It’s hard to appreciate independence as an American in the 21st century. We are still benefitting today—July 4th, 2013—from the courage and bravery of a people whose chosen leaders pledged their “lives, [their] fortunes, and [their] sacred honor” two hundred and thirty-seven years ago. Well over two centuries of time has passed since that particular…
Year: 2013
An Open Letter Apology from the Church
Not that I have any real force behind this open letter to every person on the planet, but it’s what’s on my heart today. For so long, those who claim to know and live for God have been such a harmful representation of him (myself included) that many people wrongly dismiss their rightful place as…
DOMA Arigato
Just about a week ago, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) was in the news for two rulings in regards to same-sex marriages. One was specific to California (Proposition 8), and I won’t address that here, but the first was regarding a case challenging the constitutionality of section three (§3) of the Defense…
Quiet
It’s amazing what a little ‘R & R’ can do for a body. And I don’t just mean one’s physical body. For a good while now I’ve been feeling as though I am running on empty—nearly all the time, every day. That’s obviously not a great way to exist (nor, even more obviously, to thrive)…
All Quiet on the Western (NY) Front
The ice has been silent for a couple months now. The offseason football personnel moves have been made, and practices have come and gone. The end of June brings near complete silence in the two worlds of professional sports in Buffalo, NY. In the 24/7/365 sports world that America seems to currently inhabit, this is…
The Bible Tells Me So
“Yes, Jesus loves me… The Bible tells me so!” Perhaps you sang those words just now as you read them because they are indelibly engrained upon your soul from countless repetitions in your early childhood. (And maybe you still sing them regularly with your own kids.) It’s a great song, and it’s true. The Bible…
Nothing To Prove
Imagine with me, please, that we are all free. There’s nothing to prove—ever. I don’t have to defend my spoken thoughts to you, nor those I neglected to speak, though you wished I had. You don’t have to explain yourself to me, either. And both of us are able to freely express what we think…
Question With Boldness
Though most people nowadays can conceive of no better poster child for agnosticism (or, at the very least, deism), Jefferson himself may have had a bone to pick with such people. In a letter to his nephew, on the topic of forming his own views on religion (a topic which he labeled “important”), Thomas Jefferson…
Jen
Yesterday was not a great day. There was not any one particular reason for it being “not great”; or maybe there are too many to bother with detailed listing. After all the children were in their beds, I grabbed a book and collapsed in my own bed, allowing the story to distract my mind and…
Pray… Why?
Do you ever wonder why we pray? I mean, God is love, he’s all knowing, he’s sovereign, omni-everything, right? So… why should I reiterate what he already knows, especially since he also knows what comes next? Yes. So have I. In fact, I often wonder all of that while I am praying. It happens when…