Insane Earthlings

I grew up in a Baptist church in a rapidly growing southern city. The church was widely known for its progressive and intellectual, if not liberal, approach to scripture.   The church had been lead since its inception by bold, outspoken ministers. Theologians with Doctorate degrees from prestigious universities. These powerful men were among the city’s first to stand up for integration and to speak out against the war in Vietnam, never shying from controversy. But in my childhood memory, it was always accepted as a socially appropriate answer to the inevitable southern question of, “Where do you go to Church?” I don’t remember my family using the word Christian to describe ourselves. If the subject came up, we said that we were Baptist. But it was undeniably a Christian church. The progressive stands on social issues were firmly founded in Biblical scholarship. My wife did not grow up in a Baptist Church. She grew up in a Synagogue. The technical term for our relationsh...

It feels like the earth is wobbling on its axis. The stars don’t line up in the sky quite the way they used to. I need to get to the ocean so I can look at the horizon and make sure it’s still there. Is there still a sharp line that separates the ocean from the sky? Or has the sea begun to leak into the atmosphere blurring the delineation between heaven and earth? I need evidence that our world is not tumbling off course. I need assurance that the sun is still holding fast to us, not letting us slip from the safety of its gravitational embrace. My mother died less than three months ago. I hadn’t realized that she was responsible for maintaining the balance of the earth. But it must be so, because since she has left everything seems off kilter.   I find myself searching for something to hold on to. Or someone to hold me so that I stay on my feet. Who is going to hold out their arms to hug me every single time they see me? Who can I talk to on the phone every night?...