Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, prelate of the Episcopal Church had the audacity to do something truly radical recently: she asked a president for mercy. Mercy is not necessarily entirely foreign to this particular president. He showed “mercy” to 1,500 men and women pardoned on his first day in office, some charged with violent crimes, for […]
Tag: Augustine
Hope beyond Depravity
In its heyday, Dexter was one of my favorite television shows. A serial killer with a code of honor to only kill “really bad” people? I’m captivated. I mean, my love of Dexter wasn’t really surprising; most popular television shows of late are probably going to draw me in given their care for the complexity […]
Holding Close the Tension of the Opposites
Not all that long ago, a friend of mine was telling me about growing up in a rough family situation. His father had committed suicide and his mother’s new fiancé was so abusive that Child Protective Services had to step in and remove him (and his kid sister) from the home. A local Southern Baptist […]
Some Earliest Memories
I always find it strange when I hear people say that their earliest memory is something like their first Christmas as a baby. Or any sort of insanely early memory from those first few years of life. I was not blessed with that kind of brain. In fact, the very first vivid memory I can […]
