Washington State opened their sealed records on July 1 and I sent away for my original birth certificate. I received my original birth certificate last week. I now know my birth mother’s name. I wouldn’t have thought just a name on a piece of paper, disconnected from any knowledge about her, would be so powerful.…
This weekend, our church went to the Sawtooth Mountains for All Church Camp. It was great. Good to have a different pace. Nice to have time for random conversations with no worry about what time it was or what was next on the schedule. Fun to sing around the campfire. We were generally ‘off…
I just saw the new documentary biography of Roger Ebert, titled after his memoir, Life Itself. This film, by Steve James, gets two thumbs up from me. Before seeing the film, I would not have described myself as a big fan of Ebert. I remember seeing him on TV, fighting about movies with Gene Siskel…
A friend shared an article on Facebook today that has left me conflicted and pondering things in my heart. The article, from the New York Times, is about universities and evangelical Christian student groups in conflict over non-discrimination policies. In a collision between religious freedom and anti-discrimination policies, the student group, and its advisers, have…
My most recent post at Revgals.
I spoke this weekend at the Community Progressive event in Julia Davis Park. Here’s a recap of my remarks, updated in light of the Supreme Court ruling today. There seems to be some confusion in our political and cultural discourse lately about what, exactly, constitutes “religious freedom”. The idea of religious freedom is deeply coded…
The Supreme Court today unanimously (!) overturned 35 foot buffer zones to protect women from being harassed by anti-choice protesters outside women’s health clinics. (They did split 5-4 on whether there should be any buffer zones at all, but the overturning of the Massachusetts law was unanimous). There had been a 35 foot buffer zone…
I’m currently in Detroit at the General Assembly of our church. I’m here to serve as committee support for one of the committees, and am thankful for that opportunity. The church has done so much for me throughout my whole life, that it is a gift to be able to give back to her. Anyhow,…
I just read a post about the upcoming General Assembly of the PCUSA. “Shall the Fundamentalists Win“. Chris Currie, a fellow PCUSA pastor I haven’t yet met, although I hope to soon, revisits the Fundamentalist/Modernist Controversy of almost 100 years ago. His conclusion seems to be that those of us seeking marriage equality in the…
I just heard the news. Hurricanes named for women are deadlier than hurricanes with male names. Apparently, feminine named hurricanes are perceived as less threatening than masculine named storms. “People may be dying as a result of the femininity of a hurricane (name),” says Sharon Shavitt, a professor of marketing at Illinois and a co-author…
Glass Overflowing 