It has not been a good year, so far. Australia is burning, and has been all week. They say half a billion animals have been killed, and at least eight people. My friend from Australia says it’s not just climate change to blame, though of course that’s one of the reasons– it’s also the horrible soil and water management and the fact that they’ve scaled back fire prevention practices. Not just one man-made cause but several, according to him. I... Read more
Hey folks, I am trying to put out at least one more post in the hours before the new year and I’m re-sharing the best of the old year over on Twitter as well. In the meanwhile, this is just the year-end and beginning of January request for tips. If you’re new here, you should know that blogging at Patheos is my whole living. I get a very small paycheck, usually between one and two hundred dollars per... Read more
I shouldn’t have to tell you that antisemitism is real, it’s wrong, and it’s dangerous. There are some things that, at this point in history, are so elementary that a blogger who writes for an adult audience shouldn’t have to say them. I, personally, feel ridiculous for having to point them out. Don’t stick a knife in a toaster. Don’t take that toaster into the bathtub with you if it’s plugged in. Don’t eat yellow snow. Don’t lick brightly... Read more
I just want to take today to tell you that it is not your fault. Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Our church has one of those. To me, this is one of those signs that the Holy Ghost is present here: as cruel as she can be to people who have suffered horrendously, she still has, on her calendar, a day called the Feast of the Holy Innocents. It refers, specifically, to the children in Bethlehem... Read more
On the second day of Christmas yesterday, it began as usual: the annual insistence that Jesus couldn’t possibly be a refugee. Matt Walsh, of course, was in the middle of it, claiming that the Holy Family couldn’t be called refugees because they escaped Bethlehem for Egypt, which was another part of the same empire, therefore they never left the country, technically speaking. And yes, it’s true. The Holy Family fled from one to another occupied territory owned by Rome.... Read more
Did you know that I am in awe of you? I have been so overwhelmed with sadness lately. I’ve had so many dreadful things to write about– so much suffering, so much injustice, so much pain that could have been stopped easily but wasn’t. I’ve had to tell you about the devastating effects of spiritual abuse, crimes against humanity, people forgotten by their communities, the very worst things human beings can do and the things they neglect to do with... Read more
I hope you’re all having a delightful Christmas so far, because I’m about to ruin it. Today, the co-founder and director of the charity “Immigrant Families Together” tweeted: Talking with detained folks at Winn in Louisiana. Among the many terrible things they told me, there’s this simple but powerful one: Guards won’t let them sing Christmas carols. Remember that haunting scene in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, which isn’t usually included in the films, where the Spirit of Christmas Present takes Scrooge... Read more
It was one of those days when everything goes wrong. Of course, it was also Christmas eve. Of course, we’d been out shopping on the bus yesterday, and of course we’d forgotten some vital things. And of course, the stores were all going to close early. One of the never-ending list of symptoms of fibromyalgia is anxiety– my body is constantly cycling between fatigue, occasional pain, and anxiety. I have been having increasing anxiety for several days now. When I... Read more
The desert is cold at night. Not cold enough you freeze to death, usually, just cold enough it’s miserable. In some ways, that’s the worst cold of all. Nothing is colder than being alone in a crowd. Nothing is colder than being among strange houses that will not take you in. They were Joseph’s relatives, in Bethlehem: or, at least, people who shared his celebrated ancestor. But when he came, leading Miriam who was bearing the Heir to David,... Read more
The lay arm of the Legionaries of Christ is called Regnum Christi, and the teenagers’ arm of Regnum Christi is called ECYD, a Spanish acronym: “Educación, Cultura y Deporte” or “education, culture and sports.” The arm for little children, which may or may not exist anymore, is called Catholic Kids’ Net. I used to go to ECYD meetings every Thursday, whether I wanted to or not. The bishop of Columbus, Ohio, had officially run the Legionaries and their lay... Read more
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