One of the best Christmas gifts I received as a kid was a crystal radio kit. In 1958, when I was seven, this was an exciting piece of high technology. A rectangle of hardboard held three small screws connected by wires. After wrapping a small coil, making a few couplings with bent paper clips, and […]
Continue readingShow Me Your Doubt And I’ll Show You Mine
When I was in seminary, I became friends with a young Coptic priest from Ethiopia. His name was Marcus, and we both worked as chaplaincy trainees in a large urban hospital. One day, as we relaxed in the chaplain’s office, he described his personal cave. On graduation from priesthood training in Egypt, Marcus was given […]
Continue readingThe Things We Imagine
Two chimpanzees mauled an American graduate student in South Africa last month. He was leading a tour of a jungle refuge filled with our closest animal relatives. Tragically, he stepped inside a restricted zone, violated chimpanzee territory, and they defended themselves. The young man is missing fingers and toes, one testicle, hunks of arm flesh, […]
Continue readingThe Parable of The Prick and The Scum Bag
Jesus didn’t like everybody. The man so often equated with peace and love got annoyed with people. He famously chased a gaggle of businessmen out of the Jerusalem temple. He compared pharisaic lawyers to a den of poisonous snakes. On more than a few occasions, he described his own disciples as dim-witted. And to the […]
Continue readingJack Daniel Nights
Whenever heading north into Quebec to go fishing, it is necessary to stop at the duty-free store and buy a bottle of Jack Daniels. Duty-free bottles are bigger and they cost less. The bigger size is required to ensure sufficient quantities for use as mouthwash, followed by toasts to the morning, toasts to the fish […]
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