People hear that you grew up religious, and they can’t imagine you’d have a complex relationship with faith. If you believe one part, you must believe it all. But who gets more chances to see the absurdities than the devout? An answer that’s satisfying on Sunday becomes contradictory by Wednesday night. Belief is a wrestling [...]
Archive for the ‘Faith’ Category
A Post-Pentecostal Musing.
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction on September 12, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Our Little Boys are Growing Up!: Mutemath’s Armistice.
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged Armistice, Darren King, greg hill, Mute Math, Paul Meany, roy mitchell-cardenas, sophomore albums on August 20, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Mutemath’s sophomore album (if you’re only counting the full-length LPs and the Warner Bros.’ releases) dropped two days ago. I preordered it, something I’d never done in the several years that I’ve had iTunes, so I was almost startled Tuesday at the crack of midnight, when it became available to me. (What? So soon?) I [...]
an inarticulate description of faith.
Posted in Faith on July 13, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Sometimes, when I look into a mirror, my body becomes fleetingly, fully aware of how temporal it is. And in that instant, it ceases to exist. My spirit sloughs it off and regards itself with calm, matter-of-fact detachment.The whole thing takes about .05 seconds.
But this is why I’m certain of eternity and confident that a [...]
Constants for the Wanderer: Mute Math.
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged Adam LaClave, christian spoken word, Club of the Sons, Darren King, dcTalk, Earthsuit, greg hill, Jennifer Knapp, Kevin Max, Leigh Nash, Mute Math, Nichole Nordeman, Paul Meany, roy mitchell-cardenas, Sixpence None the Richer on March 25, 2009 | 12 Comments »
I first saw Mute Math in concert at The Knitting Factory, not long after I moved to New York. I was so excited, I think I might have completely lamed out and worn a band t-shirt. I knew there was a distinct possibility that I’d be the only Black person there and I didn’t care. [...]
Whose Soul Is “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” Saving?
Posted in Faith on February 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I have so much to say about church since I stopped going regularly. Usually, I find myself grappling to adequately articulate it all. There’s a delicate balance between criticism and cruelty, especially when discussing “The Church,” an institution that doesn’t exactly welcome criticism of its practices. In church, I was indirectly taught not to turn [...]
Blacks and the Jesus People Movement.
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged African Americans, Andrae Crouch, Biography, Hollywood Free Paper, Jesus People Movement, Leon Patillo on August 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Image from http://www.hollywoodfreepaper.org.
Greetings All!
I’m working on a biography featuring African Americans who were integrally involved in the Jesus People Movement of the late 1960s and ’70s.
History has long suggested that African American involvement in the Movement was minimal; however the
music of artists like Andrae Crouch and Leon Patillo, as well as the story of South [...]
“Prodigal”
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged Church, Rebellion, The Prodigal Son on June 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I do not believe I am prodigal. To proclaim me as such would mean assuming that I left the churches I attended or questioned my beliefs because I thought I knew better. You’d have to believe that I’m arrogant and need desperately to be humbled. You’d have to say that, even though I’ve asked Christ [...]
Phantom Limbs
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged Church, Decisions, Guilt on June 25, 2008 | 5 Comments »
On occasion, I hear hymns. I hear Hosanna Integrity and Dayspring songs on AM radio. I see an infomercial about purchasing the latest Christian Contemporary compilation CD and watch as seas of tear-streaked faces gaze at ceilings with their arms upstretched and their fingers splayed, while 30-second snippets of Third Day and MercyMe songs play.
Other [...]
Them
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged Church on June 18, 2008 | 5 Comments »
They’re wondering what happened to us, the youth leaders we left behind, the deacons and prophets who watched us sing solos with the children’s choir or mumble through recitations in Easter pageants. They do not feel that they’ve failed us. They think that we have failed them.
But we remember the day T.J. dropped [...]
Gilded
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged Christianity, Church, Dating, Faith on June 11, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Days before our annual New Year’s Eve Service, Pastor Robinson absently asked me to pen a poem and plan on reciting it some time after praise and worship and before his sermon. Because I had very little sense of self-preservation, I agreed.
I did not tell him that commissioned art requires ample notice.
I did not [...]
