Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Culture

What’s going on, who we are, and what the big deal is.

  • Actually, this is a link to my last homily at St. Paul’s from a few weeks ago.  I’d love to get some feedback on it, since I tried something new: I blended poetry and prose together and chose to describe the issues rather then answer them.  Let me know what you think! And by the…

  • In 2008, we were # 1. In 2009, we became #2. In 2010, we dropped to #3 in the world. In just two years, we went from playing world leader to catch up with China and Germany in the alternative energy market.  As Gov. Jennifer Granholm highlights in this piece for the Huffington Post.  Personally,…

  • Conversations about proposed funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and recent incidents with leadership, including high-profile resignations has brought a surprising amount of attention to PBS and NPR, the television and radio components of the Corporation.  One of the central topics is whether or not the organization could survive any funding cut (not…

  • Of course there is a lot that is the same.  Both have income and expenses, set by annual budgets.  Both are deeply affected by the stock market and other investments.  In this simple way, we can all pretend we are in the same boat. But the truth is much different. First, unlike the average family,…

  • Some have spent the better part of the last thirty years describing the dramatic economic shift toward the greater concentration of wealth in the ultra-wealthy, and the adverse effect this has had on the average American.  Some have even chosen to mock this concern in recent years, suggesting that “redistribution of wealth” is something to…

  • “…everybody got it?  OK, because you’re never going to believe what else it is.” I found this picture online and that is the first thing that popped into my head. Jonny Baker, in his blog, directed his readers to an article in the Church of England Newspaper entitled “The Eucharist re-examined“.  You’ll find the picture…