Following Jesus in rejecting empire
I’m the human on the far left. Not technically in the middle of this photo For the first nine years of my life I sat between two brothers who were about a year or two on either side of me. Shortly after turning nine, my little sister joined us, and later, other step siblings. But…
we must undertake a holy, humble self-examination of American Christian syncretism. Where has the message of Jesus become so tangled up with the beliefs embedded in our culture that it has become indistinguishable as the gospel?
Let me start by saying that I am aware that pipe smoking, even for those who, like me, don’t inhale, still increases ones risk of lip, tongue and throat cancer. OK, now that this is out of the way we can proceed. If you want to come at me about putting stuff in your body…
Detail of a Diego Rivera mural in the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City Both Dorothy Day and St. Augustine are credited with saying something like, “The Church may be a whore but she’s my mother.” I appreciate the sentiment. Beyond simply decrying the infidelity of the Church, the author was acknowledging a relationship to her,…
I love how kids make friends. It’s so uncomplicated. No posturing. No pretense. Just a drive to satiate that gnawing desire for intimacy and connection with another human your size. A desire that even exists for shy kids. Especially for shy kids. There is a scene out of an unpublished book I’ve written where I…