Safe Haven

 I love the old TV series "Columbo." There was a TV movie that aired all the way back in 1968, "Prescription For Murder," that essentially served as a pilot for the regular series that most people are familiar with however, from 1971 to 1978. Other Columbo TV films actually aired less frequently from 1989 to 2003. The great Peter Falk actually wanted to appear in one more Columbo film in 2009, when he began to exhibit signs of dementia before his death. Falk did other things, but like Gregory Peck who starred as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, you might want to escape an iconic character, but at some point, that isn't any actor's decision. In the great comedy drama The Princess Bride, Peter Falk appears as The Grandfather in the little frame scenes that lead to the story. He's absolutely doing his Lt. Columbo. I don't know anyone who was disappointed in that casting. Columbo isn't saintly in a sort of untouchable way like Atticus Finch, b...

 And I use “artists” broadly, like “creatives.” I think it’s the liturgy and the missionary impulse. In ancient and medieval Europe, the life of the parish was the life of the town. There is a clear rejection of three-dimensional religious art in Eastern Christianity, both among those who accept the Bishop of Rome’s universal jurisdiction, and those who do not. Nevertheless, the entire field of sacred art and architecture is rooted in the liturgies and theology of the apostolic Churches all over the world. In many respects, apostolic Christianity in the strictest sense succeeds where its liturgies are celebrated, notwithstanding scores of people who are adherents, but wouldn’t know Jesus from a hole in the ground. That is, Divine Liturgy/Holy Mass is the fruit of the missionary impulse. To say this is unpopular today, to say the least. That impulse is colonization and domination, in the minds of some. I have no desire to coerce anyone, but “Lord” in Latin is “Dominus.” I would add ...

 I was going to say, “not in that liberal white woman way.” Offense not necessarily intended, but not absolutely prohibited, either. On the other hand, even if the acronym and the description for “Affluent White Female Urban Liberal” describes a real thing, it’s a bit mean to go around yelling, “You’re the stereotypical AWFUL!” I digress. I love Ted Lasso. I love that it’s funny, but it has heart. Pathos. But I don’t “need” Ted Lasso. I’m gonna make my best effort not to buy any Ted Lasso merchandise. Have I been tempted to buy the coffee mug with a Venn diagram explaining the Roy Kent fan chant on it? (IYKYK) Yep. But I won’t. (Roy was written to have once been one of the best defenders/defensive midfielders in the relatively short history of the English Premier League.) I enjoyed seeing Brett Goldstein on Sesame Street. He seems like a genuinely sweet man (which is why only he could play Roy Kent). But having him sorta in character as Roy, AND making the letter of the day be “F” ...

 This will be heartfelt, emotional, and potentially embarrassing. Offer it up, Bryan! [The Catholic version of, “Suck it up, buttercup”!—ed.] When I first met this poor guy, he was picking me up for an Association of Hebrew Catholics lecture, the subject of which was justification and the Council of Trent. Even in 2009, I needed answers. The Reformation was unviable in my mind, even if another solution wasn’t readily apparent. By the way, many Catholics who convert from Protestant communities could tell a story like that, but you’re in a tricky place if you’re feeling and thinking that way whilst training to be a Reformed pastor. Fortuitously, Bryan once was doing the same thing for the same reason at the same institution. The ride/drive was perilous, I’ll say that. And Bryan made the “mistake” of asking me why I haven’t or wouldn’t become Catholic. I had two reasons: justification and Mary. Mother Mary. You know, Mary of All The Things. She just apparently shows up places, obvious...

 I love Linda Cohn. She's one of the reasons that ESPN isn't total garbage, even though they have been firing the people who made it great for about 20 years. Anyway, she says Caitlin Clark should be the MVP in the WNBA this year. She in general points out that it's not a stats award; it's about who is the most valuable to her team. In principle, I absolutely agree. But Wilson is like Tim Duncan. The whole Aces program turns on the axis of her leadership. Coach Hammon knows this, because she was there. Gregg Popovich isn't some strategic genius; he had the players good enough to win, but he inspired those players to work together, and in the latter days, to follow Timmy's lead. I look at the Aces roster, and I think, "This team is legit loaded." (Ditto the Fever and the Minnesota Lynx, especially.) But seriously: would the Aces roster be so deep if A'ja wasn't there? Not just her stats, which are distinctly better than Caitlin's. But every ...

 But the worst people think they are the best people. Dunning-Kruger works for ethics, too. I still say that making your own meaning is exhausting. That’s why all those existentialists killed themselves. It seems to me that we discover meaning in a similar way that we discover how the water cycle works, or why our sky is often blue during the day. Follow the science! Can I throw the punch and say that right now, the people who say this the loudest don’t actually do it? We know those people who are a “good person” because they tell us all the time. Let’s stop joking, and make the point: Most people would canonize themselves saints. Most people are quicker to see faults in others than in themselves, myself included. I can sympathize with the idea that a church is supposed to be more like a hospital than a country club. Jesus said the sick need a doctor more than the healthy do. That’s common sense. I just find it odd and sad that the heuristic for good and bad for so many people is w...

 I'm gonna start this in a weird place, but I don't like Foreigner that much. I've heard "I Want To Know What Love Is" probably 200 times in my life, and that's enough. I'm sorry. And the thing is, I don't inherently mind power ballads [You love power ballads, you mawkish clown.--ed.] or songs with slow verses and bold choruses. It's just this song. Frankly, every time I hear it though, I think, "How many out of wedlock conceptions happened with this song in the background?" There's a beautiful song written by Todd Rundgren that is the title of this post. It was the final track on the Oops! Wrong Planet LP from 1977 from his band Utopia. It got even more popular when it was recorded by England Dan (Dan Seals) and John Ford Coley in 1979. I don't know if Todd Rundgren identified as a Christian when he wrote it--I wasn't there--and I don't know if he does now, but that's a gospel song. In fact, Dan Seals said he "go...

 I had probably heard "I Won't Hold You Back" as a kid, a little kid. Probably my mom or one of my stand-in "parents" had the TOTO IV LP. It was everywhere. I found the LP in my stepdad Bill's stuff in the early to mid-2000s. Well, I don't know if Timothy Schmit of the Eagles is a tenor; I don't know music like a musician does. But he sure sounds like he's in the Steve Perry range on "I Won't Hold You Back" and Perry has been called a tenor. Do you think the Eagles ever did the song in concert because Timothy recorded it with Toto? For funsies? Vince Gill, who's with the Eagles now, could definitely sing the part. Speaking of Vince Gill, he sings so high that I don't know what a "falsetto" even means for him. You're not really exceeding range, if you just live there.  Anyway, it's a bloody great song.

 I can recall taking a canon law class for my Masters degree in Theological Studies (Ave Maria University’s Institute For Pastoral Theology). It was a lot of case studies of people doing less-than-ideal things, and us figuring out which part of canon law would apply. I had a great instructor who made canon law fun, which is an odd sentence to write. Moral theology inevitably is a part of those discussions. The study basically of what to do or not to do in particular situations, and also oftentimes the analysis of how morally culpable a person is or is not, based upon their knowledge and actions, is another aspect of moral theology. Professor Benedict Nguyen is a great teacher, and a great mind in the Catholic Church today. We got to talking in class, and analyzing a difficult situation, he brought this out as a principle: “When in doubt, do not act.” We weren’t talking about a more obvious situation where failing to act is a sin of omission. We weren’t dealing with anything that is...