In 1962, I entered a friary to train to be a Capuchin. There was sort of hullabaloo about it for the year prior to my departure. My father seemed sort of proud of the thought of me going into religious life, but my mother was not as keen on it. First, I was not going…
My journey to humanism from religion seems in many ways to be quite linear, even direct. I was baptized within two weeks of my birth and spent the next two decades as a regular adherent to Catholic traditions. From there I went to the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Then, despite…
My friend Tom and I have talked about the “lobster effect” of religious upbringing. Initially the environment feels pretty good, safe and protective. Then eventually things heat up until self-doubt and self-hate come to a boiling point. Then, like a lobster in the pot, you are a goner. I think of my early days in…
Next Monday, March 7, my friend Tom and I will again be blogging about a common topic. Since I am about a quarter century Tom’s senior, we have different perspectives on many issues but have been frequently surprised that we have come to many of the same conclusions. Tandem writing has been intellectually stimulating to…
By waiting you wait more. Every waiting day makes your life a little less. Every lonely day makes you a little smaller. Every day you put off your life makes you less capable of living it. ― Ann Brashares, Sisterhood Everlasting There is a museum in Toronto with an excellent collection of Asian art, much…
Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought. Useless and disappointing. — Hilary Duff, A Cinderella Story It feels like the number of ways we are urged to play it safe in life has grown past all reason. What was once a mild discomfort about asking a question “in front of a…
Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I’m tired. — Mae West She might have loved a man who took his time, but Mae West was otherwise a woman who did not wait. At age five she was performing on church and community stages in her New York neighborhood.…
Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout. — Morihei Ueshiba A friend asked me a while back if I ever got tired. I responded that most nights I fall asleep within ten minutes of putting my head on the pillow, so yes, I get tired. His probe went a bit further then.…
This conflict is one thing I’ve been waiting for. I’m well and strong and young – young enough to go to the front. If I can’t be a soldier, I’ll help soldiers. — Clara Barton Last week I went to an evening discussion about race. That was how it was billed, at least. But in…
Try as I might, I cannot end a week of writing posts about sex without voicing my thoughts about this week’s public apology by the Land’s End Corporation to its customers and supposed customers from the so-called religious right. Last week I wrote about apologies and what passes for apologies. I wrote that some people are…
Creating Community for Everyone 