Note: I have a very difficult time finishing things.  I started this blog post around 9pm on Saturday night.  I finally just got the photos up.  My recommendation– pretend you just traveled back in time.

Tonight I am making Prosphora, Orthodox Holy Bread that is used in communion/the Eucharist. Tomorrow, His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH, will be joining our little fellowship and serving liturgy. On a portion of the bread, he will call down the Holy Spirit and it will become the Body of Christ. This is a mystery of the church that neither I, nor the greatest theologian fully understand. How does the simple flour, yeast, salt and water that is currently on my kitchen counter transform into something so incredibly sacred? I don’t know. But, I am blown away every time I get the chance to bake this special bread.

I thought I’d share with you the process and my little recipe, born from some serious trial and error and a little help from Prosphora.org.

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I’ve held off from blogging about the whole Rev. Jeremiah Wright scandal because, frankly, I don’t know what to say.  I was planning on casting my vote for Obama for a variety of reasons and despite a variety of others.

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I’ve been thinking about this for a while, now that our home is littered with the inevitable accumulating detritus that comes with having a toddler.  She has a few toys that I love.  They are wood or fabric and feel hand crafted and I don’t really mind when I find one stranded in the middle of the hallway.

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I just threw out a stack of magazines so of course I want to blog about one of the articles that’s been floating around in my brain. Here’s a link to “Hot Air Gods” in Harper’s Magazine, December 2007. Basically, author Curtis White wrote about the lack of orthodoxy in American religion. He cites NPR’s This I believe as a perfect example of how we celebrate individual beliefs in the trival (I believe in barbeque) and have pushed religious freedom ad absurdum.

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I still can’t help but read articles about “new” movements in evangelical Christianity.  This week: Church changes it’s name to be cool.  Goodbye First Baptist. Hello Mosaic.

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Scott Martindale, over at the Orange County Register, reports here on a lawsuit alleging a high school history teacher made intolerant remarks toward Christians in the classroom. I had the great fortune to take both AP Art History and AP European History from Dr. Corbett my senior year in high school at CVHS.

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It is December 4th and we have no Christmas tree.   In years past, I would excuse this lack of Christmas cheer by saying that I married a man of no holidays and no traditions.  Our first Christmas as a married couple we decorated a palm tree.  Last year, we knew a move was imminent and didn’t bother to bring up a single box of Christmas cheer from the garage.  Some of my fondest memories as an adolescent involve decorating my parents’ home for Christmas, usually on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

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Last Sunday, I introduced my daughter to the art of Frieda Kahlo and Enrique Grau. Mind you, she’s only eight months old, but I’ve now established she’s a big fan of mid-century Cuban art. We went from image to image, I would point out something of interest–at her age it’s more like a cat than example of cubism, but we’re starting young. She made her little noises and would reach for the paintings she particularly liked. She was engaged in the experience and thankfully wasn’t so loud that she interrupted the church service in the background. Read the rest of this entry »

“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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