I’ll freely admit that one of my greatest fears is being irrelevant. And I worry about getting caught up in the mundane, materialistic world and living a life of pleasant distractions (as opposed to the unpleasant distractions I’ve been dealing with) while accomplishing little or nothing of ultimate importance.But the last blog entry and the PeaceBang essay that inspired it have got me thinking that I’m chasing the wrong thing.What if we really can’t change the world? What if even… Read more

UU minister and blogger Rev. Victoria “PeaceBang” Weinstein had a thought-provoking entry on her blog on Thursday. Though primarily directed at ministers, I think it applies to all of us who want to do and be spiritually more than we are. She begins by quoting writer Thomas Moore:In many different traditions the spiritual leader is not really called to fix the world. That’s not what he or she does. Rather that person is called to be a holy person -… Read more

The End of Christian America is the cover story of this week’s Newsweek, by editor Jon Meacham. The article is bit long, but I highly recommend reading it. It’s an excellent assessment of the state of Christianity in 21st century America – Meacham tells us where we are and how we got here. I think his analysis is dead-on, and his predictions look both accurate and promising.The facts: “To the surprise of liberals who fear the advent of an evangelical… Read more

image from the Robin Wood TarotIf I’ve been quiet recently, it’s at least in part because I’ve been bombarded with emotional reminders of just how fragile our lives are, how quickly they can come crashing down, and how little control we really have. The news keeps bringing examples of lives damaged or even ruined by overzealous police and prosecutors. My job appears to be safe, but we’ve lost people to layoffs who’ve been with the company for 15 years or… Read more

In response to a DMN Religion Blog comment suggesting that Christians should call Jesus “Yehoshua,” I posted a comment with some polytheistic ideas. This led to a question from an uber-Catholic blog regular calling himself “RelicMM:”JohnFranc: I mean no offense. Many times I have wondered where your loyalties actually lie with regard to religion. Will you appease my curiosity? I would never challenge your free will to believe whatever you choose.And my answer:Relic, I take no offense at the question,… Read more

I got the cable bill (actually, it’s the cable, internet, and phone bill) a couple days ago – it’s gone up $20 a month. When I complained, I was told that the package discounts I got when I added the phone service had expired. This is the new rate – pay it or drop the service.I’m furious. I feel like I’m being screwed. I want to scream and throw things.I hate that there’s no competition. If Market Street charges too… Read more

Last Thursday night ABC’s Nightline featured a debate on “does Satan exist?” I didn’t see it. For one thing, it didn’t look interesting enough to keep me up past my bedtime. And I had a pretty good idea what it would look like. Dallas Morning News Religion Blogmeister Jeff Weiss said “This was to real debate what air guitar is to Carlos Santana. It may have been entertaining in parts, in a car-wreck-and-flames kinda way. But edifying? Smarter to have… Read more

Notre Dame University has invited President Barack Obama to be its commencement speaker at this Spring’s graduation. As Obama’s pro-choice, pro-stem cell research policies are at odds with Catholic teaching, this is generating some conflict in Catholic circles.Christianity Today has an interview with Francis Beckwith, a philosophy professor at Baylor University who resigned as president of the Evangelical Theological Society to become a Catholic. The complete interview can be found here – I want to concentrate on one thing Beckwith… Read more

On Friday, Cathy and I went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. Here’s the short review: if you can afford the time and money, it’s a chance to see some fascinating artifacts that are 3500 years old. But if you saw “The Quest for Immortality” in 2003 or Hatshepsut in 2006-7 (both at the Kimball in Fort Worth), you may be disappointed with Tut.Details are here on the DMA website. If you’re going, pay… Read more

Last night was our CUUPS Ostara Circle, a beautiful ritual led by Bonnie and based off a previous Ostara ritual composed by Dolores. We had 35 in the circle plus another 7 in childcare, which is a good turnout for us. My week of preparation was helpful in a general sense, but I can’t say it made a huge difference in the way I experienced the ritual. Still, I think it was a good start, and I will definitely do… Read more