Y’all know I love a good apocalypse, right? Whether it’s John Cusack fleeing the Mayan apocalypse with his estranged family or Jake Gyllenhaal fleeing a global-warming-caused Ice Age or Elijah Wood fleeing meteor-induced tidal waves, I’m in. (Not Bruce Willis flying into space to stop a meteor. That movie just sucked. Totally.) Perhaps a part of my adoration of the …
Hallowtide
Last night was good. As has become our annual tradition, we made a lot of food and bought a lot of candy. Good friends come over to help us eat and drink and pass out candy to thousands of kids that swarm our neighborhood. As always, it was delightful seeing all the tiny adorable kids in their tiny adorable costumes. …
St. Molly Ivins
I confess, though I do not repent, that my study of, interest in, and presentation of saints is somewhat academic. Book knowledge holds great power for me. I’m affected by it. There is also the fact that I could not have known Joe Strummer or Dorothy Day, much less Teresa, Francis, Sergius, or Bacchus. So I gather and present information …
St. Teresa of Avila
Perhaps Teresa of Avila was destined to be a saint. Her grandfather, Juanito de Hernandez, was a converso, a Jew who had converted to Christianity. Conversos were always held in suspicion by a Spanish Catholic Church concerned with proper doctrine and busily developing notions of race to export to the New World. It was thought that Jewish blood made it …
SS. Sergius and Bacchus/AWAB Sunday
It has been wonderful the last few weeks watching court decisions roll in, toppling the state dominoes of bigotry. Marriage equality is now the law of the land in 30 states, which accounts for 60% of the population of the U.S. It’s a beautiful time for all who care about justice. Even more for those who long for equality and …
St. Joe Strummer
This week, we honor St. Joe Strummer, the guitarist and lyricist for seminal punk bands, the 101ers and the Clash. His later career with the Mescaleros was equally rich. Perhaps this is a selfish choice. Paul and I are just huge fans. We never miss an opportunity to include one of Joe’s songs in our services. It is not difficult …
St. Dorothy Day
As we are quickly hurtling toward All Saints Day, it is time for the 2nd annual Church in the Cliff canonization of saints. Each year, we select a few people who exemplify something that we understand about ourselves as a church. Like the Catholic Church, our saints must be dead and must have performed miracles. Of course, we’re a little …
I Want to Forget
This is the 11th of September. I began the day with an easy run in a soft rain, the gray clouds making the green foliage seem to glow with its own light. It is unusually cool out for this time of year in Texas, perhaps signaling an early Fall. What’s left of my lawn after the heat of the summer …
Church Fight!
Church in the Cliff has been through some transitions in the past five years. I say, “transitions,” but anyone who has been around through that time knows that I really mean “meltdowns.” As with any group of human beings that try to get together and sustain relationships, there is sometimes conflict. That is unavoidable. However, what we do with conflict …
Rest from Our Labors
You may have noticed, even through the haze of a beer-soaked, three-day weekend, that this is Labor Day Weekend. We all know this is the unofficial end of summer and, therefore, the day I have to stop wearing my fancy white suits, but it’s also a day that we celebrate labor by taking a break from it. What you may …