For the moment, Amazon has extended their pre-order discount of 32% off the list price of my new book, “MySpace to Sacred Space: God for a New Generation.” If you have not yet ordered your copy, or if you know someone who might appreciate this information, please go to www.christianpiatt.com, click on the MySpace book link on the front page, and order a copy – or ten if you like! Thanks, and enjoy. Read more

Finding the price for sins of the church Pope Benedict recently declared the sovereignty of his particular faith over all others. Meanwhile, at the same time, a $660 million settlement is being paid out in Los Angeles for more than 500 cases of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests. In the Catholic tradition, contrition is only one step toward forgiveness of sins. One must also do penance for these transgressions. In certain cases throughout history, this literally was... Read more

Time flies, but the world still needs us Life moves quickly. I was talking to someone recently about how often it seems we will begin a week with the idea that we have plenty of time to catch up on all the things left neglected from the prior week, only to find that, by the weekend, yet another week has escaped us, evaporating hardly before we knew what happened. There is no time of the year when this happens more... Read more

Does God love America best? It’s no secret that I’m a diehard basketball fan. Unfortunately, my favorite team plays 700 miles away in Dallas. I’ve been known to fly down to Dallas for particularly “important” games, demonstrating the infinite tolerance of my wife. A couple of years ago, I was at a game with a friend, and prior to tip-off, they announced the singing of the national anthem as they always do. “Please rise as we honor God and America... Read more

What’s behind spiritual accountability? We all have times in our lives of which we are not particularly proud. In some cases, the people we now know would be surprised to see the person we once were. I was talking recently to a friend about our respective “dark times,” when we treated people in ways that were less than loving, including ourselves. For me, there was a period toward the end of college and soon thereafter when I was not particularly... Read more

A few belated reflections on Father’s Day I should note in advance of any comments to follow that I generally resent so-called “Hallmark holidays,” including the ones intended to honor the likes of me. Feeling guilted into buying cards and presents because everyone else is smacks of capitalistic opportunism run amok. What, you didn’t get me anything? After all, it is Arbor Day. Not a sapling, a package of seeds, nothing? Enough already. Now that I have that out of... Read more

Just a quick note to let you know that I have posted the introduction and first chapter from my new book, MySpace to Sacred Space: God for a New Generation, for free download on my website. Just go to www.christianpiatt.com, click on the FREE Downloads page, click the link for the file and it should open right up. If you have any problems, please let me know. This new book, co-authored with my wife, Amy Piatt, is a look into... Read more

I know how annoying it can be to listen to people talk about their kids, but what happened yesterday was just too weird to keep to myself. It’s no secret that I’m a music junkie. This week alone, I bought three CDs. One of my favorite things to do is share my new discoveries with my three-year-old son, Mattias. He tends to get caught on a few artists, like Jet for example, but he’s usually open to at least hearing... Read more

The relativity of ‘Sopranos’ and ‘Big Love’ This was a big week for television viewers. On Sunday, the final episode of HBO’s New Jersey mob tale, “The Sopranos,” aired, followed by the new season premiere of “Big Love,” another HBO show – this one about a group of fundamentalist Mormons living in a plural marriage in suburban Utah. The sixth and final season ended creatively but controversially, with the Soprano family gathered at a local diner as imminent threats on... Read more

For those in the southern Colorado area, we will continue our jazz and spoken word series this Friday from 8-11PM at Cafe Zajj, at the corner of 2nd and Main Street in Pueblo. As always, the event is free, open to all ages, and generally is filling up by the time we start. So make sure to come early, grab and dessert crepe or sandwich, and your favorite coffee drink. We’ll spin some verse and break out the improvised jazz... Read more