It's not about mental health

It’s not about mental health

It’s not front and center, but it’s pervasive, and it’s there–like a rainbow after a devastating tornado–the hints that the shooter in Buffalo was somehow mentally ill, which some would have us believe is the primary cause of (white) violence in our country. It’s also bullshit. This dude left behind a 180-page manifesto, filled with hateful, racist sludge. That’s longer than my doctoral…

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Book Me For Spiritual Direction!

Book Me For Spiritual Direction!

Sign up for a 30-minute “taster,” or book a full hour at Glenbogle Spiritual Direction

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Idolatry and Our Present Situation

Idolatry and Our Present Situation

Trump supporters rioted and ransacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 I am part of a Benedictine community that regularly prays the words of the book of Psalms. It’s a monastic practice that goes back centuries, to the earliest monastic communities in the desert, where the desert Abbas and Ammas would pray through the entire book of Psalms each day. Going back even further than that, the…

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The Saints Belong to the Whole Church

The Saints Belong to the Whole Church

Yesterday, I commented on a Twitter thread about the so-called “Benedict Option.” (I know, it’s my own fault, and there’s nothing that I can do about it–I have a compulsion to respond to nonsense.) I noted that I don’t think Benedict himself would recognize what some people would say is his answer to the current state of the world. Some would say that St. Benedict offers a model of how Christians…

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Advent Humbug

Advent Humbug---The Grump's thoughts on the reason for the season of preparation.

At this festive time of year, you will often find the Grump being…well, Grumpy. And it’s not just because of the Seasonal Depression, either, although that is certainly part of it, and I am living into that reality.

Advent is one of the few non-commercialized seasons of the Christian year, along with Lent (and I guess Ordinary times, but those don’t count), even though the rest of the world sees…

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Why I Hate Advent Calendars

Why I Hate Advent Calendars

When I was a kid, I loved to get an Advent calendar, especially the kind that had pieces of chocolate hidden behind the little flaps that you opened every day. Later on, I got one that had a scripture behind each flap, which was not nearly as fun or delicious, but edifying nonetheless.

Now it seems that you can get “Advent calendars” with pretty much anything in them: wine, beer, sausage,…

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A Missed Opportunity for a Teachable Moment

A Missed Opportunity for a Teachable Moment

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking, praying, and agonizing over the Covington Catholic High School students and their actions in D.C. over the weekend. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized why the  situation had wormed its way into my brain so deeply. It’s because I recognized what a missed opportunity the confrontation between the students and the Native American elder Nathan Phillips…

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Come, Sweet Death (or, Why I Think The UMC Should Split)

Come, Sweet Death (or, Why I Think The UMC Should Split)

  Call me a schismatic. That’s what I probably am, at least today.

But I’m a schismatic with a purpose, at least, and that purpose is to see the greater good.

You see, my beloved United Methodist Church is in the midst of a crisis of conscience, leadership, and confidence at the moment. One the one hand, we have the so-called “traditionalists,” who want to double-down on all the language we have…

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Grumps Need More Rest.

Grumps Need More Rest.

This time of year is one of the busiest for those of us in the world of academia. For my friends in colleagues in the Church, it’s sort of like Christmas and Easter weeks wrapped into one continuous season. Event after event, prayers galore, and a never-ending stream of people who seem to need to talk. Students like to bottle up all their problems until they come bursting out in one (sometimes…

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Why Do We Blame Mental Illness? (Because We Can't Fathom That it Could Be Anything Else.)

Why Do We Blame Mental Illness? (Because We Can’t Fathom That it Could Be Anything Else.)

Every time there is a mass shooting, the tweets and posts about “violent mentally ill” people come out of the woodwork like termites, eating away at the collective soul of the nation. I’ve even been guilty of it myself, calling one mass shooter “an obviously mentally ill individual”–a comment for which I was very quickly called out. While the online dragging I received because of that comment…

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Uncensored: Gun Violence

Note: This is the sermon I preached in the Walter and Marian English Chapel on the campus of Ohio Northern University today. It represents my real struggle following the senseless deaths of 17 people yesterday in Florida. It is my own, and not necessarily the opinion of the university for which I am employed. Feel free to disagree with me. For what it’s worth, I think that’s a good thing.…

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"Never Be Triflingly Employed."

“Never Be Triflingly Employed.”

It’s been a while since my last post–a loooooong while! But, I have been “busy,” as they say, which really means that I’ve not been making much of my time, and I’ve trifled it away. Such was the danger that old Mr. Wesley sought for his “helpers” in the ministry among the People Called Methodist to avoid. So much so that he included in his “Twelve Rules for Helpers” one which stands out to me…

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Grumpmas.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…Grumpmas.

You’d think that this would be the time of year when the Grump is at his grumpiest. You’d be wrong if you thought that. Actually, I love Advent and Christmas, especially now that I don’t have all the pressures I once had when I was the pastor of a local church. Back then, I was a real jerk during this season (Just ask my wife and kids). Why do we pile on so much crap in churches during this…

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Finally--A Diagnosis!

Finally–A Diagnosis!

I saw this on an episode of Portlandia today:   Finally, we have a diagnosis!  (Stick around for the end, a famous member of the Grump clan shows up–trash can and all!) In Grumpiness we Trust, The Grump

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How Did I Get Here? and What am I Doing?

How Did I Get Here? and What am I Doing?

  My job as a college chaplain often puts me in situations where I ask myself, “How did I get here?” and “What am I doing?” For instance, when I came here four years ago, I was informed that the chaplain was in charge of pulling something together for Veterans Day each year.  ‘OK,’ I thought,’if it’s part of the job…’  Suddenly, I found myself–having never served a day in the military in my life,…

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Grumpy Politics (Source: Donkey Hotey  Under a Creative Commons Share Alike License.) Yes, I get it. You're tired of politics.

"Join the Dance!" (No.)

“Join the Dance!” (No.)

The Mock Turtle and The Gryffin sing “The Lobster Quadrille” from Alice in Wonderland (1999) Every year at annual conference it happens–someone up on the stage (by “someone,” I mean an aging Baby Boomer) gets to rocking out on a particularly peppy worship song, and then someone else (by “someone else,” I mean a well-meaning elderly lady) encourages the youth members of the conference to form a…

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