Sometimes it is a good thing to give away something that hurts. I have given two such gifts in the last decade. First, I sent the small New Testament that I studied from, read personally, and used in the pulpit to someone as a gift. I wore that Bible out. Battered, beat up, filled with…
Don’t we really already have a form of socialized medicine? Is the free market really what we have now? I don’t think so. I don’t think I choose my doctor and pay for my doctor and go to another doctor if I’m not happy. Those days are long gone. We pay a kind of…
So this is something I’m mulling over: Religion is far too dangerous a thing to be offered cheaply to the masses. It’s clear to anyone with any level of education about myth, archetype, and the human psyche, that religious traditions are not only inevitable, they are of the highest value to our species. And even…
Jeanene and I were sitting in Rosario’s a few weeks ago on First Friday. That’s a street festival held in Southtown San Antonio the first Friday of each month. Artsy. Lots of hipsters. Very cool. You’d like it. We always eat at Rosario’s on First Fridays, and I always get the Fideo, which is a Mexican…
Note: Click here to read part one of this story. This is the story of how ministers find out they’re not Jesus. This is the story of hitting bottom. You start figuring out you’re not Jesus when you begin to unravel and lose the details. And if you’ve fallen into the trap of thinking you’re…
Everyone has identity issues now and again. Maybe you don’t know who you are or don’t like who you think you might be. Maybe you’re a little too close to your mother, or maybe you live vicariously through your children. Maybe you think you’re Clint Eastwood or wish you were Jennifer Lopez. The point is…
What if we suddenly saw the world with God’s eyes? What if the reality of good and evil exploded into our consciousness in a blinding flash of inspiration? What if this happened right in the middle of church? Would we fall out of our pews, bawling at our first glimpse of real beauty? Would there…
It’s year six and I am officially in the Negev now. And only now am I beginning to understand what is happening to me. I spent the first five years after I left the ministry lingering near the border, afraid to commit to the wilderness, looking back to Egypt and dreaming of halcyon days, fleshpots,…
Apparently I did not leave enough clues that this was satire. Those familiar with my writing would know, but I have word that some did not understand this and were confused. Gay marriage has been legal now for quite a few months. Thankfully, the sanctity of my own marriage seems to be holding up under…
I grew up in a world where one did not miss church on Sundays. Ever. It just wasn’t done, at least not in my family. We were among the insiders of the church who never missed, gave generously, and basically ran the show. There were lesser-committed members who attended maybe half the time. They weren’t…