 Hey friends, this is just your periodic reminder that Steel Magnificat runs almost entirely reader-supported. I am homebound about half the time due to a chronic illness, so I write here at Patheos for a living and get paid a small amount per click, but the majority of my family’s income comes from tips. Michael and I busk here online for our lives, three to seven times a week, with gospel meditations and social justice rabble rousing and occasional... Read more
 Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than... Read more
I try not to pay attention to Matt Walsh. If we all ignore him there’s hope he’ll eventually go away. But today a tweet of his was repeatedly shared on my facebook newsfeed– and it’s not the sort of thing I could ignore. It’s assumptions that have me scratching my head. Mr. Walsh tweeted the following, which as far as I can tell has since been deleted: “The lack of male spaces in our culture begins in the home, where... Read more
 My most annoying habit is that I hum when I’m sad. I am a terribly awkward person with many far worse habits, more than I could name, but my humming is the one that exasperates me. It happened again the other night. Neighborhood friends of Rose’s had asked us to go to “church” with them that evening. They didn’t say anything about which church. I mistakenly inferred that they meant the weird little non-denominational church a few blocks away–... Read more
 (This post was originally written on Facebook by my friend Beth Hersom, and is shared with her permission.) Alfie. Pray for Alfie. Pray for his family. Pray for his medical team. Then, back off. He is not your political stepping stone. He is not your political battering ram. He is not yours at all. He’s a child. A child with a tragic story. Have you ever sat at a table with a team of doctors telling you that it’s... Read more
 There’s been a lot of talk about “incels” lately. “Incel,” as you may have already heard, stands for “involuntary celibate.” It is a name certain misogynistic internet trolls use on themselves, to describe the fact that they haven’t had any sex lately despite wanting it badly. For this, they blame the women who were cheeky enough to refuse to sleep with them. They feel entitled to a hot girl to satisfy their cravings, and will do anything including commit... Read more
Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so... Read more
 As I write this, the news has just broken that famed entertainer Bill Cosby has been found guilty of three counts of aggravated sexual assault. He faces up to ten years in prison for each conviction. There’s very little of use I can say at this point, but that’s never stopped me before. Is it a victory? Well, it’s more so than an acquittal would have been. Will there be justice in sending an eighty-year-old man to prison for... Read more
It was a glorious Spring day, the first sunny day in weeks. Rose was having a grand old time digging in the front flowerbed; then she came in to ask if she could go on a neighborhood walk with her friends, and I said I’d go along just in case. I took my cane. I’ve been so stubborn about using a cane– it makes me feel old. It also feels like cheating, because I don’t need it all the time.... Read more
Hi folks, This is your brief periodic reminder that Steel Magnificat is about 90% reader-supported, which means almost all of my income is reader tips.  I’m too often ill from fibromyalgia to work outside the home so I work here at home as a writer, writing as close to seven articles a week as I can manage; Michael copyedits them and takes care of the housework and childcare I can’t do while I’m laid up; and the people who appreciate the... Read more
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