Catholic, Gay, and Feeling Fine, Thanks
“Oh, stop crying already.” It’s twenty years ago, but I remember the exact tone of my father’s voice, equal parts impatience and disgust. To me, crying is something that happens, not something I can decide to do or not do, so his command makes me burn with all the anger of which a nine-year-old is…
During my first year of college, I kept a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in my dorm room window, facing outwards, so that when I walked across campus I’d see her watching over me from the third floor. That image had always hung in a corner of the kitchen in my parent’s house. For…
My goodness, I wish I had time to say something about the news this morning. But I love what Fr. Dwight Longenecker has to say about it. I can’t imagine what humility it must have taken him to make this decision. I mean, I find it difficult even to call in sick.
Sorry, readers, I’ve been stuck somewhere at the junction of sick and lazy. I’ve spent the last few days mostly in bed, something I unfortunately needed to do. At the same time, I’m grateful that my station in life is such that, if I need to, I can spend a few days in bed. When…
Whee, isn’t the site nice and shiny now? Notable changes: General redesign to make things less squashed. Added new pages where you can find links to other pieces I’ve written, as well as talks and interviews I’ve done. Ditched the Google ads because they were dumb and not particularly profitable. Added a subscribe page, so…
It’s 2003, and I am afloat emotionally and spiritually and socially and nearly every other way a 20-year-old can be afloat. The administration keeps talking about community, like it has for the last three years: building it, taking part in it, respecting it, supporting it; but I don’t know what community is, don’t even know…
The other day, because I’m not used to dealing with life without tobacco (12 days so far, whee!) and because I ran out of my meds accidentally that morning (I’ve got some more now) and because sometimes things are just a lot to take, I found myself sitting in my cubicle and looking at my…
Imagine somebody trying to overcome a habit of gluttony who spends his free time watching cooking shows, and who, every time he passes a bakery, stops to breathe the smells in deeply for a full minute. It’s not going to work. The temptation to overeat doesn’t occur in isolation: it’s a symptom of a broader…
My review of Iris DeMent’s latest, Sing the Delta, is up at Catholic Exchange. Check it out and, gosh, listen to Iris DeMent! She’s the kind of artist who permanently adds to your life something that wasn’t there before.
Here it is — my second Idaho talk. Edited a little more heavily this time: I didn’t take out any content, I just took out the parts where I said “um” repeatedly, or made a lot of stupid mouth noises because I couldn’t remember what I was going to say, or paused for several seconds…
