GODSTUFF: NOT SURE WHAT TO DO? TRY DANCING I love it when he calls. The Rabbi. He has this knack for showing up right when I need him to, just as I’m flailing my way through uncertainty, in flux and fighting it. When I hear Rabbi Irwin Kula’s voice on the other end of the phone, I imagine myself as an existential baseball catcher, crouched low, mask down, mitt open, ready. Bring it, I think, nodding to the good rabbi,... Read more

TODAY IN GOD . . . On April 20, 1096, Peter the Hermit leaves Cologne with 20,000 followers headed for Constantinople in the so-called “Peasants’ Crusade.” Read more

TODAY IN GOD . . . On April 19, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected as the 264th successor of St. Peter, vicar of Rome, and took the name Pope Benedict XVI. (And God Girl, your intrepid correspondent, was there.) Habemus papam! Read more

TODAY IN GOD … On April 18, 1521, Martin Luther appeared at the Diet of Worms (no, not as in “Fear Factor” — it was an assembly of the Holy Roman Empire that met in the German town Worms) where he was charged with heresy and threatened with excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church if he didn’t disavow 41 of his famous 95 Theses. Luther refused and ended his defense at the Diet with the words, “Here I stand; I... Read more

CHRISTOS ANESTI! Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she... Read more

GOD GIRL: UNCUT, UNCENSORED The folks over at Northeast Book Reviews have just posted the full transcript of an interview I gave to critic Mona Lisa Safai earlier this month. (Mona Lisa also reviewed The God Factor for NEBR last month.) It’s long and it’s colloquial, but if you want the full monty, here it is! Read more

WASH POST: GEE WHIZ, HEF AND HAIRSHIRTS This weekend’s Washington Post Book World just posted online and TGF is one of three new nonfiction books about spirituality critiqued in a single review by author Lauren F. Winner. She wrote Girl Meets God a few years ago, a memoir about her conversion from Judaism to Christianty, as well as Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity. (Hhhhm. When it comes to picking reviewers for the book, lately I’m beginning to sense... Read more

COMING UP: MORE RADIO, MORE REVIEWS … Well folks, according to Bookweb, the site that keeps track of such things, the Washington Post Book World is reviewing The God Factor in this Sunday’s edition. While the vast majority of the reviews TGF has received so far have been gracious and glowing, when it comes time for the big boys to chime in, God Girl gets a wee bit, as Mom would say, “nervidood.” I’ve chosen to take something a mutual... Read more