Jesus isn’t the only main character in the Gospel of Matthew. The other one is us. — It’s so easy to write off the Bible, to write off the Gospels, and the whole Jesus thing, and there’s no shortage of mostly legitimate arguments for doing so — but don’t. Don’t. Nobody’s going to make you swallow it all — I sure don’t. …

A wizard’s strangled cry on NH Primary Day — 1:27 PM on Primary Day, sitting in Flight Coffee’s new cafe hidden deep within a Bedford industrial park, and a small three-person platoon of weathered Michael Bennet supporters strolls in as though there’s nothing weird about that. 1:27 PM on Primary Day and there’s still Michael Bennet people walking around…

A sermon for Epiphany and the New Year delivered at Peterborough Unitarian-Universalist Church on January 5, 2020 — Note: full text of the reading referenced in this sermon can be found here. I grew up in a religious home, but because we weren’t Catholic or Orthodox or any other denomination with close ties to Old World traditions, I didn’t grow up with any strong feelings or associations about…

We end the year with a naked, honest look at grief, death, and mortality itself — because we’ve been left no choice — “Who said you were supposed to survive? Who gave you the idea that it’s preferable to go on and on and on? Obviously, we can’t go on living — we’d overcrowd ourselves, for one thing. So, in actuality, a person who dies is honorable, because he or she is making…

Why can’t I get sentimental about the last full moon of the decade? And what’s all this crap about “roaring” all about? — Earlier this week, it seemed like everyone on the internet was abuzz about the fact that the LAST FULL MOON OF THE DECADE WAS HAPPENING AT 12:12 AM (EST) ON 12/12. Sure, it was curious, I guess, but I couldn’t really make myself get excited about it — and it…

Wild year refuses to be tamed even to the bitter end — One of my favorite things to do, as I may have mentioned somewhere or other, is to incorrectly pronounce the word DENOUEMENT in a more phonetically American way. You know: dih-NOOOO-mint. I just love it. Dih-NOOOO-mint! …

The return of DISPATCHES: looking back on November and getting back some of what I put in — The outlook for November was so spot-on, I almost want to apologize — for the reality of it all, if not for my lack of humility. Reading over my last few paragraphs, I can’t hold in a wry, grim laugh. …

Hold off for now on that year-end reflection—there’s miles to go before we sleep — November has already opened in dramatic fashion, presenting itself as the Month of the (regal but stern) Fire Queen, her dangerously beautiful daughter, and the settling of scores and evening-out of imbalances. …

We’ve got spring in the fall, darkness before the dawn, a hint of justice, and the promise of gentleness to come — If I were a gambling man, I would wager a fair amount that right now, regardless of who you are, you’re either losing your shit or you’re watching everyone around you lose theirs. Just a hunch. …