TODAY IN GOD:RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE ____________________________________________________________________________________ EVEL KNIEVEL GETS BAPTIZED, NO LONGER EVIL (BUT STILL KNIEVEL)GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – Former motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel has taken a leap of faith. The 68-year-old Knievel was baptized during the Reverend Robert Schuller‘ s “Hour of Power” service at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. Knievel spoke for about 20 minutes to more than 4,000 people who gathered inside the Crystal Cathedral for services, telling them how he’d been... Read more

I spend way too much time in airports … and as a consequence, far too much time in airport lounges/bars. Meh. But gimlet: mmmmm. I’m off to NY for Mrs. God Girl’s surgery and need your help. In addition to prayers for Mom, I’m having one of those weeks where I’m seemingly bereft of fresh ideas, if not original thoughts. So … what’s on your minds? What would you like to hear me/read me wax opiniated about this week? All... Read more

MORNING CHILLS My boss just sent me a link for this unbelievable rendition of Joni Mitchell’s song “Carey,” from a recent star-studded tribute to Mitchell. Mitchell is my favorite and Cyndi Lauper does the song justice and then some. Come on down to the mermaid cafe and I will buy you a bottle of wineAnd well laugh and toast to nothing and smash our empty glasses downLets have a round for these freaks and these soldiersA round for these friends... Read more

FIERCE APOLOGIES: TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES TODAY We’ve been trying all day to post more than the creepy Photoshopped picture of Bono, but something went all wonky with the blog — blogwonkery? — and we couldn’t until now. But now we’ve got Korean marinated chicken breasts on the grill and peapods sauteeing in the wok so … it’ll have to wait. Tomorrow, we’re’ off to Connecticut for Mrs. God Girl’s surgery. She’s fine — cancer free and totally healthy — it’s just... Read more

JUST ‘CUZ IT’S CREEPY Sister Mary Paul has a night out at the local. She really shouldn’t smoke as it seems to be exacerbating her already raging hormonal imbalance. Read more

SAVE THE DATE: GOD FACTOR IN THE VILLAGE The paperback edition of The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People, officially will be released on June 5th and the first event to promote the new edition has just been scheduled. Cathleen will be doing a reading and signing at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 26 at the Borders Book Store in Oak Park, Illinois (our village and home town). Mark your calendars … Read more

GODSTUFF: ARE WE READY FOR A MORMON PRESIDENT? Mitt’s Image Problem (And it’s not his hair) As a teenager, spiritually educated in the Southern Baptist church and conservative evangelical Christian school I attended, I learned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a cult, and that its members, the Mormons, most certainly were not Christians. I heard repeatedly in lectures from Bible teachers briefing us on the LDS church’s strange theological beliefs and from church folk training... Read more

‘I THINK MUCH OF THE WORLD’S SORROW COMES FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE THIS, YET ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE TREATED AS THAT.’ A cautionary good-morning wake-up call(greeting the dawn with a breath of fire, of course) from Maude (and Harold.) The picture’s not the greatest, but the sound is clear. Listen to what she says and take heart. We are each of us beautifully and wonderfully made, uniquely designed by a creator with a marvelous imagination. GG Read more

FEELING MEH. Read more

‘ISMAIL AX’: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Cho Seung-Hui, the 23-year-old Virginia Tech student who murdered 32 of his classmates and professors in yesterday’s bloodbath in Blacksburg, VA, left behind a note signed, “Ismail Ax” and also had the words “Ismail Ax” written on his forearm in red ink, according to the Chicago Tribune (excellent reporting by Aamer Madhani, btw.) As of a few minutes ago, there were already nearly 200 blog postings about what “Ismail Ax” might mean. Theories I’ve... Read more