The immature and self-orienting love of Romeo and Juliet leads them to a tomb, and later their kinsfolk join their corpses in the crypt and weep. Thier unbridled affection has dealt more death than all the ancient duels between Montague and Capulet. It ends both family lines by cutting off both house’s heirs. Though it had promised to endure forever, worldly love leads us to the grave.
Read moreThis is the true magic
So also this week when you hear it said “let us remember,” as you most certainly will hear it said often during these holy days, it means more than merely “replaying” the story of Jesus in your mind or on the stage at church. It means being drawn into the covenant enacted by the story. The Gospel of Jesus, Holy Week, is a living thing. It incorporates our stories into itself. It saves us. It heals us. In it the Spirit renews us. By it the Kingdom is re-kneaded into the dough of the world (cf. Matt. 13:33).
Read moreWhy are we wearing blue to the Feast of the Annunciation?
In the Church’s calendar there exist a set of feast days in which Mary, the mother of Our Lord, plays a leading role. And while among this number there are those that vary from tradition to tradition (Lutheran, Roman, Eastern, etc.) a solid handful are so ecumenical, so “everywhere-by-everyone-in-every-age”, that the burden of proof lies on those who would contest their place in Our Calendar.
Read moreThoughts on burnout
Chronic fatigue is the steady state of us moderns. We are always tired. Of what, though? Few of us labor the long hours of our forebears or people in other parts of the world —we’re not baking bricks, we’re all pharaohs now. Entertainment and luxury industries have accelerated the rate at which we have access to leisure goods. We live longer, have more stable health-care systems, and wider access to food and water, generally speaking.
Read moreKiss of death: Judas, Joab, Michael Corleone, and Romeo and Juliet
When I say “kiss of death” the first popular image that comes to mind is the scene from The Godfather Part II when mob-boss Michael Corleone kisses his traitorous brother Fredo, marking him-out for slaughter. “I know it was you Fredo! You broke my heart!” Michael’s kiss brings death.
Read moreDavid's census: a brief lesson on rage and algorithmic governance
When we hear the word “Rage” we think something loud and obvious; we think red-hot anger and raised voices; we think clenched fists and things being slammed. And that’s right —in part. Sometimes Rage looks like these things.
Sometimes, however, Rage takes other forms —forms to which we are blind because we inhabit them every day. Sometimes Rage looks like cold calculation, naked power, slow violence, and systemic control.
Read moreA farewell address to all the things I will give-up during Lent
Good-bye, little comforts, for a time.
Read moreLove keeps time
Immature lovers say in the fever of early attraction: “I wish this moment could last forever.”
Read moreRoland Barthes and the burning bush
But a love that burns poses a problem. How can flame continue to burn? If it continues won’t it burn-out? And what then becomes of love? Here too it seems many of the social scientists and poets also agree: the thing we call love does not seem to be a thing that can burn forever. Either it burns or it remains. And thus Roland Barthes asks, why it is better to last than to last.
Read moreThe lives of others all over your own
What is hospitality if not the act of getting the lives of other people all over your own? …
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