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Ritual

Number of posts: 2

Fear - Not Loathing

Fear - Not Loathing

This Halloween, we had our own fears. Money took a big bite out of Treats (candy) this year. Not only treats were cut, but also the inventiveness and number of our decorations. That was all depressing to me. We didn’t have as much to see. We didn’t have as much candy to give out. But, even with these fears, the lights stayed on and we did what we could. As I age, I stay perpetually afraid this will be the last year we’re able to do Halloween and Christmas as we have. Seriously, I worry about that. But, more importantly, I’m worried about the kids, what they make of the world, and the growing ranks of adult-children who are making a mess of our world. The chronological children are trying to stay afloat amidst the impossibility of our broken ideas and behaviors.

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Deputized on Ash Wednesday

It’s Ash Wednesday. I feel a little sad about that. Why? When I think of Ash Wednesday, here’s the thing I remember most.

I was a chaplain at Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas. Even though I wasn’t Catholic, each Ash Wednesday I was deputized to impose Ashes on the foreheads of anyone who wanted them. I received Ashes and then was deputized to impose them on others. I would visit every unit at the hospital to make sure people could get Ashes if they wanted them. There were always lots of questions:

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