Things I Think…
1. Let me speak to you for a moment here as a pastor. There seems to have developed among us an unspoken expectation that those of us who oppose Christian nationalism should be as active and vocal about opposing this heresy as the people who are promoting it.
In other words, you should be as obsessed with politics from another angle as the people you oppose.
I lay no such burden on anyone.
For many, it is hard enough to hold onto faith while dealing with their own personal situations and pains.
Many are clinging to Jesus just to get through and they have no space for conflict or “speaking truth to power’.
For those dear folk, I pray that God bless you where you are and know that you are no less important, no less loved, and no less important to the kingdom of God…
2. If you’ve been here for the long haul, you know that the brilliant writer Charles Bowden was a mentor and hero to me. Bowden spent most of his writing career chronicling the issues on the border and the violence of the drug trade. He basically spent his life staring into the abyss, then writing what he saw. He was bold, courageous , agnostic, and profane and defined being “well read’.
His favorite book?
“The Little Flowers of St. Francis”.
Huh?
Bowden know that having a sense of wonder was critical to mental and spiritual health.
He also devoured the writings of St. Augustine.
I tell you all of this because some of you are spending too much time staring into the abyss of our current political and cultural situations.
I would encourage you to read St. Francis or St. John of the Cross…or Berry or Bonhoeffer…anything that gives you some sense of wonder again.
Chuck was big on going into and observing nature.. St. Augustine says: “Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”
3. We lost Lennox, the family dog last week. His death was sudden and unexpected and incredibly painful for all of us here. When I was thinking about what Lennox had given us, the first thing that came to mind was that dogs (and cats) remind us what it means to be truly created in God’s image. The giving of unconditional love and faithful friendship should be the mark of human relationships…because that is not usually true, we need pets to remind us of what could be…
4. I’m on the Bluesky app…@phoenixpreacher.bsky.social . I’m not on social media much these days, but I do spend a little time there…
5. Losing Lennox so quickly also reminded me of how random and fragile life can be. He finished well…he loved his people with all of his heart to the end. I can only hope the same will be said about me…but I’m not nearly as good a person as your average dog…
6. All our pets have been completely unaffected by the culture and political wars. They seem to know what is really important…do we?
7. Jamie Anderson said, “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in the hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” To help us process the grief over Lennox, we have a new dog now…Carmel. She is not a “replacement”, but a new friend to help us learn to love as we should and a place where the grief can be transformed. She is a pretty girl…the cats aren’t feeling the love yet, but they will…
8. There is nothing more repulsive to me and antithetical to the teachings of Jesus than to hear someone talk about the “sin of empathy”…
9. 
10. We think we have resolved the hacking issue that covered this place in ads once a week. Just so those with malicious intent understand…whenever we get hacked, it’s a sign from God for me to continue…
I didn’t know Bowden read Franciscan works, let alone Augustine. The Franciscan influence makes sense. Thanks for the link.
There is so much wonder about the nature and work of God. Not to recognize it, be enraptured by it, is an indication that our senses have become dull
Should I continue to pray for the hackers to return to you keep writing? (Just kidding!).
Michael-good words, as always. I was upset this morning with the entire news cycle. Then, I had to leave school for a medical appointment and I realized what a beautiful day it is in my part of the world- Sunny, 55 degrees, and a deep blue sky. I breathed in some fresh air, and came back to work with a commitment to get some work done and leave DC alone until tomorrow (one daily look at the news is probably sufficient for the evil thereof).
Why is it that so many people just cannot live and let live?
Hi, Muff,
There is a point to live and let live. Then there is a point of being in a church where a number of the white parishioners see nothing wrong with the brown parishioners being deported…that’s where I have a bit of a problem not speaking up. Our Anglo pastor actually said publicly that the Los Angeles fires were due to DEI. I mean, really? (I’m almost a native Californian-landed here when I was 3).
Good to see you’re on the Bluesky, Michael.
Had to separate out this comment from my next comment…
AMEN to #10
pstrmike,
His favorite Francis story in the Little Flowers is the one about the wolf…
Linn,
You’re on the front lines in so many ways…I hope many here are holding you up in prayer.
bob1,
I like it…it’s not as filled out as X, but more will come…
One of the fruit of the spirit is gentleness. Some forgot on purpose.
So sorrow for your loss of Lennox. My heart goes out to you.
I have been stewing over in my mind if or how I want to interact with people online about culture war crap, political crap, crap, etc. I am not sure I have the constitution for even short debates, let alone long, drawn-out scuffles. I hate arguing with people, especially since most people don’t want to change anyways. Kevin here was gracious enough to me to shed some light on how he goes about it. I waffle between wanting to keep myself from being polluted by the world, and wanting to not turn away from injustice.
Mchael,
Thanks. I spend more time in Spanish than in English, and stay on pleasantries when I do anything in English. I don’t want to start arguments, and I do want to listen. I’m also realizing that some I know who voted for T really didn’t think it would be this outrageous. I’m praying for loving wisdom and safety for our Hispanic congregation.
@ Linn:
What is DEI ?
a healthy list–some really good things to weigh and consider. I’m struggling to step away from the 24/7 exposure to news and opinion. It is an engrained habit that’s proving more stubborn than I anticipated. Deliberately filling the slots with some healthy reading is an antidote, I think, and both Bonhoffer and Berry are on the list. Hopefully, my morose/melancholy mindset will begin to lift.
Muff,
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Michael,
The description of grief is a good one. But one thing I have learned about grief is you have to lean into it, let it take you over, overwhelm you, experience all that is there, or it will become a massive problem down the road. There is probably some spiritual application in there.
I know that I have not dealt with the death of my wife yet, and it is becoming a cancer to my mental health. My therapist and I discuss this extremely uncomfortable topic often.
I don’t know how to deal with loss. I still have not dealt with the loss of being a pastor. My method was to drink it away. I didn’t embrace the grief. Let it take its course.
The loss of a dog is the loss of family. Period.
I am trying to stay out of the criticism of the current political landscape. Trying. I am trying to maintain the attitude that there are far more precious things in life. I am trying to come to a spiritual conclusion or awakening, in hopes that it will help my mental health. It’s one of the reasons why I hang out here so often.
However, I see theocracy, Christian nationalism, as if it were a bullet already headed down the barrel. This enrages me. I have political differences with almost everyone, right or left, but I stand in solidarity with anyone who is against this nonsense. John Adams and the entire Senate signed the Treaty of Tripoli understanding fully what article 11 meant:
“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims]; and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Islamic] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”
This is a reflection of the notion that there shall be a separation of church and state. It was at one time incomprehensible that this should be violated. Yet, here we are. And my inclination is to shout it from the rooftops. But I don’t have the energy anymore, and there is nobody who will listen.
I’m 50. I have a 17 year old son. I am just a year or so from my last drink. I don’t have a clue what the future holds. Not even tomorrow. So here I am.
#1 – This is 100% true. I am convinced a number of exvangelicals (and those of us still Christians but very dismayed at the church’s capitulation to all things Trump) have just traded in one set of fundamentalisms for another. Instead of Youth Pastors blaming you for your friend burning in hell, if you don’t post enough anti-Trump memes you’re responsible for Project 2025 or whatever. So instead of Kid Rock shooting Bud Light cans you get Derek Webb in a dress.
I work with enough people w/Mental Health challenges where just getting through the day is a problem — I’m not laying all of the burden of the past 3 elections on them. Everyone on TikTok/FB/IG makes it look easy to #Resist, just like the Moral Majority made it look easy to oppose New Age Liberals or whatever.
#2 I’ll take it. I swear if people who were posting memes and conspiracies about Elon Musk or whoever would just chill out and read St. Francis, work in the nursery, or even watch Mr. Rogers reruns we’d have a different church. Again, the #resistance types make it look like being angry and snarky all of the time is what being a Prophet is. It ain’t. Same goes for the Falwell-types from the past 45 years too.
#3 – Dogs are a gift. We talk about pets that passed decades ago in our family like it was yesterday. It sounds like Lennox was a gift as well.
#4 I just went for it on signed on to Mastodon instead of BlueSky. It’s like the Food Co-Op store to Twitter’s WalMart — a very different vibe if you can handle some of the stranger aspects.
#8 – This is just. so. freakin. weird. I will never understand the bizarre circles some people talk themselves into by saying dumb things. Log off for awhile, theobros! You’ll pry my empathy from my cold, dead, hands — and even then I’ll try to understand what you’re going through.
#9 Speaking of prophets. Apparently Beth Moore is doing a cartoon voice in a new show with Veggie Tale alums and Steve Taylor at the helm. I’m curious.
DavidP…is that the “I Predict 1990” and “Meltdown” (at Madame Tussaud’s” Steve Taylor?
Yes, the same one!
Michael, thank you for #1. I am one of those.
I don’t have the emotional energy to speak out, argue, or make a case against the things many religious leaders say I should be rallying against if I “really belong to Christ”. I spend my energy just trying to deal daily with my failing body. I spend it worrying about things I can’t change.
I spend it keeping my family aware of the fact that I love them, and more importantly that God does. I spend it getting up every day and praying that He would uphold so many that I have met and talked to who are barely hanging on. I spend it just getting through work.
And thank you also for reminding me of wonder.
“Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made.” We need to remember this…..
I live near the ocean. I refuse to ever live anywhere but near the ocean, where I can see it every day. There is wonder is those depths, that echo to me the depths of the love He has for us. I like knowing that it is always there. This keeps me grounded.
Thank you , Michael, for still writing. I know you have struggles far greater than my own, yet you carry on.