Flying solo, surrounded by Greeks not Geeks, I have no idea what I should, otherwise, be doing. Read more

I saw a billboard the other day: “Let Us Pimp Your Ride!” It looked to be a respectable business. The terms pimp and pimpin’ have weasled their way onto everyman’s tongue. Here’s a man who is fed up wid it. So you’re upset cuz the retail gal didn’t say “Merry Christmas” after you’d spoiled your younguns with a few hundred dollars’ more foreign made electronics? Why? Whatever happened to Separation of Church & Store? Read more

The Episcopal Diocese of Newark, for years the epitome of liberal Protestant Christianity in America, acknowledged Thursday in an unusually candid report that it has suffered a steep slide in membership and needs a bishop who can revitalize its struggling parishes. The diocese, which covers seven northern New Jersey counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Morris, has lost nearly 24,000 congregants, or 46 percent of its membership, since 1972. That’s nearly three times the average decline in the Episcopal Church... Read more

Priests to marry. Literally! Read more

The council’s four sessions from 1962 to 1965 and its 16 landmark documents modernized the liturgy, renewed the priesthood and religious life, enhanced the role of lay Catholics, opened dialogue with other churches and non-Christians, and identified the church as the “people of God” attuned to the problems and hopes of the world. Although the council defined no new dogma, Catholics who lived through the Vatican II era will never forget the changes — some of them abrupt — that... Read more

Back a day early from a planned two day camping trip to a state park near Gonzales. Why are we back early? Because it’s C O L D in Texas! Especially out in the woods between a pond and a river! I was surprised at how warm I was through the night in my sleeping bag … but it was whiling away the daylight hours that looked grim. [Everyone was grateful that dad, that would be me, had decided not... Read more

What’s missing from the White House Christmas card? Christmas. This month, as in every December since he took office, President Bush sent out cards with a generic end-of-the-year message, wishing 1.4 million of his close friends and supporters a happy “holiday season.” More with Mollie. The card features a snowy scene of the South Portico by artist Jamie Wyeth, a quotation from Psalm 28, and the message: “With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness 2005.” “Junk... Read more

Lest we forget. St Nicholas, pray to God for us! Read more

Well, you just can’t please everyone! Wrt, post below … Read more

Nuremberg pastor Bernd Grasser said: “It’s just wonderful when teenagers commit themselves with their hair and their skin to the bible.” “There’s a whole range of biblical scriptures simply bursting with eroticism,” said Stefan Wiest, 32, who took the racy photographs. Anne Rohmer, 21, wearing garters and stockings, posed on a doorstep as the prostitute Rahab. “We wanted to represent the Bible in a different way and to interest young people,” she told news agency Reuters. “Anyway, it doesn’t say... Read more