On a mission to find the right yoga class — just keep it light Wanted: Someone to train my Downward Dog. Must be kind, patient, and blissful. Not too hot, not too intense, no public humiliation, please. ncense optional. Call it a yogic crisis. On the modern stress continuum, finding just the right place to lay my yoga mat lands somewhere between locating the perfect summer rental and sussing out a decent eyebrow stylist. About a 6.5, depending on how... Read more

‘Saved!’ tackles faith through teenagers’ eyes ‘Are you saved?’ If I had a buck for every time someone asked me that, I could buy that summer home I’ve been eyeing in Montana. The question does come with the job. People seem to be preternaturally curious about what spiritual flavor a religion writer might be. But I have heard it most often in real-life experiences. On airplanes. At the mall. Answering my front door on the occasional Saturday morning or Sunday... Read more

Troubadour lends his voice, and ear, to Baghdad I’m sure he doesn’t remember it. Actually, I pray he doesn’t, but I don’t know for certain because I didn’t have the guts to bring it up when we spoke on the phone the other day. The scene of the crime: Backstage at a theater in Ann Arbor, Mich. About a dozen years ago. Bruce Cockburn, the Canadian singer-songwriter probably best known (unfortunately) for the song “Rocket Launcher,” had just finished playing... Read more

Baby steps stumble toward righteous coffee Where can you get a decent cup of coffee around here? Morally decent, that is. Such was my most recent spiritual quest: to buy a steaming cup of coffee from a beverage purveyor that gets its beans from farmers who make a living wage. The quest seemed simple. But lo, I say to thee, it was fraught with peril. Perhaps peril is a bit strong. Fraught with . . . with . . .... Read more

Crucifixion humor? ‘Passion’ spurs Python rerun There’s nothing funny about a crucifixion, right? It’s a given. Like there’s nothing humorous about a forest fire, chocolate is yummy, and baby bunnies are cute. Crucifixion. Nothing to giggle about. Serious business. Unless . . . maybe . . . the crucifixion in question is purely fictional — farcical even — and orchestrated by, say, the members of the storied English comic geniuses of Monty Python, the folks that also brought you the... Read more

Sometimes Jesus calls, sometimes Ted sends e-mail Jesus stopped calling me a couple of years ago. He used to ring me up at the office several times a week. And then the calls just stopped and I didn’t hear from Jesus again, or at least not from the North Side guy whose real name was Richard (not Roeper), who insisted he was Jesus and preferred to be called by his Hebrew name, Y’Shua. Then last week, Jesus resurfaced. In my... Read more

Road religion: Vanity plates encourage virtue Growing up in the early 1980s around a lot of church folks who were fond of adorning their cars with those stick-on metallic Evangellyfish symbols, and stickers that said, “In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned,” I was always puzzled by a guy I’ll call Mr. Murphy. He was a deacon in our church, a pious man who often hosted Bible studies in his home and could quote Scripture with both great... Read more

Can I pray for my enemy’s defeat? Please? Master of the Universe, please deliver us from That Dog. The one with the chesty bark that resonates from its backyard into our bedroom before 7 a.m. and after 11 p.m. The one that growls menacingly when we walk from our garage into the house. The one that bit me. While you’re at it, Lord, deliver me from That Dog’s owners, too. May they find a nice home for themselves and their... Read more

Asking big questions was fashionable on ‘Sex’ There was more than just sex in that city. In the last six years, there was plenty of friendship, fun, hot guys, great fashion and general fabulousness. Neuroses. Angst. Loss. Triumph. Struggle. And even a little good old-fashioned — and new-fangled — religion. According to my records, the ladies of “Sex and the City” — individually or as a group — went to church at least nine times in the last six years,... Read more