An Inquiry into New Year’s Resolutions The Rev. Clint Schnekloth [1] The New Year engenders a flurry of soul-searching behavior, earnest plans resolving to change current behaviors, introduce new habits and cease old ones. The practice is so common that the U.S. government even has a web page listing the statistically most popular resolutions, including links to resources that will assist in achieving the new goals.[1] Here’s the list for 2012: Drink Less Alcohol Eat Healthy Food Get a Better... Read more

  New Isn’t So Shiny   Eccl. 1.9  What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.  Although you might not know it, what with all the religious boosterism on the American religious market these days, but actually most religious traditions, including my own, include an incredibly healthy dose of skepticism. Nowhere is that more apparent in the scriptures Christians and other traditions hold sacred, than in... Read more

I had already read a couple of the chapters of Elizabeth Costello about two years ago in a slim volume, the Lives of Animals. Most of the chapters in this book are re-printed from a variety of other sources, including literary journals and conference publications. It was interesting re-reading these disconcerting lectures on vegetarianism. What are you supposed to think at the end of these things, anyway? That’s what I think after every chapter in Coetzee’s book. I was especially... Read more