Russellings of the Spirit

faith

  • Thank you, Chris and Charlie

    Today I want to use this space to say “Thank you” to all the people in my life who ever tried to teach me anything. Lord knows this note is – in some cases – 50 or more years overdue.… Continue reading

  • Should we be nice?

    Today, while taking the dogs for a walk in the park, I saw a hand-painted sign leaning against a fence. It was big… probably four feet high and six feet wide. Every letter on the sign was painted a different… Continue reading

  • Certain Uncertainty

    I may have said this before, but I just LOVE Google! Questions which, in bygone days, might have floated off into the ether unanswered, can now be resolved in the blink of an eye, thanks to Google. Just yesterday, for example, I… Continue reading

  • Trusting the Master Mapmaker

    I am not exactly sure when it started, but for a very long time I’ve had a deep fascination with MAPS. I remember my very real excitement when – at the age of eight or nine – my grandfather handed… Continue reading

  • Happy birthday, Andy

    Yesterday was Andy’s birthday. His first 39 birthdays were celebrated here on earth. The last three have been celebrated in Andy’s new, celestial home.  Having the good fortune to be born exactly halfway between them, Andy was a childhood friend… Continue reading

  • One Coin… Two Sides

    So, have you ever seen this translation of the Bible? It’s the one that starts with the words, “In the beginning, God got political.” No. Of course you haven’t seen that translation. I just now concocted that verse. But I did so… Continue reading

  • A Tangled History

    Yesterday I wrote about the way politics and faith seem to live on polar opposite ends of the known universe. (a post which you can read in its entirety here.) As we check the historical record, however, it seems they have… Continue reading

  • The Intersection

    Sometimes they seem to go together like… … anchovies and marshmallows, or … toddlers and Harleys, or … armadillos and highways, or … two other things that really, really don’t go together at all. And no, I am not talking… Continue reading

  • Two Years On…

    Today is the day when – two years ago – our world turned upside down. After experiencing a long bout of various gastrointestinal distresses, Joan went made an appointment with her doctor. She went in on a Wednesday to get… Continue reading

  • Questioning Church

    For most of my life, there has been very little question about church. To be sure, different chapters have witnessed different relationships to church. There was the “blind obedience” stage, the “I’m just here to meet cute girls” stage, the… Continue reading