1. A happy ending for a recovering alcoholic who was rescued from drowning by Paulist priests sailing by on a tiki bar pontoon. Not everything about 2020 is awful, folks! 2. In the first of two book reviews for your consideration this week, Judith Shulevitz reviews The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West […]
Great Marriages Don’t Just Happen (And Other Threats Disguised as Sermons)
Unsettling Signs and Statues, and the Unnaturalness of Unlimited Grace
Damaged Goods, Law/Gospel Confusion, and the Elusive Meaning of Love…
Sometimes I’m thinking that I love you But I know it’s only lust The sins of the flesh Are simply sins of lust… – Gang of Four, “Damaged Goods” The popular 80s song declares, “I wanna know what love is.” We all want to know what love is. More specifically, we want to know what […]
A Primer for Staying Married at Christmas
Christmas is, as we say in our household, the season of BIG FEELINGS. Expect all of them from your spouse. And from yourself. Without judgement. The other night I realized our daughter called thermometers “mothers,” and I could not find a suitable amount of Kleenex. My husband looked perplexed and said, “Are you sure that […]
Best Couple Ever
The following comes to us from Will Ryan: My wife and I met when we were both going to seminary at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth. After we became engaged, we decided to get married in Texas because it would be easiest. Texas has a law/rule when it comes to marriage licenses: if you […]
From The New Yorker
File this one under the #seculosity of romance:
Right: An Unspoken Sermon
This one comes to us from Alan Jacobs. Anthony Trollope’s novel He Knew He Was Right is, like Shakespeare’s Othello, a story of jealousy. But not really. Its true subject is something far worse, and far more common, than jealousy. And if we understand the real point of the story, we’ll understand something about Christian […]
I Feel Personally Attacked RN – Sarah Condon
Laugh and cry with this talk featuring the Rev Sarah Condon, from our “Beyond Deserving” conference this past spring. Here Sarah opens up about the cost of performance, a long-lost relative, a recurring neck injury, Shavasana (or, “corpse pose”), and the faith of Christ.
I Feel Personally Attacked RN – Sarah Condon from Mockingbird on Vimeo.
The Failure to Find a Soulmate
As a single person, the marriage grass often looks so lush and green and inviting. If I can find a The One who’s willing to put up with me “til death do us part,” then all of my problems will be solved, and we’ll live happily ever after, right? But then I get a phone […]
When God Makes All Things Nude: Gospel Hope for Marriage When It’s Not All Princess Bride – Charlotte Getz
Mawage. Mawage is wat bwings us together today… From our recent conference in New York City, this honest, moving talk features author and editor Charlotte Getz. Topics include: longing within marriage, Leo DiCaprio, The Harrowing Adventures of Charlotte Botsford, imperfect guideposts to God, and that bwessed awwangement, that dweam wifin a dweam…
When God Makes All Things Nude: Gospel Hope for Marriage When It’s Not All Princess Bride – Charlotte Getz from Mockingbird on Vimeo.
Good Luck with Your Marriage Strategy
A funny thing happens to me occasionally, even after three years in Australia: I’ll be at the gym, or a cafe, and hear someone nearby speaking, and I’ll startle at their accent. It’s as though I’ve forgotten that I’m still residing in a foreign country — it’s so familiar now! — and the Aussie brogue […]
