Many of my readers may be interested in this: We are looking for a group of no more than a dozen people to participate in an in-depth dialogue around the issue of sexual diversity in the church. The event will be held from Thursday evening, Feb.6, to Saturday noon, Feb. 8, at a retreat center in the Philadelphia area. The two main requirements for participation in this dialogue are an open heart and a committed faith in Christ. We need the group to... Read more
Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry makes a very good point: Remember when Pope Francis gave that interview? And he said something heretical-sounding? And all orthodox Christians blew a fuse? And it turned out the interview wasn’t proofread and Francis never said that? more In fact I’d been wondering whether I should add a note to this post, since the one place where I got up on my hind feet and took a swipe at Pope Francis was in fact a paraphrase/distortion. I decided... Read more
DEAR GOD. Read more
So today I learned that I’m bizarrely defensive of this much-mocked self-description. I think my basic defense is that “spiritual, but not religious” means radically different things to different people, and some of those things are the result of profound and painful attempts to love and serve God. (“God, as you understand God,” as they say.) Here are some things I think people may mean when they say that they’re spiritual but not religious: * I had a consumerist relationship... Read more
friendship, gay Christian life, & the challenges for churches. The comments to this post are also well worth your time. Read more
Via MLY. Read more
with a look at the Mountain Goats, We Shall All Be Healed. This piece has a couple lines I really like: One way to mistell stories of penitence is to envision penance as a linear process of restoration. You do a bad thing, you feel bad, you make amends (often in a way which involves saying ritual words like “I’m sorry,” or doing something which offers an obvious symbolic parallel to your wrongdoing), status quo ante. There can be truly... Read more
Here’s a thing! Designed but never built by Leonardo da Vinci, the viola organista is shaped like a piano but the strings are played by a bow. Weird and fascinating. Via Libresco. Read more
at Time: …Nearly 50% of people have tried an illegal drug at least once, yet most don’t repeat the experience. With cocaine, most who have tried it not only don’t go on to became addicts under even the most expansive possible definition of the term, they don’t even go on to become regular users. According to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 14.5% of Americans ages 12 and older have tried cocaine at least once, but just... Read more
I like this on its own merits, as well as for its high concept. Via TKB. Read more
Eve Tushnet
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