Blog

This Far, But No Farther: Paul's Radical Ecumenism in Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

The Bad Seed

"verily thou hast done unwisely...vex me not"

"we medicate the mysterious, and in relieving suffering, take its meaning away"

In a collection of reviews by Hilary Mantel (the best writer in the history of all languages, spoken, unspoken, yet to be spoken, never to be spoken), this passage is really worth…

The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our story starts in the 13th century, with a man named Simon Stock. He will eventually become a saint (though he may never have existed, which is a trick some saints do; and then…

A.N. Wilson is Not Good

A friend is reading A. N. Wilson, The Mystery of Charles Dickens. He is finding it "delicious," but knows nothing about the subject. Have you read it? Any thoughts? Wilson is often…

What Happens When the Wire Snaps?

What kept nagging at me -- after the rush of religion and feeling like I had found a church and a faith I could work into my own belief system -- was the ultimate question of the…

Some Unorganized Thoughts About Riots and Race

The Wikipedia page for the Boston Tea Party has an entire section solely about the destruction of the tea. White men, some disguised as Native Americans (not out of respect for the…

Interlude: Monologue for a Gay Man

[Spotlight on an empty stage. A gay man in his late 40s walks up to the microphone.]

What Happens When Jesus is Racist?: The Syrophoenician Woman

We are spoiled for choice when it comes to reckoning with Jesus of Nazareth. For atheists, he was just another Jewish apocalyptic preacher. (I think there was a time when "Did…

Are Jesus and Christ the Same Person?

Maybe! But also maybe not! Let's dig into the differences. (They definitely are two distinct things.)

How Necessary Was the Crucifixion, or, How I Am Maybe Not a Christian

Last night I mentioned to Zach that I'm sort of "meh" about the crucifixion.

The Skull of Mary Magdalene, Who Wasn't a Prostitute, Blame Gregory, He Got it Wrong

If you're visiting the South of France, you'll of course want to stop by Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume. They have the skull of Mary Magdalene.

On the Origin of Navels and Other Things

Did Adam and Eve have navels is a silly question. They didn't, for several reasons:

Abraham & Isaac

Once upon a time, in the Bible, God and Abraham were having a conversation. God was explaining how he needed to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham was explaining how he…

Souls, Purgatory, and Ghosts (with an explanation of Plumber Porn as a chaser)

We have to start with what a soul is, which should be easy, it's only four letters, but the thing is, it's not easy, even if it were three letters. We don't have a unilateral…

In Which I Don't Write Very Coherently About Fig Trees, But At Least Try My Best

A sentence you'll read when you Google "figs and wasps" is in a caption to a photo of a wasp and a fig: "A female fig wasp descends through the ostiole into the center of the fig…

"Your God Shall Be My God": The Book of Ruth

In many ways, The Book of Ruth is a gentle echo of The Book of Job. In Job, we witness a righteous man destroyed for a wager who remains unwavering in his faith right up until he…

Lot & His Daughters, or, Hospitality Gone Terribly Wrong

There are Bible stories that aren't in the Bible, and it occurs to me right now that I could spend a lot of time not writing at all about Lot and his daughters and just talk about…

"An Infinity of Silence": The Book of Job

One of my favorite passages in the entire Bible is Job 42:3: "Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

"See what large letters I make": The Humanness of Paul

There's Paul, the alleged homophobe, yes, and his writing is often weaponized against gay people, I get it, but Paul also describes himself as an expectant mother and queerness is…

Evil

Roxanne asked about evil. I'll tell you now, at the beginning, to save you time if you thought I was going to be able to answer this question: I don't know how to answer this…

Donkeys & Dongs: Ezekiel 23:20-21 in Context

I asked my friends on Facebook if they had any questions regarding the Bible that a very inexperienced Christian might do his best to answer. (To be clear, I am the Very…

Satan & Scripture

This momentary president's son said a dumb thing on Twitter: "Likelihood of Nancy Pelosi praying for Trump is about the same as the likelihood of Satan running around quoting the…

Servants & Deacons

(much much MUCH credit to my pastor and friend, Jill McCrory)

The Good Parts: 1 Thessalonians

But we were gentle among you. 1 Thess 2:7

Martha

Luke tells us the story of Mary and Martha. This is when Jesus drops in for an impromptu visit and Martha says, "I sure could use some help in the kitchen" and Jesus says, "No you…

God's Love as My Love for My Cat

One way I wrap my head around the idea of God's infinite and unconditional love (as I think of it -- you may have an entire different relationship with God that is so personal you…

Christ's Holy Foreskin, v.2

When Christ our Savior was eight days old, as is traditional with Jewish boys, he was circumcised, like we all were in the ‘70s, except sometimes I’m not sure, looking at myself…

Saints Crispin, v.2

In one version of the story these Saints Crispin preached the gospel to the Gauls, made shoes at night, gave money to the poor, and were martyred — almost drowned, then beheaded…

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

I'm going to start with the easy stuff before it all falls apart.

Interlude: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

A dear friend wrote to me. Is there anything better than a perfect email, with questions tailored specifically tailored to you, so that you can be your Fullest Self? There is not.

Genesis 1:1-2 | Something Out of Something

At the beginning of God’s creating of the heavens and the earth, when the earth was wild and waste, darkness over the face of Ocean -- Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses

Genesis 1:6-8 | What Does it Mean to Be Good?

God said: Let there be a dome amid the waters, And let it separate waters from waters! God made the dome And separated the waters that were below the dome from the waters that were…

The Vineyard Workers (2 September 2018)

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He…

When Your Cat May Also Be God

you say "more?" and he says "yes" and then you say "even more?" and he says "yes" and you say "i have no more left" and he says "yes" and you say "but i cannot stop?" and he says

Universal Salvation, Universal Love

I asked my pastor last night, an amazing woman named Jill McCrory of Twinbrook Baptist, what her most radical belief was w/r/t God and the Bible. She said, "Universal Salvation…

The Book I'm Not Reading

I own a not insignificant number of copies of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, the best novel ever written in the English language. As a Christian who is saved in Christ (I think?)…

Some Things What I Believe

When I tell you that I am a Gnostic Baptist, it's not a lasting label. I haven't been anything long enough to safely (and sagely) say, "THIS I BELIEVE," with any sort of lasting…

A Church in Four Months

My church is dying. By the end of this year, it will close forever.

Mustard Seeds (26 August 2018)

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth…

Suffering, Part 2: Good Suffering

This is what happens when someone tries to lead me through a guided meditation. They'll want to start in a field -- not physically, though; I'm not an Outdoorsy Kinda Guy -- and…

Suffering, Part 1: Margaret

Who were the homestead wives? Who were the gold rush brides? Does anybody know? Do their works survive their yellow fever lives in the pages they wrote? The land was free, yet it…

"Advice" by Ruth Stone

My hazard wouldn’t be yours, not ever; But every doom, like a hazelnut, comes down To its own worm. So I am rocking here Like any granny with her apron over her head Saying, lordy…

Mystery

"I was here and this house was here, you and I and this evening were here, and they had always been here." -- John Fowles, The Magus

"I battled the Holy Ghost once on the laundry porch"

Truth is a Gentlemen’s Agreement between two people, neither of whom are gentlemen, neither interested in honesty. Instead, these people are simply polite fictions dressed up in…

"I Guess I'll Read My Bible Elsewhere"

A few weeks ago, at the Meeting House, Zach was breathing too loudly while he was sitting in quiet contemplation for the still small voice of God. A woman in front of us, panicked…

"Your Belief Undoes Your Disbelief"

After years of no real belief at all, one late fall I felt called to be a Catholic.

The Journey Begins

“From what I heard, and kind of put together...”: Casting JonBenet

This is best read by those who have already seen the documentary, but it’s your one wild and precious life, so gey gezunt. It’s just, so much of the power of this movie comes from…

"Your Belief Undoes Your Disbelief"

As we talked about several months ago, my shrink suddenly explained that he actually wasn't taking my insurance at the moment and I found myself sort of cast adrift…

“The Worst of Anyone Can Be, Finally, an Accident of Hope”

Bob Perez was a police lieutenant in Wenatchee, Washington, when he was made head of the sex crimes unit in 1994.

"A vine grew from her privy parts"

First, her father, Astyages, dreamt that she "[made] water so greatly that she filled all his city," drowning everyone, and eventually drowning all of Asia. ("Is she still pissing…

Martyr of the Day: Saint Barbara

[Barbara was actually the Martyr of the Day on 4 December, but the site I go to each morning to discover, like a weird advent, what saint I'll devote to today, seems to have my…

Saint of the Day: Saint Nicholas

One thing that gets left out of the St Nick story is how pirates raided his tomb, stole his bones, but not all of them, just the big ones, leaving the smaller ones behind, like…

Martyr of the Day: Saint Crispina

The "Roman Martyrology" tells us that Saint Crispina "preferred heaven to earth, and God to the world, and, despising the tears of her children, rejoiced to see herself taken and…

Martyr of the Day: Saint Jason

I missed yesterday, but one of the martyrs was Saint Jason and that took a lot out of me, emotionally. We're peak goyische here, Saint Jason.

Martyr of the Day: Saint Bibiana

It can be tough to keep up with Bibiana's mother's head.

Martyr of the Day: Saints Ansanus and Maxima

Sometimes there are always baths, always baptisms.

Saint Andrew: An Excerpt

Pieces of Andrew are spread all over, like morsels of bread that guide us somewhere. Some of his bones -- a pinkie, the top of his cranium -- are in Greece, along with bits of the…

Christ's Holy Foreskin

When Christ Our Savior was eight days old and already we’re in a conundrum, aren’t we, beloveds, because we’re still pestered by the word “when.” When was Christ ever eight days…

Saint Helena Goes to Market

It is good to think of Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, a woman who spent her days finding religious relics the way my mom spent weekends finding yard sales.

Saints Crispin

In one version of the story, they, these Saints Crispin, preached the gospel to the Gauls, made shoes at night, gave money to the poor, and were martyred -- almost drowned, then…