Tag Archives: spirituality

I’m in a Platonic Relationship with God

Posted on September 26, 2026 by JMN

True Believer:— The one true god exhorts his servants to exalt the one true god.Me:— How is exaltation carried out? Is it a speech act? As in, “I exalt you, lord.”True Believer:— Could be.Me:— Who can know whether I speak … Continue reading →

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Sung Now

Posted on September 6, 2026 by JMN

Harriet Tennessee AlexanderDid not suffer an overripe deaconTo go unremarked from where she stood.My great grandmother, duly churched herself,Would slyly christen the immoderate soulA constipated Baptist. Landing hardOn self-righteous in her considered viewCould overplay the sanctimony card.The railroad bisecting her … Continue reading →

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Battle Hymn of the Besotted

Posted on September 5, 2026 by JMN

We know that God loves. But did you know that God also hates?(Franklin Graham) Frankly, reverend, you’re a broken cracker,Besotted bottom-of-the-barrel divine,Breath blown into a mud pie by your maker,Reared on sodawater and moonshine. Word cloud from a cherrypicked psalterHovers … Continue reading →

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Hey, Chesterton!

Posted on August 9, 2026 by JMN

Pious bromides don’t cut the mustard.A stance that dines on meaty homilyPeels potatoes in the feast of sacrifice.Report of rapture scarcely can make feltThat rage of loving kindness that’s broadcastFrom the backside of Beyond and slamsHot piety with undeciphered clout. … Continue reading →

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In Times of Tribal

Posted on June 17, 2026 by JMN

— If you ain’t white, we ain’t open.(Dixie whistle.) “Voter fraud” is not about fraud. It is about who votes and how. It is about the breadth and scope of the political community… about who can call themselves Americans — … Continue reading →

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Upon this Slab Build Ye a Breakaway Church

Posted on February 13, 2026 by JMN

If I named God, I would name him more like a boatthan a dog, but more like a dog than a dead relative.(Leslie Sainz, from “When I imitate myself, I am a number of certain people,” Poetry, January-February 2026) The … Continue reading →

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Connections to the ‘More-Than-Human World’

Posted on December 25, 2025 by JMN

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” (Julian of Norwich) Julian of Norwich, a contemporary of Chaucer, is credited with doing for prose what Chaucer did for poetry: Writing in … Continue reading →

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‘The Things That You’re Liable to Read in the Bible…’

Posted on December 2, 2025 by JMN

“… They ain’t necessarily so,” goes the song in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. “If we could stop coming at the Bible postured as though we’re the ones that own it… to prop up, whether it’s theologies, whatever makes us comfortable, … Continue reading →

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The Parable of Angus Burdoo

Posted on November 22, 2025 by JMN

“Interdependence is no longer our choice… It is our condition. We will either build healthy interdependencies and rise together or suffer through unhealthy interdependencies and fall together.” (Dov Seidman, quoted here) Picture a man who engenders a lovely daughter. In … Continue reading →

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Samatar Elmi Got There Before Me

Posted on September 19, 2025 by JMN

“We’re planning a way to allow wide swaths of the world to elect representatives to a new governance board… Because if I weren’t in on this I’d be, like, ‘Why do these fuckers get to decide what happens to me?’” … Continue reading →

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