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Fellowship of Saints and Sinners

Yesterday fellow saint and sinner Tammy shared this meditation on the meaning of Good Friday; but its use of J.R.R. Tolkien’s term, “eucatastrophe,” also makes it an Easter sermon for anyone anywhere who has sat, metaphorically speaking, outside a tomb of one kind or another, waiting for something better to happen. The musical feature for…

I’ll preach the following sermon in just a few hours at today’s “Women’s View of the Cross”: A Service for Good Friday. (I appreciate your prayers!) This sermon takes the perspective of the maidservant in the court of the high priest, Caiphas; if you’ve been a regular here at this intersection between life and God,…

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.  This final victory lap of the book; the last touches on a manuscript that I now a bit bashfully would let other eyes see for the very first time: they were supposed to come with the peaceful satisfaction of hard-won achievement. I had come to the monastery to…

Last year around this time I wrote a post that asked how appropriate humor is on Good Friday. A sermon written from the perspective of Pilate’s wife, Claudia, had sparked associations with Monty Python’s rendition of Pilate in the movie, “Life of Brian”- but, I had asked, is it appropriate to joke in a sermon on…

Last week in church I heard a great tune by a brilliant (in an understated way) musician. (I know, those three things, “church,” “great tune,” and “brilliant musician” don’t always go together- especially if the music is “contemporary Christian.”) This song was written, composed and sung by Mondo Davis, who I’m guessing would eschew the…

Yesterday’s inauguration of Pope Francis seems a fitting juncture at which to take stock of him- this in response to a reader’s recent note asking what I think about the man who reminds him of his Jewish rabbi grandfather. And, in response to this reader’s question, and with the admission that much remains to be seen,…

[Note: this post has been updated since yesterday when Beliefnet was experiencing technical issues and my brain was working less clearly.] This weekend I finally watched Life of Pi. The movie, directed by Ang Lee and inspired by the 2001 novel by Yann Martel, tells the story of an Indian boy who survives 227 days on…

Yesterday a kind friend said people would buy the book I’m writing for the same reason they show up at my blog: they don’t really “go to church” (my friend’s words) but something about the Christian faith and its world of symbols, maybe something about Jesus, still elicits some level of interest or even belief.…

Do you remember Garbage Pail Kids? I never collected them, but they were a hot item growing up.  Each card character suffers from some ridiculous abnormality or terrible fate.  Take “Adam Bomb,” or “Glandular Angela,” or “Half-Nelson,” for instance.  Or,  a cave girl in her crib by the name of “Mad Donna.” Apparently the series is…

With another manic Monday before us, here are a couple of items some of you shared for the benefit of this motley crew of saints and sinners… Fellow saint and sinner Michael responded to a recent post about Saturday Night Live’s irreverent send-up of Quentin Tarantino with the following insightful remarks: Humor is often described…
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