Tracking the misadventures of college basketball, Dennis Burman raises uncomfortable truths — not just about our attitudes toward sports, but our attitudes toward politics. We do not operate on principle. We advocate for our tribe. And if our tribe gets involved in what we can spin or describe as a personal peccadillo, if shading the truth or exaggerating can be explained away as prophetic or patriotic, then so be it. At least the right side wins. Or so we think.... Read more
The phrase, “think globally, act locally” is attributed to Patrick Geddes, a Scottish philanthropist, town planner, biologist, and sociologist. The idea, though not the exact phrase, appears in his book, Cities in Evolution, which was published in 1915. Well ahead of his time, Geddes was at pains to argue for an approach to urban planning that took the surrounding environs into account. The concept has been appropriated and broadened in its application to a number of endeavors, but it’s time... Read more
I’ve had it. Don’t spin me. Don’t lie to me. Don’t bury me in a mountain of legalize and tell me I’m ignorant. Don’t exploit my tax dollars. Don’t sell my country to special interests foreign and domestic. Don’t tell me you are for a champion of the poor and squire around DC in limos, fly across the country in government-provided transportation, and dine at DC’s finest restaurants. Don’t tell me you are a champion of the people and focus... Read more
A Catholic parish near our home features this on their home page, front and center: Lenten and Triduum regulations 2015 These are the 2015 Lenten and Triduum regulations: FAST AND ABSTINENCE The holy season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015. Masses on Ash Wednesday will be offered at 8 am 12:10 pm and 7 pm. Both Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, April 03, are days of abstinence from meat for all who are 14 years and older.... Read more
My friend and colleague, Kevin Martin, achieves “Onion-esque” success at his blogspot with a satire that raises a serious question. What happens when we transplant liturgical acts and sacraments from sacred space to the public domain? Baptismal Font Goes on the Move Even though heavily endowed, Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Kelso, Ohio, a town just outside of Columbus is facing hard times.  The Rector, an Assisting Priest, and a Deacon have only three remaining Church members.  That is when the Reverend... Read more
Lent is making something of a comeback as Christians who historically have observed the season bump up against those who don’t in the blogosphere. But the language of Lent, which is rooted in larger Christian practice, often makes people uncomfortable. Of the many words associated with Lent, “repentance” may actually qualify as one of the more underappreciated and misunderstood words. The conversation about repentance with the larger culture and, for that matter, conversations with people within the church often begin... Read more
I have been on The Episcopal Church’s Board of Examining Chaplains now for twelve years. I’ve finished my last batch of ordination examinations and as of General Convention next summer, I will have completed my responsibilities. The examination has evolved over the last twelve years, as has the mechanism for evaluating it. I’ve been an observer and participant in the process. I’ve heard the debates around the character and value of the examination. I’ve participated in the attendant debates around... Read more
This just in from the BBC in an interview with cyclist, Lance Armstrong: Shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong believes the time is coming when he should be forgiven for doping and lying – and told the BBC he would probably do it again. Armstrong, 43, was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned from sport for life by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) in August 2012. “If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn’t do it again... Read more
When I first arrived at Oxford, my supervisor, George Caird, suggested that I read the work that one of his students had done. That student was Marcus Borg. At the time Marcus was yet to publish his dissertation and he had returned to the United States without a teaching position. But his dissertation, which illuminated the teaching of Jesus against the backdrop of first century Judaism and Roman domination was a brilliant piece of work. I spent weeks on end,... Read more
Image source: Wikimedia Commons Years ago…I visited the Martin Luther King Center and purchased a children’s biography of King for my six year-old daughter. This led to a collection of King biographies that over the years [grew] in sophistication. When she was nine, she played on a frequent basis with a large number of other children in the cathedral close in Jerusalem. Among her friends was Jamie, a younger Canadian boy, and Alex, an American who had a reputation for... Read more
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