The Wall Street Journal has this review of James B. Twitchell’s “Shopping for God.”

Aside from introducing my new favorite word, “pastorpreneur,”  Twitchell does an excellent job of applying economic theory to the growth of evangelical megachurches.  While I don’t know if the book will make it to my already very long reading list, it won’t be for lack of interest.  The WSJ review brings up so many sacred/profane questions, I’m sure the book would be a mind overload…

Mariners Church of Irvine (just down the street from my home) uses now has a “canine ministry.”

According to a LA Times article,  the dogs sit outside the church in order “to put people at ease and begin a process that could lead them to God.”

It may be true that animals can break down barriers, ostensibly making it easier for “secular man” to accept a sacred experience.  But honestly, doggy drool on the church steps seems more like a tactic to destroy the barrier between sacred and profane space than anything else.

“The reader will very soon realize that sacred and profane are two modes of being in the world, two existential situations assumed by man in the course of his history.” -Mircea Elide, The Sacred and the Profane

While the words “sacred” and “profane” mark out clearly different territory, more and more I am realizing my existence is a constant dance of the two. It is not a full-fledged battle, nor a comfortable partnership, rather the sacred and the profane vie for my attention and acknowledgment with their quietly confident charms.

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There’s talk that the Pope may soon celebrate the traditional Latin Mass in St Peter’s Basilica. The suggested date is the first Sunday in Advent, December 2. If Pope Benedict XVI brings back the Tridentine Mass, many will wonder if other Vatican II reforms will be the next to undergo scrutiny.

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Most of my thoughts about living in between the sacred and the profane centers on the individual. Can one’s job require action that is against one’s beliefs? When should I share my love for modern art with my daughter? When choosing a political candidate to support, which are the most important criteria?

This essay in the New York Times offers insight into how that tension plays out when an individual encounters the sacred and profane vying for position within a nation.

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