ABp Tutu tries to get a piggy back ride at the National Cathedral. (Taken with instagram)

ABp Tutu tries to get a piggy back ride at the National Cathedral. (Taken with instagram)

I have no words. Desmond Tutu, Dorota, and I. (Taken with instagram)

I have no words. Desmond Tutu, Dorota, and I. (Taken with instagram)

ilovecharts: Books of the Bible We saw this one and thought we should submit our version. -twentyonehundred productions

ilovecharts:

Books of the Bible

We saw this one and thought we should submit our version.

-twentyonehundred productions

ilovecharts

Crumbs from the Communion Table: A challenge to both sides of the Amendment One debate.

gcnjustin:

This is probably the most political thing I will ever post on this blog, but in spite of the fact that it was inspired by a recent political debate, this isn’t actually a political post. It’s actually about people, and how we respond to these sorts of polarizing political debates.

As you may…

gcnjustin

reinholdbieber

Franklin Delano Roosevelt at age 2 wearing traditional, American, gender-neutral clothing, shoes, and hairstyle of not-all-that-long-ago. This post brought to you with love in response to Pastor Sean “beat the gay out of your kids, I mean, um, marriage is for a man and a woman” Harris. [Click through the picture for a Smithsonian article on a brief history of gender identifiers in the U.S.]

Franklin Delano Roosevelt at age 2 wearing traditional, American, gender-neutral clothing, shoes, and hairstyle of not-all-that-long-ago.

This post brought to you with love in response to Pastor Sean “beat the gay out of your kids, I mean, um, marriage is for a man and a woman” Harris.

[Click through the picture for a Smithsonian article on a brief history of gender identifiers in the U.S.]

How do we argue in the church?

From my friend, Jesse Zink’s blog.

What would it be like for people who disagree on communion to come together for prayer, instead of debate? As much as I am filled with hope, I fear that Tom Ferguson is right and the communion question will quickly become one which “will just become another flashpoint as we organize ourselves into our little mini-communities, desperately trying to find the people who are like us, and, hence, the true Episcopalians.”

Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay

“It’s important to stress the obvious: Not all those who campaign against gay men and lesbians secretly feel same-sex attractions. But at least some who oppose homosexuality are likely to be individuals struggling against parts of themselves, having themselves been victims of oppression and lack of acceptance. The costs are great, not only for the targets of anti-gay efforts but also often for the perpetrators. We would do well to remember that all involved deserve our compassion.”

The New York Times

Jesus Cleansing the Temple, Jeffrey Weston

Jesus Cleansing the Temple, Jeffrey Weston

Perpetually Becoming

Lent 3, Year B

The second I pop open that blue plastic bag of Lay’s Salt & Vinegar chips I catch a whiff of that robust flavor, and before I know it, the bag is empty. In the season of Lent, many of us give up things like chocolate or sweets, or meat (on Fridays). For Lent I have given up my go-to comfort food: those mouth-watering salt & vinegar potato chips.

Lenten practices like these are almost as mainstream as the chocolate bunnies that seem to hop on the grocer’s shelves just in time for Thanksgiving. These practices are good things—we become a bit healthier, more disciplined, and more conscious, and they give us opportunities to honor and remember Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross. However, if actions such as these Lenten disciplines lack connection to our most basic intentions, a moment of religious expression becomes a shallow transaction. Lent is a season when we are enabled to look not only at our actions, but at the intentions that lie behind them. By pursuing this kind of honest reflection within ourselves, we become more aware of the relationship that God seeks to strengthen with us.

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