https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMG2IsXMskw 'I've Got Oil in my Vessel,' traditional gospel blues, NC fiddler Joe Thompson, 1997. Editor's (admin's) note. Second of ___ (I'm shooting for four) Advent meditations, prompted by a parish workshop exercise in which we were asked to craft a personal mission statement. My spiritual director suggested I operationalize it by asking myself: Who, … Continue reading What can a white spiritual mutt learn from the Black church in a time of neofascist ethnic cleansing? (Advent 2 of __?)
Why George III gets a bum rap: Trump’s comic-opera tyranny flirts with state terror and gives real kings a bad name
d r a f t 'No Kings' rally at Illinois Statehouse, Springfield, Oct. 18 (photo Debi Edmund). When the Trump regime first announced it would send “military troops” (whatever they meant by that) to Chicago, the reaction from Capitol Fax readers in Illinois was immediate and withering. Subscribers to the state government newsletter include lawmakers, state agency officials and … Continue reading Why George III gets a bum rap: Trump’s comic-opera tyranny flirts with state terror and gives real kings a bad name
How does a ‘man of unclean lips’ respond to Trump’s authoritarian bigotry? (spiritual direction notes, August ’25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQcW0SrubUk Ruth Ben-Ghiat on How to Resist Authoritarianism | The Civic Forum | Aug. 15, 2025 Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited copy, with links added, of my email in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’ve been journaling about (or, in this case, why I haven't been … Continue reading How does a ‘man of unclean lips’ respond to Trump’s authoritarian bigotry? (spiritual direction notes, August ’25)
Of politics, algorithms, Krazy Kat, social media brickbats and the hope of redemption (Sundays@6 journal 5)
Krazy Kat1 (CC-BY-SA. Public Domain Super Heroes). As we get deeper into The After Party by Gordon Chang and Nancy French2 for Sundays@6, our autumn parish book study, I'm beginning to see how some of the main concepts fit together. Either their curriculum -- for evangelical Protestant congregations split by political hot-button issues -- is … Continue reading Of politics, algorithms, Krazy Kat, social media brickbats and the hope of redemption (Sundays@6 journal 5)
Speaker Johnson’s born-again political shtick, Roger Williams and the ‘wall of separation’ between church and state
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjKetVw4a6A&t=173s 'That doesn't pass the smell test,' Buttigeig tells CNN's Erin Burnett [at 3:57]. [Roger Williams] was saying that mixing church and state corrupted the church, that when one mixes religion and politics, one gets politics. -- John M. Barry, "God, Government and Roger Williams’ Big Idea," Smithsonian Magazine, Jan. 2012. In his deceptively pious, … Continue reading Speaker Johnson’s born-again political shtick, Roger Williams and the ‘wall of separation’ between church and state
The saga continues — I’m locked out of Facebook again, and I’m taking it as a sign to spend more time growing the blog
So I came home from the hospital today with good news I wanted to share. I was there for a EGD scope, a procedure that looks at the upper GI tract. A post-chemotherapy PET scan had shown the original cancer in my bladder was gone -- yay chemo! -- but there was a suspicious area … Continue reading The saga continues — I’m locked out of Facebook again, and I’m taking it as a sign to spend more time growing the blog
Well, apparently I’m still on FB but this latest false alarm has me hitting the reset button on how I use social media
Screen grab of official-looking false alarm I received, Dec. 9, 2022 This is embarrassing: After getting repeated warnings, like the one shown above, that if I didn't turn on "Facebook Protect" I would be locked out of my Facebook account Tuesday, Dec. 20, I made copies of the files I wanted to save, said my … Continue reading Well, apparently I’m still on FB but this latest false alarm has me hitting the reset button on how I use social media
One final upthrust middle-digit salute from Facebook’s (nonexistent) customer service operation
Readers who have followed Ordinary Time and/or seen it linked to my Facebook account are no doubt aware of my ongoing struggle with two-factor authentication. To recap briefly: FB will lock me out of my account unless I activate something called "Facebook Protect," but to do that I have to supply an updated password. And … Continue reading One final upthrust middle-digit salute from Facebook’s (nonexistent) customer service operation
An old workshop poem brings back cherished memories of my father and a writers’ workshop in the Quad-Cities
Here's something I found when I was going through my Facebook photos prior to being locked out of my account (long story, you can read about it HERE if you're so inclined. Or not). It's a JPEG copy of a draft poem I wrote during a creative writing workshop at the Mississippi Valley Writers' Conference … Continue reading An old workshop poem brings back cherished memories of my father and a writers’ workshop in the Quad-Cities
‘Same song, second verse …’: Why I’ve finally had it up to the keister with billionaires, whiz kids and social media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmSoREiG23M 'Morning Joe' show, MSNBC, Dec. 16, 2022 When the dust settles over Elon Musk's attempt to run a social media company singlehanded, as surely it will, I want Katty Kay of BBC and MSNBC's Morning Joe show to write the obituary. Her comments in the middle of a brilliant segment on the subject (beginning … Continue reading ‘Same song, second verse …’: Why I’ve finally had it up to the keister with billionaires, whiz kids and social media
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