Month: November 2013

  • A voice for the Newly Saved

    A voice for the Newly Saved

    I don’t want to be a voice for the Newly Saved. I don’t want to be looked at as an example of what happens when Christ enters a person’s life. I don’t want to stand as a representative for all the Pagan converts out there, as though Pagans are so unified a group that there […]

  • Bible-crazy

    Bible-crazy

    I didn’t grow up in a bible-crazy church. That may sound like an unnecessary disclaimer, but it’s the kind I feel myself wanting to make these days. There was plenty of scripture in the Episcopal services — more, I’ve been told, than you’ll find in your typical Sunday service at an Evangelical church — but […]

  • Go ahead and belove

    Go ahead and belove

    “Excuse me,” the voice said from off to my side. “Can you help me?” She was an old woman, perhaps in her 80’s. Her bones looked small and fragile. She wore a dirty coat. For some reason the coat really bothered me. This woman shouldn’t have been out there in the cold. She should have been […]

  • This one man

    This one man

    I went to the Catholic cathedral in downtown Los Angeles because I wanted to buy a cross. Specifically, I wanted to buy a replica of the cross that the Pope wears. It’s kind of an unusual thing for me to do. I’m not Catholic. My grandmother is, and being raised Episcopalian, a denomination my mother […]

  • A Christian, nonetheless.

    A Christian, nonetheless.

    I’ve been to dozens of baptisms in my life, but this one was different. I sat in the back of All Saints in Beverly Hills, a lovely little church in an obscenely wealthy part of the world, and I watched babies have water poured over the heads. I watched parents smile as the priest anointed […]

  • Text Message God-Talk with my Husband

    Text Message God-Talk with my Husband

    This is the kind of conversation my husband and I have over text messages: Teo: When was the King James Bible published? Sean: 1600s Teo: And before that time, how did Christians come to know the Gospel? Or even have a complete sense of what “The Bible” was? Sean: Oh, there were other, earlier versions […]

  • Awestruck

    Awestruck

    I’m in Los Angeles, sitting in Swingers Diner. The air smells like onions and bacon, and before long I probably will, too. An Irish pub band is playing from the jukebox.  I’m the only customer here. I opened the joint. After breakfast I’ll head to an Episcopal church on Hollywood Boulevard called St. Thomas. It’s […]