Seth Haines's Blog, page 37

The Lesser Loudmouthed Kings

I’m not a political junkie, not an incessant social-media politico ranter. I’m not a conservative or liberalideological junkie, a mainliner or a regurgitator or progressive or anti-progressive points of view. I’m not a Mr. So And So-Is-Going-To-Destroy-The-Country-And-We-Can’t-Take-Eight-8!!!-More-Years-Of-Thiskind of guy. It ain’t my schtick.

Reckon me a care-lesser, or apathetic. Worry about my political silence if you will. But knowing me to be the silent sorts in these arenas, give these...

10 Gifts: The First Annual Gift Guide for The Normal Guy

Every Christmas season, I’m tasked with creating an Amazon wish list to make Santa’s shopping easier. Santa, it seems, is growing less omniscient by the year, and his elves issue an annual request that I compile a list of things I want (whether I need them or not) in one convenient, one-clickable location.

This year, I was struck by the realization that there isn’t muchI need (aside from a half-cow’s worth of beef) and there’s nothing I really want (aside from world peace, as pageanty as that...

Love

Without concrete, how is a thing–
anything, really–believable?

Borderless, genderless, colorless.
Neutral, non-tonal, without smell.
A feeling? A psychosis? A figment,
or echo of a figment, or echo, or…

The choirs sing of him, her, it,
as if the the shape of their notes,
the vibration of strings,
the rippling, rippling, rippling
thrum of sound crashing
against ceiling, against hearts,
contours something, which is
otherwise uncontoured.

The pilgrim stands under
a smiling Franciscan...

Enough

These are the things we are trained against:
guessing aloud the age of any made-up woman;
asking how many place-holding zeroes
a man needs to number his wealth;
the inquiry upon noticing the baby’s
crooked nose, “who’s the daddy?”;
throwing out the first pitch from the stands;
answering truthfully the question,
“who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?”;
raising a hand in church to ask the priest
anything, especially if the anything touches on
politics, sex, religion, or God;
wit...

Refugees, Compassion, and a Fella Named Clay

1.

I’ve been watching the handwringing and haranguing over the refugee crisis these last few weeks. I’ve watched it amplify in the wake of the Paris tragedy. This debate? It’s gotten mean.

We’re a bunch of sicksuckers, aren’t we?

2.

Clay is a good man whose wool is dyed Republican red. He’s carried a concealed weapon longer th...

Radio Hosts, Podcasters, and Televangelists–Oh My!

I’ve had the great privilege of meeting more than a few good folks since the release of Coming Clean. I’ve met a radio personality or two, been privileged to meet more than a few magazine interviewers, and had near fire-side chats with a couple ofpodcasters. I’ve even had the privilege of appearing on television with and old-school televangelist (which is a story for another day). In my conversations, here’s what I’ve found: folks genuinely want to know how to come clean from their addictions...

License to Drive (A Marriage Letter)

Today, Amber and I reached our 16th year of marriage. (Friday the 13th? Don’t worry. I don’t believe in omens.) I’m commemorating with another installment of marriage letters.

*****

Dear Amber,

The first days wereinfantile and cooing. Babies in marriage, we were unsure how to use our limbs, how to use our bodies in tandem connection.

These are the things you’re never told: it takes time to acclimate to the shape of another person’s body; it takes even more time to acclimate to the division of...

5 Ways to Reach the Addict in Your Life

Over the last several months, whether by phone, email, or coffeeshop banter, I’ve fielded this question: how do I breakthrough to my addicted [husband, wife, daughter, cousin, fill-in-the-blank]? It’s an honest, unnerving question. The truth is, I’ve no answer for ushering the divine providence of God into the life of an addict. I’m no guru.

Yesterday I spoke with a friend who’s walking out his own path of recovery. He’s one of the rare wise ones, proof that sometimes sage souls really do wal...

A Coming Clean Giveaway (Want $25 and a Relevant Subscription?)

It’s been a great couple of weeks forComing Clean.I strolled into my local Barnes & Noble, and on the shelves where so many of my literary heroes had gone beforesat my little book. I’m not going to lie: it was a surreal experience.

And if that weren’t enough, I made my way to the magazine aisle, where the November/December issue of Relevant Magazinehad just hit the shelves. The issue contains an interview with me about pain and addiction. It’s an interview about my experience of coming clean,...

Marriage Letters: The Quickening Moments

Dear Amber,

There are moments in marriage where all things quicken, where best or worst moments siphon out the essence of togetherness. In those moments, we’re brought to the edge of joy or pain, hope or despair. These are the moments that suck the air out of the room, moments leaving me in holy awe that, yes, this thing called marriage is an ordination, a calling.

I felt it first when the white wooden doors at the Guntersville Church of Christ swung wide, and you stood there in blinding beau...