On Sunday afternoon I will ring a bell, be let in through the security gate, sign in, put on the required name tag and be escorted to the gym for my allotted hour. The generic name tag simply says “Clergy” but as the residents at the felony DUI incarceration and treatment center file in,...

In the first half of A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink establishes the basis and rationale for his suggestion that right-brain aptitudes are increasingly necessary in our era, which he terms the Conceptual Age. Without negating the value of left-brain reasoning, Pink suggests six specific proficiencies:...

I never realized jury duty could be so awful and so illuminating. Probably the most redeeming factor in my recent stint of prolonged observation of mutually egotistical litigious blathering was this pearl of wisdom. The case details are insignificant for this story. I’ll spare you all the nonsense....

Sex and Sabbath On Sunday, Paul and I, exhausted from the week and staying up late Saturday night, overslept. The girls still wanted to go to church. We tried to rush, but had to pick up Elsa, who had stayed the night with a friend, and subsequently missed all services. This is not uncommon. When we...

“I love them whores, they never judge you. What can you say when you’re a whore?” - Jane’s Addiction I’ve been thinking about whores, church and Jesus lately (not necessarily in that order). There’s a story in the Bible about a prostitute who just had to get some time...

I’ve been through some seasons of doubt and wondering, but at the end of the day I can’t call myself a skeptic. Personality-wise, I’m more of a Don Quixote, a true believer, evidence-be-damned. I know this isn’t fashionable in some circles.  But, if I’m honest with myself,...

Some people do funny things with their Bibles. Apart from using them occasionally to cover stains on the back seat of the car, or place between Rob Bell’s latest book and the coffee table to stop a portal to hell from being scorched into it’s surface (if hell really exists, that is), the Bible...

“When art is not flourishing, religion languishes . . . the two often wax and wane in tandem.” Earle Jerome Coleman. There seems to me a mysterious metaphysical connection between aesthetics and religion, art and worship that I find myself hesitant to explore. Each subject on it’s own is daunting,...

I have a new job. I am now a mental health rehabilitation support worker. You can tell I’m pretty proud. This new job entails my going out to visit people with a mental illness in their home and supporting them in what we call ADL’s – activities of daily living. These are things like making beds,...

Written in August 2009, after two Willie Nelson concerts had been announced – then canceled – in central Mississippi. A third concert was set in north Mississippi; and yes, it was canceled. There are two Willie shows scheduled in Mississippi this summer – we’ll see …. Meanwhile, I still...