I'm starting with the profane, because I'm a sucker for happy endings, so I want to end on a happier note. So, first, The Crap.

THE PROFANE

Sometime in the past 12 months, my church got a new liturgist. Sister Magdalene was replaced by Sister. . .somebody. I can't remember her name, but it may be because I've now got an instictive mental block. But ( Read more... )

First, happy Wiki linkage.

It was used primarily as a metaphor for occurances at the painfully small level, and is not considered to necessarily actually apply to cats in boxes. Which is why we can be assured that no one has actually harmed any cats or potentially harmed cats when dealing with this mind experiment.

Ok, now, to boil this down the way ( Read more... )

Have you all heard about the Episcopalian priest who has decided that she’s both Christian and Muslim? No, actually, this isn’t the 2003 fake-news story from Scrappleface-this is for real. Well, she thinks it is, anyway. . .

Since you all most likely have been reading for a while, you know that I come down somewhere between middle-of-the-road ( Read more... )

My conversations with my coworker Ali often give me food for thought. A couple days ago, we were discussing a variety of things, like Buffy, Angel, Harry Potter. . .you know, things. Somehow, we ended up talking about Scientology (can’t quite recall how we got there!) , and what a nutty little cult it is.

At this point, Ali came forth with an ( Read more... )

Although not Anglican, and certainly never having been a hostage in Beirut, I find a certain sympathy with what Terry Waite has to say in this artice.

Just last week I was . . . lamenting to my roommates about my problems with the Easter Vigil Mass as it's been carried out these past few years.
As the mass has gotten longer and longer, more and more ( Read more... )

You all may be interested in this:
http://johncwright.livejournal.com/85492.html

He's on my friends list, and he's consistently this good. . .

My co-worker, we'll call her Ali, is a very ardent atheist. She and I talk quite often, and I think she forgets that I am very much not an atheist, I think because I don't fit her image of an "ardent believer"-- likely, in that I'm not always quoting the Bible, not always talking to her about Jesus, and am, in her words, "very intelligent."  We'll ( Read more... )

So, you know how when you're sick, or otherwise classified as a "shut-in", you can catch mass on TV? Well, some of those TV masses (depending on where you live) are filmed at the Shrine, in the lovely crypt church. Last night, my church choir provided the music for the upcoming 4th Sunday of Lent and Palm Sunday ( Read more... )

And I wanna have a copy of the links in case I accidently delete the email I sent myself.

First, from Michael Totten
neato.

But, from the comments to that one, looks like Michael Yon visited as well.

I'm especially interested, naturally, in the religious beliefs. I remember reading a Sufi legend about Lucifer that is, save for the name, exactly like ( Read more... )