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Dark Devotional

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April 2017

April 21, 2017

Dark Devotional: Pardoning Thomas

I was hospitalized twice for a total of 28 days in a period of 38 days for...

April 14, 2017

Lower than Death: An Easter Dark Devotional

“Did You ever know loneliness, did You ever know need? Do You remember just...

April 07, 2017

RIP Rich Mullins: Palm Sunday Dark Devotional

"You had no stones to throw You came without an ax to grind You did...

March 2017

March 31, 2017

Dark Devotional: Lazarus

My uncle died a few weeks before Easter last year, an uncle who lived...

March 24, 2017

Dark Devotional: Faith and Doubt in the Labyrinth

I am easily led to anxiety in unfamiliar situations. I don’t like to do things...

March 10, 2017

Dark Devotional: A Hazy Christ Unveiled

He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works...

March 02, 2017

Dark Devotional: How Do I Get to the Desert?

I learned I had no discipline or willpower at age nine when my fourth grade...

February 2017

February 23, 2017

Dark Devotional: No Shoes, No Service

"'Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They...

February 17, 2017

Dark Devotional- The Stepford Jesus?

The word “perfect” makes me cringe. It conjures images of syrupy-sweet holy card saints, and...

February 10, 2017

Destruction As Grace – Dark Devotional

I stared up at the Basilica in hate. I hated them. Every single one of...

January 2017

January 27, 2017

Dark Devotional: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the [a]mountain; and after He...

January 19, 2017

Dark Devotional: We must be crazy

Mark 3:21: For they said: He is become mad. He was crowded by so many...

January 13, 2017

Dark Devotional: I Don’t Have to Hide My Sins

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who...

January 13, 2017

And The Title For The Sick Pilgrim Book Is….

Jess: What do you think we should name our book? Jonathan: I dunno, what...

January 08, 2017

Dark Devotional: Baptism in the Crapper

My parish has persevered for over a century, resisting many of the trends that reduced...

January 06, 2017

Dark Devotional: Joy to the World. Darkness Covers the Earth

My Christmas tree is dead. Wilted and dry, its branches boast a decidedly untrendy...

December 2016

December 30, 2016

Dark Devotional: The Wilderness of the Family

I followed the crowd into the building, my eyes adjusting to the multicolored light streaming...

December 22, 2016

Dark Devotional: It’s Christmas, Let’s Get Drunk!

One of my earliest childhood memories is my dad getting tipsy from the communion wine...

December 16, 2016

Dark Devotional: Fourth Sunday in Advent: Listen to the Misfits

A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 56:1-3A, 6-8 I’m a misfit, especially as...

December 09, 2016

Dark Devotional, Third Sunday of Advent: Waiting on Hope

Be strong, fear not! Here is your God --Isaiah 35 I don’t know much...

December 01, 2016

Dark Devotional: Tourists vs. Pilgrims

An archeologist writes about the empty tomb. He says, “Pilgrims come to touch Golgotha and...

November 2016

November 25, 2016

Dark Devotional: First Sunday in Advent: Stay Awake

“You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.” Romans...

November 17, 2016

Dark Devotional: Heaven is Where Bob Dylan Is

The Solemnity of Christ, the King of the Universe I rejoiced because they said to...

November 10, 2016

Dark Devotional: Life. Death. Time.

My receding hairline gets slightly more pronounced as I look in the mirror day after...

November 04, 2016

The Dead Don’t Marry

“The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to...

October 2016

October 28, 2016

Dark Devotional: The Terror of the Saintly Call

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now...

October 21, 2016

Dark Devotional: John Wayne Gacy and Me

I don't remember where I hid the bodies or how I struck them down. Many...

October 13, 2016

Dark Devotional: Weapons of War

The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life. The LORD...

October 06, 2016

Dark Devotional: Monsters Inside Me

I’ve never been much for being scared out of my mind by horror flicks or...

September 2016

September 30, 2016

Dark Devotional: Out of the Dust

The hand of the LORD came upon me, and led me out in the Spirit...