The Transgendered Monk

St. Marina the Monk is a controversial figure in the history of Christian monasticism whose life seems especially relevant in today’s debate over gender identity and the Church. Although, one should be careful to avoid introducing anachronistic biases when interpreting the lessons that St. Marina’s life is meant to teach, her challenge to the gender norms of her time speaks  to the current…

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Look Who's Not Coming to Dinner with Mike Pence

Look Who’s Not Coming to Dinner with Mike Pence

News articles are circulating regarding a statement Vice President Mike Pence made in 2002 in which he revealed that he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife. A principle often referred to as the “Billy Graham Rule.” Here is a Huffington Post response, which seems to characterize most of the negative sentiments regarding Pence’s decision. Via HuffingtonPost.com. “Anadolu Agency via…

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Writing Your Prayers and Not Looking Crazy

Writing Your Prayers and Not Looking Crazy

Very often, around midday at work, I feel the need to pray at my desk. I usually cannot pray in public because I feel self-conscious; and there’s probably some rule against it at work. Plus, I don’t want to appear like I’m mumbling to myself, staring catatonically at my computer, or even worse appear to be sleeping with my eyes closed. One form of prayer I’ve recently adopted is writing my…

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Human Sacrifice in the Bible and Today

Human Sacrifice in the Bible and Today

Throughout various times and across numerous cultures, people have shared the idea that one or a few within their numbers must be sacrificed for the appeasement of God or the “gods,” and for the betterment of society. Most modern-day cultures look down in disgust on this practice, while silently committing it everyday. Religion is no longer the principle culprit of human sacrifices, although it…

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A Time to Plant

A Time to Plant

Here in Virginia, the frost has thawed and Spring has finally arrived. Amateur gardeners of all abilities, and with varying degrees of commitment, are emerging from their burrows to assess the state of their lots after several months of neglect and cold weather. Now is the time to plant, and when the time is right for some thing, it must be done. A wise king named Solomon once wrote, To every…

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St. Patrick's Greatest Miracle

St. Patrick’s Greatest Miracle

The life of Saint Patrick reads like epic adventure tale that would capture the attention of our action-seeking culture as well as any Hollywood movie. Born around 390 AD in Kilpatrick, Scotland, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish marauders when he was 16 years old. He became a slave in Ireland where he tended to his captors’ sheep, which foretold his future as the Enlightener of Ireland and Bishop…

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The Holy Things

In the act of worshipping the Divine, mundane objects are often elevated to the realm of the Holy; but, what happens when the Holy Things lose their luster? Material reality demands that all things eventually wither away, and thus their holiness dissipates, or is forgotten. They become ordinary matter once more, to be discarded into the waste bin of the chapel. A woman in my parish drives around…

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Organic vs Inorganic Foods

Organic vs Inorganic Foods

A good rule to follow is to ingest as much organic food as possible while limiting inorganic foods. Organic foods are things such as cherries, hot dogs, and Scotch. Inorganic foods are things like rocks, plastic, and evil.¹ What the so-called experts won’t tell you is that you need a small amount of inorganic substances to live. When your head hurts, you need to take a Tylenol or your head will…

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The Beginning of Time

The Beginning of Time

Scientists peer to the farthest reaches of the universe to catch a glimpse of when time began; theologians pore over musty tomes, tracing back the generations to Adam; while others look at their alarm clocks in a bleary-eyed daze every morning and reluctantly acknowledge the beginning of time. Time begins anew whenever we seize the opportunity to make a difference. A new world is born by the…

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The Fast of Demons

The Fast of Demons

By Akoliasnikoff (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)%5D, via Wikimedia CommonsThe frightening aspect of pious devotion to God, as well as many other aspects of our lives, is the inflection point where good intentions become evil passions. Blind love becomes corrupted, destroying the…

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Carrotarianism

The carrot is an ancient symbol of good health and virility. It is also known to be a source of food for some. I used to be on a vegetarian diet, until I learned how unhealthy it was to eat vegetarians. It was then that I switched to carrotarianism, and I haven’t looked back since. Carrots are grown in gardens. They thrive under the care of ceramic gnomes. Water is added around the plant as a…

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Ground Breaking

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. You arrived at this blog hoping to find hours worth of witty content, and instead you see a few words from a guy who’d probably flunk a high school English exam. Then there are some sad pictures of a sandwich and a broken down stove which looks like it was salvaged from a shipwreck. But here’s the deal. Do you ever go to those ‘fancy’ blogs with a million…

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Arby’s Diet Meat is a part of a healthy diet, and Arby's contains meat, therefore, I am dieting #SoupSandwich Blog

Coq dans la Poêle

Coq dans la Poêle

After a long-winded day of blogging and pumping iron, I grew hungry and weary. Alas, my food supplies were running pitifully low. In a pinch, I scrounged together a few essentials, present in any good home. I always have some form of chicken and potato, but how should I cook them? And then it hit me! A cast iron skillet, the perfect conductor of convective heat. And, as a bonus, it was still…

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Pêcher au Citron

It was an unseasonably warm February morning with temperatures reaching into the 70’s. Clear, sunny skies unfurled above the earth like a tablecloth at God’s banquet. Taking advantage of this gorgeous weather, I went for a walk around my quaint, colonial-era town to get some fresh air and then read a book at my favorite coffee shop. I arrived home a few hours later with a healthy appetite. I…

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Los Huevos Dos Estilos

Los Huevos Dos Estilos

Eggs were born in the morning. It is a well-known fact that hens never lay their eggs at night because their metabolic rate drops after the sun goes down. Eggs are laid in the morning when the sunlight strikes the chicken causing a burst of energy to course through her body. The egg is therefore a morning offering to man’s nutritional needs. This morning, I couldn’t decide if I should scramble my…

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