Friday, August 28, 2026
Friday, August 21, 2026
the agony of thought
Sometimes a person seems to writing about one thing but turns out to be writing about everything.
For instance, William Barclay was writing about religious faith here, but come on....
We tend to accept things because we are told them and to possess them merely at secondhand. If we undergo the agony of thought there may be much that we must discard, but what is left is really ours in such a way that nothing can ever take it from us.
Source
https://www.bibliaplus.org/en/commentaries/290/barclay-daily-study-bible-nt/1-corinthians/15/1-11
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Gospel Stew . a short story about 'it's complicated'
A short story, recalled from August 19, 2014, in which a curious unnamed reader looks for answers from evangelical advice columnist, Gospel Stew.
Dear Gospel Stew,
I am a new convert with a question I am embarrassed to ask in my local fellowship. I hope you will assist me.
From the very start, I couldn't help noticing the stares as my family entered the worship center. We usually sit toward the front, on the side away from the lead guitarist, which is generally the only area with a block of seats large enough for us to sit together (we could arrive earlier and get seats at the back, but I confess that getting 23 of us out the door on time is a Sunday morning challenge).
At first I thought perhaps people noticed us because of the way we dressed—we love the beautiful fabrics of our traditional garments—so I took the whole lot on a shopping trip to dress us more like the other worshipers. This may have helped a little, but I still catch people staring. "I must be missing something!" I thought. But what?
I may have just found a clue. A few days ago, an angry comment to an internet post (I believe I am correct that anger is signified by CAPITAL LETTERS and EXTRA PUNCTUATION!! Right?) Anyway, this commenter said, "THE BIBLE IS PERFECTLY CLEAR ABOUT MARRIAGE!!! contrary to what THE KENYAN says!!!"
"Ah..." I thought. I know some Kenyans (they seem like decent folk but I am learning that sometimes appearances deceive—which raises a question for a different time, because I am unclear about which times appearances deceive and which times they may be taken at face value...I have so much to learn as a Christian).
In any event, what this commenter made PERFECTLY CLEAR(!!) in the course of two or three paragraphs—though it causes me considerable pain—may hold the key to unlocking my dilemma.
So, to the question: Now that I am a Christian, how many of my wives must I divorce? All but one? If so, which one may remain? And how must I deal with the divorced wives? Must they be put out of the household entirely and all at once? And what of the children? Must they be sent away?
The internet commenter really caught my attention with the words, HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A CHRISTIAN WHEN YOU IGNORE THE CLEAR COMMANDS OF GOD'S WORD!!! I am very new to all this and there is much of God's Word that I have yet to read. Perhaps the commenter is right: perhaps it is too soon to call myself a Christian.
As you can probably tell, I find all this a bit overwhelming. I love my family with my whole heart, each and every one of them, but I am learning to love the God of Jesus Christ even more. And I am trusting that One to give me wisdom—through you, I hope.
Awaiting your reply, I am,
sincerely yours
p.s. I would also appreciate your insight on how to approach my parents, who arranged these marriages with great care and will almost certainly be dishonored unless I find a way forward that is both thoroughly biblical and "just right" in showing respect for the ones who bore me into this world and sustained me to adulthood.
The Ball is in your court, Gospel Stew ... Don't keep us waiting.
Sunday, August 09, 2026
permanent record
[Mitch McConnell did not vote; Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against confirming the new Attorney General; every other Republican voted to confirm.]
Now, instead of following through on their commitment to the American people and (especially!) the children who were victimized by Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and alleged offenders to be named, they voted to put the man who appears to be the most responsible for the Trump Administration's failure to enforce The Act in charge of the Department of Justice on a permanent basis (whatever *permanent* means these days).
Apparently, The Act really was an act. Go figure.
Also now, except for the ones who already retired, or got primaried by farther right voters (who, one is left to imagine, may have been signaling that, though it pains them, they've decided they can live with trafficking and sex crimes against children because, you know, Joe McCarthy was right), the senators in Class II are running for reelection this fall.
Of course, nobody *has* to do anything ... but if a person thought voting mattered at all, they might consider voting for whoever is running against Senators Armstrong, Capito, Cotton, Graham, Hagerty, Hyde-Smith, Lummis, Marshall, Ricketts, Risch, Rounds, and Sullivan on November 3, 2026. Just a thought.
Sources
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/08/politics/senate-vote-blanche-confirmation-vis
Friday, August 07, 2026
Saturday, August 01, 2026
don't look back in anger — but do look back
Things happen . Two years pass . Facebook provides a memory....
On the merits, to put it mildly, I don't think I was wrong on this.
[√] Grumpy
[√] Old
[√] Straight
[√] Married
[√] Parent
[√] Jesusy
[√] White Guy
[√] for Kamala
Thursday, July 30, 2026
coach needs coach
This week, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama demonstrates the historical recall of [ ] a football coach [ ] a football [ ] something else...
Republicans can do better . If they won't, the rest of us must.
[photo courtesy of U.S. Senator
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
until *all* means *all*....
*All* still doesn't me *all* ... if anything, the sitting U.S. government administration is working to narrow the scope of *all* even further . We have not met our aspirations for goodness, let alone greatness — not by a long shot.
But neither have most Americans abandoned our aspiration to go on forming a more perfect union … we're not surrendering American democracy to authoritarian thugs, mugs, and slugs.
We understand the work: We won't rest until *all* means *all*.
[h/t Carolyn Custis James]
once more with feeling | this land is mine
Now and then, this timeless work from Nina Paley demands to be seen and considered one more time....
Trigger warning . everyone, everywhen gets skewered.
Trigger warning . everyone, everywhen gets skewered.
When will we ever learn?
From Nina Paley
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
who's looking into this?
 |
| African immigrant and dramatic wave enthusiast Elon Musk |
Seriously ... if it weren't for lawsuits filed in state courts, who would be looking into these election fraud allegations?
Donald Trump and [U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division] Harmeet Dhillon won’t shut up about election fraud. But somehow they don’t seem to notice the increasing claims against African immigrant Elon Musk for election irregularities. — Marcy Wheeler . Empty Wheel
Surely, white nationalists who believe that where a person was born is just about the most important thing about them are up in arms about this.
Sources
Tuesday, July 07, 2026
winners . losers . snoozers
Then and Now...
A year ago, July 06 2026, I wrote
Hey, so, your members of congress knew this ... or should have known it ... or certainty could have known it before they voted on the big fugly budget bill last week.
It hurts Americans in the 40 million households who can least afford to be hurt.It doesn't help that much in the 79 million households it helps.
But it sure is expensive, so....
Since *you* know *they* know, maybe send an email or letter (I hear congressional staff really like letters) so *they* know *you* know, too...
... and that you won't forget what the 51 in the Senate and the 218 in the House did — and what they failed to do...
... and who is paying the price for that...
... and who is benefiting from it...
... and whether or not you think their vote was a worthwhile expression of your American values.
Lately, it seems necessary to state the obvious:
- Losing $1,600 means a whole more to a household making $0 - $39k a year than gaining $12,000 means to a household with income of $217k - $517k.
- Facing the loss of $133 a month, a low income family of four may have to choose between nutrition, prescription drugs, a trip to the dentist, and keeping the lights on.
- With an extra $1000 a month, a high income family of four could lease a Tesla, or pop for a week at the White Lotus.
Now, one year later, to our shame, it's all playing out as predicted.
Americans living at the bottom of the income distribution will end the year down about $1600 .— losing about 130 bucks a month that *was* going to housing, food, medical care, and job expenses before the Republican Congress and President made it disappear into the pockets of Americans at the top of the distribution — who will end up with about a grand a month more than they would have taken in without the One Big Ugly Bill.
Independent researchers call this “one of the largest transfers of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich in American history.”
For your/our/my neighbors at the bottom of the economy, losing $130 a month is a much bigger deal than gaining $1,000 a month is for our neighbors at the top. Congress and this Administration are using public policy to deepen hardship for our most vulnerable households — and they knew that when they passed the bill a year ago this week.
Oh ... and it also adds between $3 and $4 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.
What do you call it when someone chooses something they know is making the poor materially poorer to make the rich insignificantly richer, while adding consequentially to the deficit?
I call it foolishness ... I call it oppression ... I call it calculated evil.
The clearest path forward is sending members of the current majority in the Senate and House of Representatives back to the private sector to learn whatever they may from those who sent them to Washington to do the people's work.
In those seats, let us put people for whom *to know better is to do better* for the good of the nation and the world.
Sources
Saturday, July 04, 2026
our turn
 |
| New York . 2008 . Amnestic_Arts CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
Alexis de Tocqueville . Democracy in America . 1835 . London . Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street . translated by Henry Reeve, Esq . p 129
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