HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~ Abraham Lincoln Read more

GOOD SHABBAS AND GOOD NIGHT An interesting week. An adventure awaits. I’ll leave you with this, the words of a wise friend: “Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds.” — Elie Wiesel GG Read more

FRIDAY AFTERNOON LAGNIAPPES: LEFTOVER GODSTUFF FROM THE FOLKS AT SLATE.COM … “Mike Seaver” proves the existence of God (Kind of. Ok, not really. So please stop ‘helping.’) Wednesday’s installment of Nightline (ABC) marked the first “Nightline Face-Off,” in which, according to a press release, “hot topics get discussed among prominent voices in their field.” This inaugural segment also came billed as the first network-news debate about the existence of God. If He does exist and is just, it will be... Read more

GODSTUFF PROJECTING FAITH: Buddhism, “The Simpsons” and how we see ourselves Applying a religious label to anything other than a person has always left me feeling a little squirrelly. Only a being with volition and free will could choose to call him- or herself “Christian” or “Buddhist” or “Jewish.” So the notion of “Christian music” or “Buddhist film” or “Jewish art” seems like a fallacy to me because a creation of human hands, especially one as subjectively viewed as a... Read more

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY. Our boy from the North Side turns 47 today. As the great Pope Paul VI once said, “The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.” So let us all join with Stevie Wonder in singing: The time is overdueFor people like me and youWho know the way to truthIs love and unity to all God’s childrenIt should never be a great eventAnd the whole day should be spentIn full remembranceOf those who lived and died for... Read more

PRAY FOR TAMMY FAYE We’ve always had a soft spot for this woman, with her wigs and bad makeup, and what has genuinely felt like a sincere faith and pathos underneath it all. Even in the dark days. Even during the scandals and the histrionics and the mascara running down her chipmunk cheeks. She’s a pistol and we love her, in spite of (no, really, because of) herself. Tammy Faye (Bakker) Messner is gravely ill. She’s battled colon and lung... Read more

TODAY IN GOD:RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sharpton accused of ‘bigotry’ after remark on faith BOSTON — The Rev. Al Sharpton, who recently urged that radio host Don Imus be fired for making a racially insensitive remark, said in a debate that “those who really believe in God will defeat” Republican Mitt Romney for the White House. But Sharpton denied he was questioning the Mormon’s own belief in God. Rather, the New York Democrat said he was... Read more

COMPARE AND CONTRAST:BARACK OBAMA AND MITT ROMNEY ON FAITH, POLITICS, PRO-LIFE, PRO-CHOICE First, a clip from Obama’s speech at the Call to Renewal conference last fall. Read more

PULLING A SAMSON Far be it from us to imply that John Mayer’s amazing powers (of musical virtuosity) have anything to do with his hair. But … meh on the new do. Listen all you fellas with beautiful curly hair: Long is always better. It’s beautiful. And zexy. Shorn runs the risk of jumping the dork, as it were. Grow it back out, John. Please. Sincerely,Everyone at GGHQ Read more

‘Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous.’— George Bernard Shaw I never thought I’d see a picture like the one above, at least not one that hadn’t been photoshopped. But there they were today, the Rev. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, two men who represent the face of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Troubles that have caused so much pain, heartbreak, death and dismay for all of the days of my life. But there they... Read more