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Certain Unalienable Rights
Piscine Molitor Patel got named after his father’s best friend who loved to swim. This friend enjoyed swimming at the Piscine Molitor, a luxury pool in Paris. Instead of giving their son their friend’s name, his parents named him after the swimming pool. But kids at school often teased him, calling him “Pissing Patel.” So he shortened his name to Pi. I loved this scene from the movie Life of Pi. Late in 2012, friends, family, and coworkers raved about this movie—how it was based on a novel, and starred Irrfan Khan. So my husband and I went to see this movie together in Dec 2012. After the…
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Convenient Christianity
I love Southwest Airlines. Must be the heart logo. And their employees seem to love their jobs. Which is a pleasantry in a world where many airlines seem to dip their employees in lemon juice. But Southwest imposes one inconvenience. Passengers must check in 24 hours beforehand to get their boarding assignments—really a race to see who can click their mice the fastest, lest one end up with the dreaded middle seat. This 24-hour check-in process works great if you face a computer all day. I don’t. Enter: early bird check-in. For $15 Southwest Airlines will check me in automatically, which precludes the setting of an alarm 24…
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Evangelicals and The “Happy” Imperative
Some grow up convinced that feeling unhappy, uneasy, and uncertain is unnatural. American media promotes that being uninvited, unattractive and unintelligent is unnecessary. Even some evangelical circles will contend that feeling unwanted, unworthy, unlovable, and remaining unmarried is unacceptable. Expectations for happiness run high for many evangelicals. Some even believe a marriage that does not offer a lifetime of bliss has no purpose. Well-meaning Christians sometimes nudge unhappy spouses towards divorce in the name of, “God wants Christians to have happy marriages.” But in Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas contests that God intended marriage to cultivate holiness more than happiness. But some…
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When Babies Wash Ashore
When I read this passionate essay by my friend Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, I asked if she would be willing to guest blog for me today. Destiny is a wife, mother, writer, and voice for those who cannot speak for themselves, especially the unborn. She can be found at newwavefeminists.blogspot.com As a mother I’m so blessed. And I hate that word. It implies I’ve done something to receive favor when that’s absolutely not true. I’m average. I’m the norm. I love my children just as much as any mother could. I sacrifice for them like any mother would. That love has never truly been tested, though. By the grace of…
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OIympic-Sized “I Infections”
As the 2014 Olympics continue to unfold, televised by the NBC sports team, anchorman Bob Costa’s very public battle with a nasty eye infection continues to be as hot a topic of conversation as which Americans are winning medals. Now both eyes are red, swollen, and painful-looking. As they say here in Texas, bless his heart! If the spiritual dimension of life were made visible in the physical realm, most of us would be walking around looking like Bob Costa. His eyeball is inflamed and infected, interfering with his vision and affecting the way people see him. It’s a startling picture of our warped and diseased perception through which we…
