Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 63
February 3, 2016
The things that are saving our lives right now
To be from Southern Louisiana and endure the winters of Northern Michigan is to understand that hell is certainly cold and monochromatic and not a lake of fire. Can you point me in the direction of a lake of fire? Because I’d gladly dive in right about now. A friend of mine sent me a [Read More...]
February 2, 2016
A Canticle for the Alien Church (The Real Clash between Mulder and Scully)
Sixteen years ago, I was driving across the Texas desert in the middle of the night. My friend was asleep in the passenger seat, continuing torenege on hispromise to share in the driving. We’d decided to drive to Phoenix for the wedding of a college buddy so that we could see the west by the [Read More...]
February 1, 2016
How Writing a Foreword for an Inkling Smashed My Idols
A few years go, I was having dinner with the editor of my first two books (3 Gates of the Dead and Dark Bride) and friend, Betsy Mitchell,in Columbus, Ohio, where she was speaking at conference. What I love about Betsy is that even though she’s edited some of the biggest names in the business [Read More...]
January 28, 2016
Dark Devotional: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: God Disappears
Click here for the complete Mass readings for January 31, 2016. A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah. The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you A reading from the Gospel according to Luke. But Jesus passed through the midst of them [Read More...]
January 27, 2016
For Her: Conspicuous Consumption Catholic-style
Aleteia has launchedFor Her, a web magazine for women that is “finely focused” through a Christian lens.As much as I dislike being shunted into a special section for girls, I was at least a little bit excited to see how aCatholic siteabout “what the church really teaches” would speak directly to me. The evangelical magazineChristianity [Read More...]
January 26, 2016
Sick Pilgrims: Jack Kerouac
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved.” Jack Kerouac, On The Road When Jess and I started this blog, we envisioned aspacewhere we could writeabout the journey of faithwith honesty and candor. We knew that manyof the [Read More...]
January 25, 2016
The Religious Gaslighting of the Heretical Trumpites
Like the rest of the world, I’m amazed at how Donald Trump has taken over the presidential discussion. No one that I know really likes him and this includes very conservative friends of mine. So, how is he so far ahead in the Republican polls? Most believe it’s because people are angry, everyone hates the [Read More...]
January 21, 2016
Keeping Christianity Weird: Nadia Bolz-Weber and Heather King
The Washington Post described Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber as a “superhero from Planet Alternative Christian:” In her body and her theology, Bolz-Weber represents a new, muscular form of liberal Christianity, one that merges the passion and life-changing fervor of evangelicalism with the commitment to inclusiveness and social justice of mainline Protestantism. She’s a tatted-up, foul-mouthed [Read More...]
January 20, 2016
Dark Devotional: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: Confessions of a Bible Hater
Click here for the complete Mass Readings for Sunday, January 24, 2016. A reading from the Gospel According to Saint Luke. Jesuscame to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet [Read More...]
January 18, 2016
I Hate Authority. That’s Why I’m a Catholic.
A few years ago, I sat at a bar in Canada during a fierce snow storm. I’d traveled there to help a good friend of mine, a First Nations chief, write his memoir. We’d traveled to Calgary from the reservation so he could sign a treaty with the Canadian government. He’d gone to bed early [Read More...]
