Quest Blog
The Joy of Taxes
2014-04-16 There it is. It’s done. Whether you’re getting a refund or had to write a check, or if you just made it in the nick of time to file for an extension, Tax Day has come and gone, so we can rejoice. Yes, I know, mostly rejoice that the hell of dealing with tax…
Read MoreAt Least One Way to Put It
2014-03-17 When my sister was born, she made herself known. Screamed so loud, they moved her to a room far from all the other babies. But two years later, when I came along, it was different. I did not make a sound. In fact, I was so quiet, from what I understood, my mother was…
Read MorePagans, Cheasters, and Nones: Easter and Open-Source Religion
2014-04-17 This coming Easter morning, many people will rise and look east. Some will go to a Christian church for their only visit this year. Many will be reminded by priests and preachers that this one day is not enough. Those strangers to churches will be telling the oldest of religious truths: it is the…
Read MoreDo Justice
2014-03-18 I am ever so grateful that I was assigned The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community, written by Eric H. F. Law, during my studies at Loyola Institute of Ministry – New Orleans. It has been an invaluable source of wisdom as I bear witness to…
Read MoreA Quarterway Home
2014-04-20 You’ve heard of a half-way house? Well, this was a quarter-way. For those who no longer needed a locked facility. But only just barely. The quarter-way residents had not been in jail. They’d been where you go when someone decides your brain might bring you harm. But all that was behind them. They’d completed…
Read MoreGood-Bye, Fred Phelps
2014-03-19 Fred Phelps, of Westboro Church “God Hates Fags” fame, is reportedly near death. Which may or may not actually be true, but has led to some number of people publicly discussing how one is to respond to the death of a man so odious. This is a man, after all, who has picketed the…
Read MoreEarth Day Notes from New Orleans
2014-04-22 Last week the Center hosted two groups of youth, one primarily people of color, one primarily white people. As the groups co-navigated the space of the Center and the programming, it was pretty clear to everyone why we talk about race and an analysis of racism as a gateway to serving in the New…
Read MoreIn Which Cackling Self Vanquishes Wild Grief, While Rational Self Could Not
2014-03-20 Newsflash: Grief is completely irrational. Does this surprise me? Not rationally. I knew it, know it, have seen it in my own and other people’s lives. But if I ever doubted what I know, this week has given me complete and utter clarity about it. I’m on a trip away from home, doing things…
Read MoreFallen Angels, Rising Apes, and the Knowledge of the Serpent
2014-03-20 I. In addition to the Unitarian Universalist Seven Principles, the congregation that I serve as minister ascribes to a set of aspirational statements that are specifically humanist. Our first Aspiration is, “To live joyfully and ethically, in loving, reverent relationship with humanity and nature.” Why do we say such a thing? Because we are…
Read MoreWomen with a Vision – and a Voice!
2014-04-01 Lately I’ve been struggling with the language of the non-profit world: “giving people a voice” and “empowering people”… Beloveds, people have a voice. The dominant culture ignores it, drowns it out, disregards it…but people have a voice. People are speaking. Empowering is defined as “giving someone the authority or power to do something.”…
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