I'm convinced St. Thomas was demanding to be included. eebelz.com/2026/04/12/a...

The human element is (still) so important. And humans working together on such an amazing project is as awesome as flying around the moon. Not because it's rare, but because it's one of the many marvelous things about our species.

"When people say history will judge Trump, what they're really doing is outsourcing the work." — @tadstoermer.bsky.social Excellent short at youtu.be/BzDC36Q53HI?...

I feel like it's a commentary on the weather that (a) there is an ice-cream truck outside, and (b) it's playing Adeste Fideles.

In which I use my whole PhD (Theological Aesthetics, though leaning more on the Art-History side, my minor focus in the Art & Religion concentration at the Graduate Theological Union). eebelz.com/2026/04/04/t...

Wait, is hands-free boxing a thing?

Back in the 80s I thought I was edgy listening to the Clash. Now I’m listening to them at the dentist getting my teeth cleaned.

Yes, that is good.

I learned today that a professor who had a formative role in my own career has died. "Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting."

Jesus didn't want to be a king. His followers should stop trying to force him into the role. eebelz.com/2026/03/29/n...

The gas station where you can get halal fried chicken also sells 2-liters of Faygo diet cola for $1.89. I don't eat chicken, though.

54 years old and just had my first visit from Jehovah's Witnesses.

eebelz.com/2026/03/24/b... I like to add poems I publish to my blog, but I usually wait a bit if they were published online. Check out Earth & Altar, though. It's a cool magazine. But here's my poem, with a little bit of commentary.

I'm a day late, but so was Jesus. eebelz.com/2026/03/24/i...

Approaching graduation at the seminary each year, I marvel at how quickly it seems students move through their programs...then I saw this picture of my (church) choir rehearsing 10 years ago, & I think only 6 people (incl. the photographer) are still in the choir now. Same director too, thankfully.

Playing Linxicon... How is the shortest link between "alone" and "stage" *not* "soliloquy"? And how is "Jeoffrey" not a direct link between "cat" and "consider"? linxicon.com

Counted ‘em myself,

Day 21: There is no war, this is a war, the war is ending, the war is beginning, Iran’s nuke program is obliterated, but Iran will soon have nukes, Iran has no navy, Iran is planting mines, Iran is weak, Iran can attack California, Iran CAN’T sell oil which is good, Iran CAN sell oil which is good.

When the weather's nice, it's especially fun to docent at my church, b/c people are more likely to wander in. Today I got to show a couple women from Western MI some of my favorite features of the cathedral like the octopus in the stained glass or the painting of an icon on an old church's banner.

Such blasphemy.

When I joked earlier today that "The role of Job this week is being played by Elaine," it wasn't a challenge, universe. (I'm OK, though.)

"My neice deleted my paper" is a new one for me. Alas, in the digital world, dogs can't dispense with your homework.

I never would've thought I would wake up thinking, "Yay, time to eat oatmeal!" but here we are.

The Lord does not see as mortals see eebelz.com/2026/03/15/t...

Michigan, my Michigan

I shared this already, but now that DST is upon us, it makes more sense: earthandaltarmag.com/posts/y1o9ic...

“Expect rain around 10PM in Livonia.” As I sit at home in Detroit. Um, OK. Anywhere else I’m not where I should expect things about the weather?

…

If you're a woman in ministry in Metro Detroit (or whatever distance you're willing to come from!) please consider this invitation from the seminary where I teach. Whatever your ministry is—lay or ordained, in or out of church—come!

I do eat a lot of pasta.

On practices that teach us where to turn our attention, because faith takes that kind of deliberate action. eebelz.com/2026/02/28/a...

I would be a very bad military chaplain. Sure, let me check the Bible, see what it says about killing a couple dozen men with a bomb because Jeffrey Epstein’s best friend was bored and wanted to feel something. *flips pages* Well, you’re not going to like this…

I threw together a document with some poems I might be able to work into a collection (to have on hand), and for fun, I went ahead & accepted Adobe's offer to have its AI summarize the "long" document for me. Their summary was as many pages as my document, and it was also hilarious.

My poem, "Borrowing Light," is up on Earth & Altar today: earthandaltarmag.com/posts/y1o9ic... #poetry

"Holy objects are not holy in & of themselves. They are holy only be negating themselves in pointing to the divine of which they are the mediums. If they establish themselves as holy, they become demonic."—Paul Tillich I think this is a great way to understand use of the phrase "God bless the USA."

eebelz.com/2026/02/22/w... Featuring a painting by a man who gave up art to become a medical hack only to die of the tuberculosis he wrongly claimed he could cure, but that's not the story behind the art anyway.

Don’t support anyone who isn’t interested in justice and only “wants to unite.” There can be no harmony without justice.

Wes Moore (MD): “I didn’t run for governor like, man, I can’t wait so me and the president can go toe to toe...But the fact that he is waking up in the middle of the night and tweeting about me...I pray for him and I...feel bad for him because that has...got to be a really, really hard existence.”

MSN's weather site is currently saying this, as I'm listening to thunder, hail, and heavy rain:

These 1950s-era church light fixtures look too much like automotive air filters to me.

Read and share all over..he nails it

Final week of prep for my workshop this weekend: Sacred Imagination—How the Arts Help Us Think about God. Not the best title I’ve ever come up with, but also not the worst.

If this country was truly “pro-life,” we would have Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, gun reform, universal child care, and a living wage. The right-wing agenda isn’t about “life.” It’s about control.

Great service this afternoon—feast of Absalom Jones. I wanted to skip because I had so much to do, but in the end, what kept me from skipping was not my responsibility as an alto in the choir, but knowing our guest preacher would be the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Bishop of Indianapolis.

eebelz.com/2026/02/14/w... "Be what you see; receive what you are."

What does it mean to be a "city on a hill"? Does it mean to display power and wealth, to make people want to come but also make it impossible for them to do so? Or does it mean to build justice and liberate the poor? eebelz.com/2026/02/07/o...

Christians, this year Lent cannot be about only, or even primarily, your personal sins. Don't give up chocolate; give up Amazon or Apple (well, do give up Nestle & other US chocolate). If you can, make a spiritual discipline of connecting w/your local resistance movemnents, & learn their history.