Unemployed Theologian

I don't realize how awkward my facial hair is until I put on some nice clothes but forget to shave. Then I look like a homeless person who stumbled upon a bag of moderately-used semi-formalwear, all scruff and argyle. And this is how I dolled myself up to sing at my church's Good Friday service this morning. Now please realize, I never dress up for church. Never have, never much saw the need to. I don't mean any disrespect by it, no latent irreverence toward authority, I simply don't care much about my clothes or appearance. In fact, growing up without money for my richer friends' fancy jackets, backpacks and light up sport shoes made me pretty Zen about the whole style thing. Instead of dressing for fashion I dress for comfort. Basketball shorts, t-shirts, sandals (even in February), easy. Plus, I like to think I walk with God as much outside the church as in, so I never felt a need to gussy up for the in-house stuff. It's different when I'm up fr...

'My pastor, Veronica, one Sunday told the story of a sparrow lying in the street with its legs straight up in the air, sweating a little under its feathery arms. A warhorse walks up to the bird and asks, "What on earth are you doing?" The sparrow replies, "I heard the sky was falling, and I wanted to help." The horse laughs a big, loud, sneering horse laugh, and says, "Do you really think you're going to hold back the sky, with those scrawny little legs?" And the sparrow says, "One does what one can."' ~ Anne Lamott, Stitches Hope is a funny thing. You don't realize you need it until you suddenly find yourself without it. It's intangible, almost metaphysical, yet quantifiably necessary for survival. Scripture implores us to abide in it, reminds us of its utter importance (second only to love and tied with faith), yet counterintuitively does not seem to provide much definition for it. And in a season when life seems inte...

In the pilot episode of HBO's Newsroom Aaron Sorkin, pontificating through his curmudgeonly protagonist, calls Millennials (those of us in our late teens or twenties) the "worst. generation. ever." In his own tirade on the woes of our culture, Louis C. K. joins in on the fun, calling us "the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots." Geeze guys, tell us how you really feel. Is that fair, though? Do we really suck so terribly as that? Critics of the Millennial generation often cite our laziness and entitlement as reasons why we're the worst, which... I don't know, maybe that's fair. I certainly don't have much ground to argue we aren't self-obsessed or work-averse. We are, in fact, the "selfie" generation, infamous for compulsively sharing every thought, shoe, food item and hairstyle for the wide internet audience. It's as though each of us assumes the world would be worse off without our unilaterally compelling subtweets and ...