The Stages of Conversion

I have, in my life, converted to any number of things, moved on, then reverted and converted again. I think I have finally settled down, and this is a very sharp analysis of the stages one goes through: http://metalutheran.blogspot.com/2008/12/stages-of-conversion.html

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The New Homeless

Recently the face of homelessness has changed; new homeless people are less likely to be mentally ill or addicted, and more likely to be people who have lost their jobs and their homes to foreclosure. Homeless advocates find themselves helping a new group of people who are out on the street for the first time, [...]

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Joyous

I stole this from the Deacon’s Bench (http://www.patheos.com/community/deaconsbench)

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For Sunday: The Cherubic Hymn

One of my favorite prayers from the Divine Liturgy, sung at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist: “Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim, and sing the Thrice-Holy Hymn to the life -creating Trinity, now set aside all earthly cares.” Icon by Basil Lefchick

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The Last Palestinian Christian Village

“Our village of Taybeh is the only all Christian village that remains in Palestine twenty minutes outside Jerusalem before Jericho with 1300 residents all of whom are Christian and the majority is Greek Orthodox. All residents are Palestinians with a handful of outsiders. Following the l967 Israeli invasion of the West Bank approximately ten thousand [...]

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The Glory of Ukraine, in Texas

“In the Hall of Paleontology, troops of schoolchildren and toddlers scurry, skitter and squeal among ancient dinosaur bones and Tyrannosaurus rex fossils. But tucked away in a corner of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, amid hushed tones and an air of veneration, the glory and grandeur of a great cathedral awaits. Here, under arched [...]

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Class Warfare

 ”There’s class warfare, all right,” Warren Buffett told The New York Times two years before the 2008 crash, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” More: http://www.counterpunch.org/winship07292011.html

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A Day in the Life

As an admitted sentimental Christian humanist, I have to admit that this looks pretty wonderful. However, after my disappointment with the Most Wonderful Movie in the World (http://caelumetterra.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/the-most-wonderful-movie-trailer-ever/) I probably will not make the prerequisite trip to Cleveland to see it, and will wait for the DVD. I will  eventually let you know if the [...]

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Mercy and Interreligious Dialogue

The cardinal recalled that the Jewish people received the vocation to “be servants of God’s mercy in all nations.” Moreover, he added, “this word appears in each of the Surahs of the Quran, which always begins by invoking the merciful God.” “It’s also present everywhere in the Gospel,” the 60-year-old prelate reminded. “I don’t know [...]

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Great New Avett Brothers Song

These guys are my new favorites:

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