Happened to read two interesting takes on the whole concept of good manners, and it underscores something I’ve thought modern, “civilized” people should always keep in mind: We’re skating on thin ice if we’re relying on Niceness to keep us out of trouble.

In “Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior,**” author and social […]

Just to be clear, when someone posits in a work of fiction that Christ had a family, it spins off a mega-million dollar global discussion. When someone rediscovers an ancient work of Gnostic literature, National Geographic makes sure to do a big presentation of this “new gospel” in time for Easter.
But when archaeologists uncover fortifications […]

This was the quote today in “Daily Lives **” and I thought it was pretty appropriate as we get a little further into Lent:
Nothing done in humility for the sake of God is bad. But things and pursuits differ. Everything not strictly necessary is a hindrance to salvation — everything, that is to say, that […]

I’m very sleepy as I write this. A sudden snowstorm and temperature drop has absolutely forced me (oh darn!) to hole up in the den and turn the space-heater up to 90. The realization that this is the last day to have any dairy products before Lent meant I filled up on some fine cheesy […]

I just found out that Fr. Jack Sparks passed away on Monday. What a loss for us all! He was such a merry soul. He had this way of making the sign of the cross on your forehead and then giving it a little smack to make it sink it. It worked. (except in my […]

I just added a short quote by Frederica Mathewes-Green to the rotating list of quotes that show up at right, and it reminded me of one of the most basic things about Christians that I think non-Christians get wrong. Or at least, I hope they do.

In “The Jesus Prayer: The Ancient Desert Prayer that Tunes […]

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When praying with people, we sometimes have to pierce through with our prayer as if it were the hardest wall — human souls, hardened and petrified by earthly passions — to penetrate the Egyptian darkness, the darkness of passions and worldly attachments. This is why it is sometimes difficult to pray. The simpler the people […]

Brief intro: A Facebook friend chided me for my blogging laxity (shout-out to C. Sue, who is stangely fond of getting mentioned in the blog) — and I told her I had been busy. That’s only partly true. I wrote this entry over a week ago, but for some dumb reason I decided it really […]

Well, if my New Year’s Resolution had started off with better church attendance, I’d have been thwarted right off the bat. More snow fell last night and this morning, and our intended trip to church became a very quick trip with a very slow U-turn in it. Not an entirely wasted effort, because if I […]

Had a bit of unintentional humor just now, and I had to send it along. When first-timers comment on the blog, it goes into a queue that I have to approve, which gives me a chance to get rid of all the tender offerings of commercial opportunities to buy herbal remedies and generic Viagra.
I’m used […]