1. Every now and then, you get to start the weekender out with the humor section. This week’s gem from the New Yorker, “Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses, as E-mailed by Your Passive-Aggressive Co-Worker,” stole the show: FROM: Martin.Luther@vatican.org TO: All Vatican Staff Subject: A Quick Note Not to be that guy, and most of this […]
Can Zoom Be Sacred? The Architecture of God
We are in an unholy mess. Each day reveals more disease, more anger, more flaws in our culture than anyone could have anticipated a year ago. This season’s inscrutable fears are uniquely human. In the past, we would come together, comfort and strengthen each other, in communities, in families, in churches. But part of our […]
Another Week Ends: Unhappy Affluence, Aging Springsteen, COVID Grief, High Art Humor, Ghostly Foes, and Billy Joe Shaver
1. Not a particularly easy week to round up, as almost everything out there right now is conjecture of one kind or another, and I’m pretty sure I just wrote something about the pitfalls of prediction addiction. So I’ll stick to the handful of evergreen subjects that’ve come across my screen. First up would be […]
Robert Farrar Capon’s Invitation to Introverts
To my knowledge, my ancestors weren’t Irish. But I somehow still participate in what’s called the “Irish goodbye.” If you’re unaware of what this is, it’s when you disappear from events and gatherings without saying goodbye to anyone. One minute you’re there, another minute you’re not. This is ideal for me because I’ve never been […]
Another Week Ends: Canceling Christmas, Acceptance Parenting, Emily Dickinson, the Church in 2020, Law and Gospel, and Myside Bias
1. Will COVID cancel Christmas this year? I certainly hope not, but that’s what Giles Fraser asks in his latest at UnHerd. Much about this year’s celebration will undoubtedly be different, if not cancelled; [The Grinch] COVID might steal our banquets, caroling, pageants, and large gatherings, but perhaps this year the pathos and joy of […]
The Gospel of Amazon Prime
Online shopping has exploded over the last few months, as more and more retailers turn to the Internet to keep their businesses afloat during the pandemic. Etsy’s stock value has gone up over 300% since April, Walmart’s online sales nearly doubled, and food delivery is the new normal for the foreseeable future. But the biggest […]
A Pandemic of Shame: Seeking Refuge From Online Anger
With studies showing a dramatic increase in social-media use during the pandemic, people have taken to the virtual streets, but it’s not exactly what you’d call a block party. Such is the focus of D. T. Max’s recent article in the New Yorker, “The Public-Shaming Pandemic,” about how people who have accidentally spread the coronavirus […]
Longing for Egypt in the COVID Desert
Thankful for this post from Jane Grizzle: Yesterday, NPR ran a story about the shortage of Ball canning goods, namely lids. Apparently everyone who chose gardening as their pandemic drug of choice is now worried about what to do with the bushels of tomatoes and cucumbers overtaking their yards. And Ball, surprised like the rest […]
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 […]
Pandemics and the Theology of the Cross: Julian of Norwich’s Hope
This post comes to us from Nathan White. White serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Faith and Resilience, which seeks to connect theology and social scientific scholarship with communities of faith. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Ps 11:3) The psalmist posed this query almost three millennia ago, […]
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, […]
