The past two weeks. It has almost been too much to bear, all the heartache. All the hatred and the hurting and brokenness everywhere we turn. It is too much. I am tempted to shut it out: turn off the news, avoid the rapid-fire of social media politicking. Sink into my own comfortable life, where…
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An Open Letter From An Unapologetic Christian to Those Who Are Up In Arms About Starbucks
To my fellow Christians who are up in arms about the so-called “war on Christmas”: Cut it out. No, really. Just stop. You’re giving all of us a bad name. And worse, you’re giving Christ a bad name. There is no war on Christmas. Christian America quite successfully corrupted Christmas into a free-for-all greed fest…
Read MoreThomas Merton on Politics
Some words of wisdom from Thomas Merton for your Wednesday. I put these quotes together from two different chapters of “New Seeds of Contemplation,” in which he is addressing “The Moral Theology of the Devil” and “The Root of War is Fear.” His context for the latter is the Cold War, but all of these…
Read MoreI Want to Love Jesus, But I Don’t Know How
I’ve been singing a lot of Carey Landry’s songs to Julianna lately. God hasn’t yet invented the kid who doesn’t like “and if the Devil doesn’t like it, he can sit on a tack—ouch!” But I save that for the tasks she really hates (like having her hair brushed) because the anticipation of that verse…
Read MoreGod is in the middle
It’s tempting, because it’s so easy. We live in a culture where everything is reduced to sound bytes. A writer has one sentence to hook a reader or listener; going “in-depth” on the nightly news takes two minutes; each movie shot lasts two seconds, tops. In a sound byte, there is no time for detail,…
Read MoreWhen the only possible reaction is gratitude
Last night, I finished reading a book that has been occupying my thoughts for a week. The book is called Escape, by Carolyn Jessop, and it chronicles her life in and escape from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) cult. When I saw the book sitting on the library display, I remembered the news…
Read MoreStirring up the pot for Holy Week
Last week, there was a big story (quickly shoved to second place by yet another sex scandal) about the Vatican “updating the seven deadly sins” for the modern age. I read the article from the first link I was sent, and then made the mistake of reading some of the comments. They were sarcastic, withering,…
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Kathleen M. Basi 