You know by now that I’ll be painfully honest with you if there’s something cruel or suspicious going on in the Diocese of Steubenville. And, you know by now that I’m merciless with making fun of bad Christian proselytizing art. So, with that in mind, can we all take a moment to enjoy some excellent Christian clip art? And to admire a charity that put up this poster? I saw this picture in the back of a church in... Read more
I haven’t been called a baby killer or a fake Catholic in the past few weeks. It’s the kind of lull you don’t notice until it’s pointed out. My friend, the Catholic author Mark Shea, mentioned it a bit ago, and that’s when I realized it was true. Maybe we’ve both just blocked the right people. But I feel the wool has been pulled off quite a few sets of eyes. I have summarized my falling out with the... Read more
“I think your cat hurt herself!” said Jimmy. “She’s holding up one leg.” He’d just come to the porch to borrow the key again. I don’t even know what’s wrong with his geriatric Dodge this week. He thinks we’re doing him a huge favor by lending him Sacre Bleu, and I think he’s been doing us a huge favor by topping off the gas every time he borrows her. Charlie the cat, who isn’t exactly mine, was trying to... Read more
On Friday, in the rain, I went out to to Jefferson Lake, to see how the Spring was coming along. The lake was noisy with spring peepers, peeping so loudly it didn’t even seem real. Surely nothing that really exists could sound so much like a cartoon. I was noisy as a cartoon myself, squashing and squelching with every muddy step. The rain pelted, dotting the surface of the lake. All that I could see was wet and cold and... Read more
Charlie the cat belongs to the Artful Dodgers, but I pretend not to know this. The Artful Dodgers, as you recall, are the family that live down the alley on the other side, in the worst rental on the block. They’re the poorest family around and I pretend not to notice. At some point, the gaggle of skinny children bonded with two stray gray and white kittens and put collars on them, but I don’t think they can afford... Read more
I want to remind my readers that our souls will be judged on how we treat immigrants. And that’s not the only reason why you should be against the things that are being done to immigrants right now. The Bible isn’t clear about as many things as people claim. In general, if you say “the Bible is clear,” you’re probably being naive. But the Bible actually IS very clear, that you are not to abuse immigrants living among you. “I... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him... Read more
I had a little time, so I went to the chapel. It was that same old chapel in the old hospital, the one I’ve been to several times before. It doesn’t scare me the way a church scares me, most of the time. I slid into the yellow wood bench, a little anxious as usual. I don’t know how many other people use that chapel. The dead clover somebody brough to the statue of the Virgin Mary in a glass... Read more
Hey everybody, This is not a normal post, this is my every-several-weeks blogkeeping post about what I’ve been up to lately, and where to find me when I’m not on Patheos. In the winter of 2025 here at Patheos, we saw the inauguration and the presidency of Elon Musk, who nobody voted for. I had to remind everyone that being rich doesn’t excuse you for sin. And I went back to a theme I’m constantly harping on: empathy is... Read more
Jimmy’s boy wants blackberry bushes. All the children want blackberry bushes, and I’m partial to blackberries myself. All of my strawberries are Junebearers, so it would be fun to have fruit to pick in the middle of summer when the strawberries are exhausted. Blackberries, I’m told, spread like weeds, so it’s best to put them in a container. I am terrible at container gardening, but I’m keen to learn. A bare root blackberry bush costs nine dollars and we’re... Read more
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