Keeping the Faith: Choose To Be Happy
Ronnie McBrayer
May 17, 2013
“There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.” That is a centuries old phrase from William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, “Hamlet.” Going back to your high school English class, you might remember that strange things were indeed going on in Hamlet’s world.  (More)

Keeping the Faith: A Saint Goes Marching In
Ronnie McBrayer
May 10, 2013
Years ago my oldest son asked me a question: “What is a saint?” When you’re driving along with a numb mind at day’s end, as I was, that’s not the type of question you are prepared to answer. So I splattered out, “A saint is someone who does what God wants them to do.” My son answered, “If that’s a saint, then why did New Orleans choose that as their football mascot?” I didn’t have an answer for that question either.  (More)

Keeping the Faith: The Wisdom of Simplicity

May 7, 2013
In Paulo Coelho’s brilliant little book, The Alchemist, the author tells of a young lad sent by his father to a wise man to discover the secret of happiness. The wise man lived in a magnificent, faraway castle complete with sweet music, beautiful artwork, delicious food, and sprawling gardens. It was a wonder of the world.  (More)

Keeping the Faith: Just Hang On

May 7, 2013
When I was a bit younger and a bit braver, a group of friends and I shot the rapids on the Ocoee River in southeast Tennessee. The Ocoee, which I think is the Cherokee word for “terrified rafter” is a world class whitewater adventure.  (More)

Keep the Faith: The Power of Now

May 6, 2013
There is a Zen parable about a man who surprised a sleeping tiger while walking through the jungle. The ferocious animal pursued the man, causing him to throw down his bag and walking stick, as he ran for his life.  (More)

Keeping the Faith: Blowin’ in the Wind
Ronnie McBrayer
April 16, 2013
Now that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been installed as Pope Francis, I must say that I could not be happier with the papal conclave’s choice. Not that the College of Cardinals would bother to ask my opinion on the matter – I’m not even Catholic – but as a student of religion, one who stumbles along trying to follow Jesus, and a lover of startling, historic moments, I am ecstatic.  (More)

Keeping the Faith: Where Nothing Is Sacred

April 8, 2013
The words “holy” and “sacred” are sometimes used interchangeably. I don’t think this should be the case, as there is a huge difference between the two. Sacred comes from the Latin, “sacrum.” You might recognize that “sacrum” is also the name of the bones in your pelvis. The ancient Romans called this part of the human body “sacred.” It is where the reproductive organs are, and, particularly in the female, it is from where life springs.  (More)

Keeping the Faith: Bad, Good, and Better News
Ronnie McBrayer
March 30, 2013
I have bad news. Researchers have confirmed that planet Earth is headed toward an apocalypse. Yes, I know that the Mayan calendar is in our rear view mirrors, and we have all returned to paying our credit card bills, mortgages, and car payments once again. But we have not escaped celestial disaster.  (More)

Keeping the Faith: The Carpenter is Dead
March 29, 2013
Blood runs along what remains of his left eyebrow. The drop hangs there for an instant and splashes to the ground. Stripped naked, on his knees, he lets his face fall forward into the dirt as the fading chill of early morning blows across his back; a back that more resembles something from a butcher’s shop than a human body. The strong, tanned shoulders of a carpenter are gone. Nothing remains but hanging ribbons of muscle and flesh. On any other early morning he would be carrying great stacks of lumber to his worksite, or carrying loads of fish to the market with his friends. This morning, he can’t even carry the weight of his own body, being drug the last few hundred yards to this place, by a dark-skinned stranger, pressed into service by Caesar’s army.  (More)