BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ . . . MORE ON THE GOD FACTOR Just before we left for nine heavenly days in Nevis, West Indies (high of 83, low of 79 every day) . . . Copy No. 1 of The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People, a.k.a. My Baby, arrived in the Sun-Times newsroom via Fedex from FSG in New York. The feeling: beyond words; out of body; over the moon. It’s very shiny — opalescent, I’m told.... Read more

GODSTUFF: SOFT-CORE GOD PORN — AND YOU CAN SING ALONG, TOO … This column is rated PG-13, for adult situations, mild sexual content and lusty spiritual metaphors. We’re talking about soft-core God porn. Bible erotica. Pious passion. Or, as the folks who produced this nifty CD that arrived at my desk earlier this week, just in time for Valentine’s Day, call it: “The Original Love Song.” The “original” love song was not penned by Stevie Wonder, the Beatles or Barry... Read more

GODSTUFF: MERCY AND HOPE: PRAYING FOR JILL CARROLL “I can’t even look at that, it’s too awful,” my editor said, turning her head away from a bank of television monitors and covering her eyes with her hands earlier this week when coverage of a car chase in Houston gave way to photos of Jill Carroll, our 28-year-old colleague from the Christian Science Monitor who was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Iraq. The people who are holding her captive have threatened to... Read more

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: THE GOD FACTOR GETS A STARRED REVIEW! The January 16, 2006 edition of Publisher’s Weekly includes a marvelous, starred review of God Girl’s forthcoming book, The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People. All of us here at God Girl Productions are thrilled and humbled.“Compassion and grace?” What author could ask for more?_______________________________________________________ The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public PeopleFalsani, Cathleen (Author) ISBN: 0374163812Farrar Straus GirouxPublished 2006-03Hardcover, $24.00 (288p)Biography & Autobiography | Religious;... Read more

GODSTUFF: ‘IT’S NOT AN ACT OF GOD, IT’S AN ACT OF GUYS’ Lost faith. False hope. Miracles and mistakes. All have been on my mind as the story of tragedy — then hope — then tragedy mixed with betrayal (by the media, by the mining company, by God) unfolded this week at the Sago mine in West Virginia. What must those good people at Sago Baptist Church have been feeling? The folks who were singing “Amazing Grace,” offering prayers of... Read more

BUON ANNO! The God Factor cometh … Dear friends and family and readers and critics and those of you who just stumbled across this lil’ blog o’ mine: Many of you have emailed me extremely kind, humbling notes in recent weeks asking about my “big project”: THE BOOK. So, throwing any semblance of caution about shameless self promotion to the wind (what good is a blog, after all, if you can’t shamelessly self promote?), here is the skinny on my... Read more

GODSTUFF: ‘WHAT WOULD JESUS CUT?’: THE YEAR IN FAITH War, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, intelligent design, the death of a religious hero and the election of his papal successor, avian flu, Live 8, debt forgiveness, culture “wars,” genocide in Darfur, Terri Schiavo’s homegoing, “truthiness,” the first face transplant, extreme human depravity and stunning human compassion. It’s been an extraordinary year, for better and worse. Here — in no particular order — are some of the most intriguing things I heard about... Read more

SEPARATED AT BIRTH? [Via Copyranter] Read more

GODSTUFF: It’s time for a cease-fire in this war of words And so this is Christmas For weak and for strong For rich and the poor ones The road is so long And so happy Christmas For black and for white For yellow and red ones Let’s stop all the fight — “Happy Christmas [War is Over]” by John Lennon ——————————————- Because what we need right now is another war. Just like we need another natural disaster or one more... Read more