Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Christianity

  • a homily for Good Friday Text: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [This was my reflection for Word 4 in our eccumenical Good Friday service using the last 7 words format.] Perhaps no line in scripture is more troubling than this. It is the single audible cry in Mark (and Matthew): “My…

  • I really like Lynne Truss. Her book Eats, Shoots & Leaves is one of my favorite books ever. I’d like to think that would be so even if I hadn’t majored in English. The book itself is one big rant on behalf of better grammar. She is militant, persuasive, and funny. And that seems to…

  • On her blog yesterday, the Rev. Susan Russell announced a Celebration of Equality.  It is a really special event in the life of her Pasadena congregation and I’m sure is going to be an awesome sight.  In the midst of this celebration is a “sneak preview” of a new documentary about the Rt. Rev. V.…

  • MadPriest made a cogent statement over at his blog about the relationship between Sudan and the Episcopal Church: The Episcopal Church of Sudan’s retraction of their invitation to the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the USA is like the Jew set upon by robbers, upon his recovery, telling the good Samaritan to fuck…

  • In a quick read, Mike Friesen describes the scientific underpinnings of why some are so easy to forgive and why others are so challenged by it. I remember a Sunday School teacher threatening my class with a verse when I was a little boy, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” I remember him teaching that…

  • My friend Penny brings new light to Christmas through a discovery of a missing verse from the classic hymn: “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”. I’ve always loved this evocative hymn, with its angels and their unfurled wings coming to us through a mysterious door from heaven to bring God’s news to us in splendid…