The “Lean on Me” Ethic, No Bootstraps Required
It is all over Facebook that Bill Withers passed away today. The top hit of his illustrious career was Lean on Me. It ranked #7 when it was released in 1972, the year I was born. …
Christianity
Video killed the radio star, don’t let it victimize your relationships
In September of 1979 the British new wave/synth-pop group The Buggles released the single Video Killed the Radio Star; nearly two years later, the song would become a self-fulfilling prophecy when the single became the …
A Journey to Eastern Christianity
The following is a talk which my departed grandmother invited me to give for her Sunday School class at First United Methodist Shreveport and which, due to some confusion, was given in its entirety to …
Faith in Times of Pandemic
Pandemics have stressed the fabric of human social structures throughout the course of history. Times of rampant sickness with their associated physical, mental, social, and spiritual tolls strip away the veneer of human societies to …
Meeting God with anger during our long Lent
I stand in front of the priest, waiting. Grinding a thumb into a container full of black dust, she reaches up and makes two marks on my head, one down, the other over. “Remember you …
Republicans can’t be Christian
Republicans can’t be Christians I am going to say something controversial, “Republicans can’t be Christians.” To the vast majority of Christians, I just said something unthinkable, especially if one is of the evangelical stripe of …
From Confusion to Communion
“When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, He divided the nations. But when He distributed the tongues of fire He called all to unity. Therefore with one voice we glorify the All …
Never too Old to be too Young
I grew up in a small country Southern Baptist Church in rural California. When my family moved there our family of six doubled the size of the church. But, the church did grow over the …
The Teacher is a true master who can use even the strangest of tools
My faith is Orthodox Christianity. The life that led me to it was hardly orthodox (small o), nor was it anything special. Perhaps even less so is the world I have lived through since I …
In praise of a naked Christ
In a recent online exchange, I posted a photo of an icon that showed the Virgin Mary with a breast partially uncovered. While some of the discussion centered around the ever-weary topic of modesty, another …