Having ushered, for many years, in my Catholic parish and now at my Lutheran church, I have an observation educated by experience. Catholics are way messier than Lutherans. To put it in kindergarten-simple terms, Lutherans seem to be better than Catholics at picking up after
There is a real tendency, in some modern religious circles, to discount the existence of miracles. They don’t happen every day, we are told, therefore they can never happen. Some people say this ignores the logic behind a belief in miracles. That if they happened
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9) Since I found a church home, at long last, a little over a year ago, God has been doing a work of spiritual healing in me. It has been good for
I must begin with a caveat. This is not a review, but simply an essay about a film. It’s meant to be enjoyed, like an after-dinner decaf, once you’ve already experienced the main attraction. I give away so much of what happens that you may
Over the millennia of human faith history, God has been patiently training us and leading us along the path of ever-greater growth. All too often, religious people seem to believe we need to flatter and bribe God, thereby “bringing ‘Him’ around” to being good to
Not only do many Americans have bad taste, but they seem to love nothing better than celebrating it. Here in the Homeland of Security, we have never been renowned for our refined sensibilities. Though the vaudeville circuit of the early Twentieth Century honed the talents
Although I have been “out” for just over eight years, I truly feel that Whosoever is helping me to complete my coming-out process. How is it doing this? By helping me to find community (cyber-community, at any rate) with other GLBT people whose hearts and
A friend of mine, just back from a conference at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s headquarters in Chicago (our “Vatican”), sported a sassy new T-shirt. On the front was a colorful portrait of Martin Luther, giving the world a jaunty wink. And on the
A sharp and clearly-drawn dividing line exists between the Christian Right and Left. While the former holds that divine revelation was essentially complete by the end of the church’s earliest centuries, the latter believes that God continues to reveal truth to those faithful enough to
It would be easy for me to write yet another rant about the ungraciousness of the Religious Right. I’ve done it many times before, and will likely do it again. I’m told I do it very well, and it’s pretty much what people expect of