GODSTUFF SHROVE TUESDAY: PANCAKES, BURNING BUSHES AND THIN MOMENTS In New Orleans and Rio, today is Mardi Gras. Elsewhere, folks call it Fat Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday because, traditionally, the idea was to consume decadent foods such as sugar, fat and white flour before the 40-day fast begins on Ash Wednesday — the first day of Lent. The Anglican tradition calls today Shrove Tuesday. “To shrive” is an old-timey English word that means to hear someone’s confession — an accounting... Read more

Magnificent. U2’s new album, “No Line on the Horizon,” doesn’t go on sale until March 3, but, like so many rabid fans out there, I’ve been fortunate enough to hear the whole thing. And it is, in a word, magnificent. I’ve heard tell that the band set out to make modern sacred music. If that’s true, they succeeded. The album is full of powerful, ethereal sounds and rhythms woven between silken thought streams meditating on the divine, love, the divine... Read more

Watch this While GG attended a peace conference at the Aspen Institute last November, she sat for an interview about faith, peace, fundamentalism, truth and what’s happening spiritually in the world right now. And then she forgot about it. Well, a friend sent her the link today for a trailer for the documentary film (that the interview was for) called “Roots of Peace.” The filmmaker, Greg Reitman, who produced the Sundance award-winning 2008 documentary “Fields of Fuel,” is, we hear,... Read more

GODSTUFF SPIRITUAL WISDOM FOR HARD TIMES Lately, I’ve been hearing from a lot of folks who are having a hard time, and not just financially. For some of us, the economic downturn has led to a spiritual free fall. So I asked some Chicago-area faith leaders what they have to say to people who have lost their jobs, homes, tuition and sense of security. What do they say to congregants who feel as if God hasn’t provided and isn’t going... Read more

The Dude Abides: Sneak Peek at the Cover GG’s next book, The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers, is set for publication this fall to coincide with the release of the Coens’ 14th feature-length film, “A Serious Man.” While the manuscript is still making its way through the editing process, GG and Zondervan have — very happily — settled on a cover (seen above.) The fabulous icon of the Dude was done by Chicago artist Erik Rose. Read more

GODSTUFF AMERICANS LOVES A COMEBACK STORY, BUT IS A-ROD FORGIVABLE? Over brunch with my husband and one of my best guy friends last weekend, conversation turned, as it does, to Major League Baseball, doping and the nature of sin. “A-Rod, possibly the greatest baseball player in the history of the game, will never, ever be in the Hall of Fame,” my friend said with a mixture of anger and sadness. “All those guys — Bonds, Roger Clemens — none of... Read more

Listen to this At the Sunday morning service this week at CORE Church in Dublin, the wonderful Jack Heaslip preached a sermon titled A Man of Sorrows. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN It’s a beautiful, powerful sermon and round about the 19:15 minute mark, Jack references Sin Boldly, and the chapter called “Passing Over,” about GG’s sojourn in Montana with Rabbi Allen Secher and his wife Ina Albert a few years ago. Jack is a marvelous man. If you’ve never had... Read more

GODSTUFF “LORD, SAVE US FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS”:NEO-APOLOGETICS AND A RETURN TO CIVILITY Chicago’s own Dwight L. Moody, the great American evangelist of the 19th century, once said that of 100 people, one would read the Bible, and the other 99 would “read the Christian.” Let’s face it: Christianity has an image problem. When you hear the word “Christian,” what comes to mind? Is it love, compassion, service, humility and grace? Or is it more along the lines of anger, self-righteousness,... Read more