TODAY IN GOD . . . On December 28. 1741, the British revivalist George Whitefield, co-founder of the Methodist movement and one of the chief preachers of what is known as “The Great Awakening,” wrote in a letter: ‘Redeem your precious time: pick up the fragments of it, that not one moment of it may be lost. Be much in secret prayer. Converse less with man, and more with God.’ Read more

MY AUGUSTENIA I’m a literary late bloomer, perpetually behind the curve. I know this. It is part of who I am, just like a temper and freckles. I read The DaVinci Code a full six months after almost everyone else I know had, and then only because it was relevant to my “beat.” I arrived late to the game on Eugenides, Joyce, Wolfe, Foer and a whole host of other authors, some of whom I’ve had the mortified pleasure of... Read more

THE BIBLE ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORKER In the Dec. 18 edition of The New Yorker, there’s an article by Daniel Radosh about the Bible-publishing business that should not be missed. You can read all of it HERE. One passage in particular caught my eye and I’m still gnawing on it like a rawhide bone. It’s a quote from Phyllis Tickle, the author, former religion editor at Publisher’s Weekly, and contributor to Nelson’s new emergent-oriented Bible paraphrase, The Voice. Tickle... Read more

DANG, MAN. At last, 2006 (henceforth known as Annus Horribilis) draws to a close, I have a horrible head cold (it arrived on Christmas Eve, not unlike the annunciating angel — how festive), no fresh ideas, zero energy and an extra 15 pounds (and we don’t mean sterling) or so attached to my butt. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwesome. Ought-six ROCKED! I feel like he (above) looks …with apologies to Rip Torn. Wonderful actor. Love his work. Read more

SANTA ANGELINA: XMAS WITH THE ‘FUGEES Say what you will (if you must) about the road she traveled to where and how she is today, I admire Angelina Jolie, in particular for this fierce ethic — call it humanist, call it humanitarian, or justice-minded, or just plain kind — by which she appears to be living her life, raising her beautiful children, and choosing to spend her celebrity (which, as we know, is currency, indeed.) Here’s how (IMHO) the most... Read more

RIP: THE GODFATHER OF SOUL From Jon Pareles in today’s New York Times: James Brown, the singer, songwriter, bandleader and dancer, who indelibly transformed 20th-century music, died early today at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, where he been admitted on Saturday with pneumonia, his agent, Frank Copsidas, said. Mr. Brown was 73 years old and lived in Beech Island, S.C., near the Georgia border. Mr. Copsidas said in an interview that Mr. Brown had participated in his annual Christmas... Read more

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS . . . Wishing you and yours a very happy and grace-filled Christmas. With love and traveling mercies, God Girl Read more

GODSTUFF: HEY! UNTO YOU A CHILD IS BORN . . . AND HE’S NOT SANTA’S COUSIN What are we waiting for? On Christmas Eve, I mean. Is it for Santa Claus that we wait? For the light to return, for a savior to arrive? Or are we waiting for St. Nicholas’ cousin Jesus to show up so we can all get birthday presents? That’s what a group of kindergartners told me Friday morning when I quizzed them about the Christmas... Read more

SWEET FANCY MOSES: THAT’S ‘SIR BONO’ TO YOU, BUB Bono’s been knighted. Merry Christmas and God bless us, every one. (Somewhere in heaven, an angel just got his wings.) From RTE News in Dublin … Bono gets honorary knighthood 23 December 2006 15:32 Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is to award U2 singer Bono with an honorary knighthood The award is in recognition of his services to the music industry and for his humanitarian work. The 46-year-old rock singer has played a... Read more

GODSTUFF: IT’S A HANUKKAH MIRACLE ON RUSH STREET Last weekend we hosted a holiday party for a religiously mixed group of friends, most of them Christians (of one flavor or another) like my husband and me. But a few of our guests were Jewish, and we wanted to honor their religious tradition as well as our own as we washed down rumaki and mini quiches with glasses of homemade wassail. Now, we live in a progressive, multicultural, spiritually engaged community.... Read more