I have been praying for a redhead grandson. My daughter says that’s a weird prayer. Perhaps. But I miss having a redhead in my life. It has been three years and one day since I had my last face-to-face visit with The Redhead. There have been very few days during her absence that I haven’t remembered something she said, something she did, some gift she gave me, some word of wisdom she imparted. If you have a girlfriend, someone who... Read more
I was raised up in the South, home of the One True Church of the Heterosexual God. The Southern Baptist Church. From the time I was saved I believed all other churches fell short of the Glory of God. I’m not exactly sure why I believed that. Maybe it’s because of the way the Baptist poked fun at their Methodist neighbors, those undisciplined Christians who doused themselves in wine vats and sprinkled their saved with tepid water. Or perhaps it was... Read more
I don’t care who will win the upcoming presidential election. I really don’t. Oh. I will vote. I believe in voting. Good men and women have suffered and died for my right to vote, and I will forever be indebted to them. It is for them that I vote. It is for the men and women who can’t vote that I will vote. But I am convinced that who I vote into the office of president no longer matters. The... Read more
(Editor’s Note: Disclaimer: The following is NOT a real news story. It is satire, told for fun. Still, I imagine someone will read this and prove Mayor Mom’s point.) Mayor Bloomberg must be having delusions of Mrs. Doubtfire. Bloomberg certainly seems confused. He’s mistaken the role of Mayor to that of Mom. We haven’t been exposed to this sort behavior modification since the regime of Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority passed out Vote for Reagan cards along with church hymnals.... Read more
Those Father’s Day commercials are difficult to watch. The ones in which dads happily take sons fishing or sportingly play catch with their daughters. Where does a child go to get a dad like that? Undoubtedly that’s a question Xzayvion Riley must have wondered as the eight-year-old endured the blows that would take his life. The boy’s battered body had over 50 bruises, cuts and bite marks. He’d suffered vicious beatings, reportedly as his two siblings looked on in horror... Read more
Maria Shriver took to Twitter and her blog this week to ask a question: What makes a good man? She asked the question because her brother Mark has written a book about their dad — Sarge Shriver. The book’s title — A Good Man — conveys the tension that Mark felt growing up as part of the Kennedy family. That drive. That ambition. That desire for greatness. “I think when you’re surrounded by that culture, where you’re trying to change the... Read more
Graduation day has finally arrived. Sinner collects a diploma he has worked three long years for, but has spent a lifetime in preparation. I’m headed to Cheney to celebrate with the rest of the Sinners as our son-in-law collects that diploma. Unlike thousands of others who will graduate today, the Sinner already has a job waiting on him. Primarily because he went into a field of study — a doctorate in physical therapy — that is in greater demand. Two... Read more
A dozen years ago I interviewed a gay man who was married — to a lesbian woman. They are still married, as far as I know. I wrote the piece for an evangelical magazine, to speak to the issue of how radically Jesus can transform someone’s life — rescuing them from their gayness, as it were. If you have read Where’s Your Jesus Now? then you know I no longer think gay people need rescuing, any more than I think... Read more
Rosie O’Donnell and I had a brief Twitter exchange yesterday in response to this video (Warning: The language in the video is abrasive): Rosie tweeted that she loved the guy behind the camera. The one videotaping Anthony Sanchez, a California Irrigation Official, whipping his son for what news officials are reporting as “failing to catch the ball.” I don’t know for sure if Sanchez was spanking the boy for not catching the ball or because the boy was mouthing off... Read more
There’s this hill I climb on my morning walks. It’s a graceful climb that offers a stunning view of the city and the river beyond, if you come around the backside of the climb. But if you tackle the hill at the frontside of the walk, the perspective changes and the entire landscape is lost to irrigation pipes, rock-chip roads and gray-sided houses. It’s all about purpose, of course. If the idea is to strengthen one’s muscles, to increase... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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