a 9-0 record. The Jayhawks are now ranked #5 nationally, are #4 in the BCS computer rankings, and are #2 in both scoring offense and scoring defense. This reminds me that, just as I attended the University of Oklahoma, I also attended the University of Kansas, and this performance is stirring within me long-dormant loyalties and school spirit.

I observed, as an outsider and a guest, a congregational voters’ meeting that was trying to decide whether to call as their school’s principal a pastor or a teacher. Strangely missing from the discussion was the doctrine of vocation. A member asked me to blog about this, so as to solicit my readers’ famous insights.

An earlier version of this post gave my views, but I decided to cut them out for now. What do you think? In light of the doctrine of vocation, what is a pastor called (and equipped) to do? What is a principal called (and equipped) to do? How would you vote on whether to call a pastor or a teacher to be principal of your parochial school?

How good it was to be back at our congregation on Sunday, after a spate of weekend travelling. We celebrated the feast of All Saints’ Day, singing that great Ralph Vaughn Williams hymn “For All the Saints” with what for me has always been a striking line, speaking of the great company of saints in Heaven: “We feeble struggle; they in glory shine.” Our Pastor reminded us, though, that, according to the day’s text from Revelation, they too were only saints because their robes had been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. We too are saints like them, only our sainthood is “hidden”–from the world and even from ourselves–until Christ will reveal it on His day.

The custom on this blog (which I sometimes forget) is to talk about yesterday’s church on Monday morning. Did you receive any insights from your worship service?