Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
MARCH 10, 2021 – Where I grew up, sometimes you’d run into a kid who went to Mt. Olivet Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, hidden on our side of town; the Baptist Church, standing across from Monty’s Pure Oil at Main and Ferry; the Congregational Church, sitting modestly behind Anoka Junior High School; the understated Methodist …
FEBRUARY 24, 2021 – My wife and I have been watching The Crown on Netflix. I’m surprised. I’ve never been interested in British Royalty—they’re British and they’re royalty. Besides, I’ve always thought the current members were off kilter; not up to the job. Now I’m learning that apparently the Queen lacks a normal range of …
May 22, 2020 – I used to be a Lutheran—the moderate strain, meaning, E.L.C.A. (“Evangelical Lutheran Church in America”), which, ironically, was in contrast with the “Evangelical” persuasion that one usually associates with that term. How and why I became entrenched in mainstream, moderate Lutheranism—congregation president, chair of the worship committee, perennial Sunday school teacher, …
APRIL 12, 2020 – When I peered out the window this morning, I was happy to see daylight, but unhappy that the sun was hiding behind a thick overcast. As a skiing fanatic, I was happy to see snow on the ground. As a rationale adult I was unhappy to see snow on the ground. …
NOVEMBER 27, 2019 – Less than a month ’til Christmas. Given the overnight blizzard, Thanksgiving in these parts, at least, will be a white one. Oops! I hear disapproving groans over “Christmas” in place of “December 25” and “Thanksgiving” instead of “Genocide Memorial Day.” Know that my own relationship with religion (and revisionist history?) is …
APRIL 21, 2019 – Easter: Christianity’s big day—denouement of the Betrayal, the Trial, and the Crucifixion. My deeply religious mother told me that Easter coincided with spring, longer daylight and the rebirth of life and hope, just as Christmas marked the appearance of light amidst great darkness and despair. As a smart ass, I replied, …