Lent 2008
I have missed the beginning of Lent, hidden as it was this year, on Super Tuesday (followed by Awesome Wednesday and in 30 or so more days, Good Friday). I have a new friend for whom my respect has...
View Article“Allow things to be as they are”
I visited my parents this weekend. Although he’s in a wheelchair whenever he leaves the house, he looks a lot better than the last time I saw him (after the diagnosis). Although that may be...
View Articleon “4000″
All the news (and blogosphere) seems able to talk about today is the fact that the official number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since we went back to war there has reached 4000. There was not...
View ArticleSpring Time!
It’s Spring again, time for cleaning. This year, I will be cleaning my home (I want the extra bedroom to be usable as (a) a guest room, (b) an office, and (c) a second living room; I’ve got my work cut...
View Articleat what point does it become too much?
In general, I think the whole freedom-of-religion clause applies in the sense you can believe whatever you want, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of another. If my pharmacist decides...
View ArticleEnviromonth
Containing, as it does, both Earth & Arbor days, April is the month when we look to the soil and the earth for inspiration. Earlier this month, I created a new Urb Garden, which is so far doing...
View ArticleOn humanist contemplatives
I was happy to receive a link from Rick Heller about the Humanist Contemplatives of Houston, who focus on self improvement, introspection, and achieving eudaimonia. They gather to meditate or...
View ArticleObama’s (Secret) Prayer
During Obama’s recent visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, according to tradition, he wrote a prayer on a piece of paper and left it there. However, since he is under media scrutiny right now, it...
View ArticleSunday Morning Video Lineup
A vid take on MoF’s Sparks: First up, Stuart Shepard, who I’d not heard of before today but is apparently a member of Focus on the Family’s activism arm, is encouraging everyone to encourage his God to...
View ArticleDualism: Revisited
While reading chandelle’s recent post and the comments that followed, I had occasion to think about my dualism, which I’ve discussed at length before. Many of the comments discuss the “spectrum of...
View ArticleSpark: Does Religion Empower Women?
WaPo’s On Faith asks its panelists Does religion empower women? This is one of the few On Faiths that I’ll probably read each response to. I’m looking forward to the Christian/Catholic answer, which...
View ArticleBiblical Fail
I have to post this, since it’s lolreligion. By now, I’m sure everyone has heard that a particular Christian called others to join in prayer at the bronze bull on wall street to ask god to “shift from...
View ArticleMeditation v. Prayer
I had my first final today. In preparation, I spent some time on the library’s balcony, enjoying the view, the silence, and the not-school-ness. I also spent some time in the library’s prayer room. (I...
View ArticleThanksgiving 2008
Thanksgiving is a religious holiday. When the pilgrims first gathered to give thanks that they made it through their first few months in a wild new world, they weren’t thanking the natives for helping...
View ArticleMusic Monday: Christmas Songs
I have a playlist called “Holiday” that contains 379 songs, including a startling number of “O(h) Holy Night”s. One of the things I miss the most about Christmas with my family (probably the only...
View Article“Are you really an atheist?”
said the friend sitting next to me at Christmas Eve dinner, with a vague look of disgust on her face, like I’d just admitted to enjoying self-flagellation. I was in the company of a number of people...
View ArticleZulu Tattoo
I can’t remember when I first wanted to get a tattoo, but it was sometime in high school. I wanted a yin yang on my ankle. In college, I finally got it, but at the last moment, I changed its placement...
View ArticleOn Being a Steward
A friend and I were talking recently about her belief system (Judaism), about which I know a fair amount, but not many of the intricacies. One thing she mentioned, that was drilled into her during shul...
View ArticleWalpurgisnacht
Tonight, the day before the First of May, is Walpurgisnacht, a quasi-pagan Germanic holiday celebrating a English missionary/saint/abbess’ canonization. Of course, no one can tell you what she had to...
View Articlethe School of Life
If you haven’t yet started listening to On Being, I can highly recommend it. It’s a respectful and varied trip through people’s belief systems. I rarely do not enjoy it. Some memorable—and perhaps...
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