Progressive Revival

This morning, Miss California USA told an MSNBC anchor that she prays for celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Not unsolicited charity, her prayers are a response to an unexpected controversy from Sunday’s night Miss USA competition.  Miss California was one of five finalists for the Miss USA crown when she drew Mr. Hilton’s question in the…

Ten years ago today, I was in San Francisco leading a retreat for Episcopal clergy from the western United States.  During the afternoon break, someone handed me a slip of paper saying that there had been a shooting at a Colorado high school named “Columbine.” It fell to me to announce the news to the…

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The Colbert Coalition’s Anti-Gay Marriage Ad colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest There were a lot of good spoofs of the National Organization for Marriage’s video The Gathering Storm.  This one called a $#it Storm of Intolerance wins first runner up.  But…

$1,885.00 out of $269.256.00 equals less that 1% of giving to charity – and that is what Vice President Biden and his wife decided was a good amount in 2008.    This is a pathetic attempt at charity.  It isn’t really an attempt, it is a faint that is just enough to make them feel as though they had…

This morning, at 9:00 a.m. sharp, I took my tax payment to the local post office.  When I handed it to the clerk, she said, “I hate tax day.”  I replied, “Not me.  I don’t love parting with the money, but I kinda like it.  That check is a bargain–roads, schools, medical care, social security,…

Common wisdom holds that the people who take the Bible most seriously in America are those from the conservative traditions who claim a literalist interpretation of the “The Bible says it and I believe it” variety. But try telling these same people that there are two creation stories or that God refers to God’s self in the plural and they give you a blank expression. …

For four years, I’ve been driving around with one of those “01/20/09” stickers on the back of my car.   However, with the exception of election night and the inauguration, I haven’t really, truly believed that there has been a change in the White House–there have been way too many painful challenges left over from the…

Living and Reigning God We give you thanks on this Easter morning for the Resurrection of your son Jesus Christ! Lord, help us to make Jesus’ victory our own and to viscerally experience this liberating Good News.  From whatever graves we may currently inhabit, may we hear Jesus’ clarion call to follow him to new…

Like Paul, I grew up in a tradition that didn’t pay much if any attention Good Friday, or see anything terribly ironic about the adjective “Good.”  I’ve come to see that omission (and with it the implication that the crucifixion didn’t really happen on any meaningful level, or represented sort of a magic trick played on…

Today Christians observe what is known as Good Friday.  I grew up in a Protestant church that didn’t put much stock in dwelling on the crucifixion, preferring to stake our faith flag in the fertile ground of the resurrection.  It was in seminary when I began to attend Good Friday services and became increasing drawn…

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