Someone once told me about this Korean sauna — he was absolutely obsessed with it. It was a place where one could disappear for hours and hours and emerge refreshed, restored and pampered. It piqued my interest, and after a while, I scheduled a day to go with a friend. I knew very little about […]
Settling into the Strangeness: Pandemic Life as Exile
Everyone is born a king, and most people die in exile. – Oscar Wilde With each passing season, the pandemic somehow feels fresh and new as it claims yet another area of life that had been previously untouched. This year’s Easter, lacking its usual fanfare, somberly came and went. Months later, a gloomy Fourth of […]
The Glory of the World’s Twilight: A Tribute to Autumn
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Cor 4:16) The last day of summer hasn’t officially arrived, but it’s been autumn in my heart for over a week already. Foretastes of fall have been filtering in all this time, heralding […]
When the “Cart Narcs” Come for You
Grateful for this post from Blake Nail: Anyone who’s been to the grocery store is well aware of the temptation gnawing at you as the cart is emptied into the back of the car and an option is now presented before you. The cart corral is perhaps an aisle over, or maybe the sun has […]
Shame in the Time of Choosing Your Zoom Background Precisely
Today’s bestsellers and public speakers have so much to say about overcoming shame and guilt that I sometimes imagine, as a species, we will really outgrow it. Other times, it seems unlikely: that uniquely modern moment when you open your computer, adjust your screen, and twizzle the blinds so the light is just so. You […]
Defund Your Inner Police
*removes earrings, puts hair on top of head* Are y’all ready for some church drama? Last Friday our church put up the weekly newsletter. It was a good one. Having survived Laura here in Houston we were called on to reach out and serve those people battered by the storm. There was even a heart-wrenching […]
The God of Surprises
Last month, John Dickerson wrote an article in the Atlantic in which he discusses the inevitable surprises of a president’s tenure. Without fail, a sitting president will undergo something completely unexpected, during which their entire legacy will be tested. It’s a fascinating, historical take on the age-old joke, “If you want to hear God laugh, […]
Learning in Coronatide: C. S. Lewis on Going Back to School
On October 22, 1939, C. S. Lewis climbed up to the pulpit of the University Church of St. Mary in Oxford to preach about “Learning in Wartime” at the start of the school year. France and the United Kingdom were at war with Germany, and Poland had just been conquered. The day before, many of […]
12 Steps for the Recovering “Pharisee”
Quoted from the book, Twelve Steps for the Recovering Pharisee (like me): We admit that our single most unmitigated pleasure is to judge other people. Have come to believe that our means of obtaining greatness is to make everyone lower than ourselves in our own mind. Realize that we detest mercy being given to those […]
Smack In The Middle Of “Ordinary Time,” With You
Humans make things. If not, as an architect, I would be out of a job. We make the calendar. And mashed potatoes. And religious rites. I love mashed potatoes, and the Episcopal Church. And we all use a calendar others have made for us. The making of a calendar for the Episcopal Church means that […]
Chasing Perfection: “Do Not Throw Away Your Shot”
Election season is in full swing and the candidates of both parties are set to vie for our loyalty. And while the most vocal of fans are ardent followers of the candidates, many profess that both political parties have their faults, with little that inspires support or anything resembling devotion. We don’t like imperfect options, […]
Faith, Love, and Boring Narratives: “I’m All Your’n”
There ain’t two ways around it There ain’t no trying ’bout it I’m all your’n and you’re all mine -“All Your’n,” Tyler Childers Do you remember that couple in high school that was always fighting? I like to think that there is a general and universal high school experience that we all can tap into. […]
