Not-yet-published pieces, stories, essays, rants, and random strangenesses

I wrote the following piece for the blog BLT Is Not Just a Sandwich, and I’ve already gotten myself into trouble over it. I’ll reprint...

The older I get, the more Christmas fills me with a terrible ambivalence. But please note: “ambivalent” doesn’t imply a...

I met the Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong, the retired bishop of the Episcopal Church Diocese of Newark (based in Newark, New Jersey), way...

A friend and blogger—or, to be more specific, a blogger I admire who has become an online friend—has challenged me to participate in a...

The story of Christmas is the story of assimilation. Sorry to put it so nakedly, but it’s true. Wrapped up in this holiday, this holy...

I’ve been a Shaker, a snake-handling Pentecostal, and a speaking-in-tongues holy roller. I guess you could say I shaked, rattled, and...

If you’re going to be in the area this Sunday, July 13, feel free to drop by the Yogashakti Mission (a Hindu ashram devoted to the study...

As much as I would like to say I’m a thoroughgoing pagan, albeit one with synchretist tendencies, there are certain times of the year...

In years past, I’ve circulated among my email friends and acquaintances—or rather, re-circulated—one of my favorite holiday essays, David...

I am pleased to announce that The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation It is a completely new translation of the Bible from...

By Manuel Roig-Franzia Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, September 26, 2007; Page A14 SANTIAGO ATITLAN, Guatemala The shaman...

By DULUE MBACHU © 2007 The Associated Press Tuesday, September 4, 2007 ACHINA, Nigeria — Born to a family of traditional priests, Ibe...

This is a sermon I gave today. I was the guest preacher at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brevard here in Melbourne, Florida. I...

by Nick Squires in Sydney | Daily Telegraph [Just so they know: No apology will be either expected or desired for any Baptists consumed....

By Frederick Clarkson | talk2action.org | Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 11:52:29 PM EST So says Rev.Wiley Drake, the former Vice President of the...

Kunuk documents conversion of last great shaman by Mari Sasano, Canada.com Friday, September 29, 2006 Though cinema has only been around...

Many homes in this part of Florida (that is to say, homes newer and more expensive than ours) have a large screened-in area that encloses...

A propos of the news that Mayan priests purified a sacred archaeological site to eliminate “bad spirits” after President Bush’s visit, SF...

After the Inipi ceremony and the evening with Virgil, I needed a day to process everything. I left St. Paul after breakfast, and wandered...

Today is Ash Wednesday. Today you’ll see a strange sight: people walking around with smudges on their foreheads, like gray bindis over...