Sex and dignity are two words that don’t seem to belong together. Sex is innately and joyously undignified, while the word dignity often implies primness and good posture. Yet in his new treatise on “The Joy of Love,” Pope Francis uses the word dignity 26 times, several times in a specifically sexual context. This led […] Read More

This is an explosively fertile week: Easter, with its eggs and resurrection; Holi, the Hindu festival of colors; Nowruz, meaning new light, the Persian New Year; Wicca’s Ostara; the Druid Eostar; Purim, celebrating survival of the Jewish people; and the official first day of spring. Flowers are blooming — my yard, though it gets only […] Read More

I long held the mistaken idea that saints always abstained from sex. I did know that St. Augustine had written his relatively steamy Confessions. But did not take in that he’d had a lover for 13 years, until I saw publication of a new novel The Confessions of X, written from the viewpoint of that […] Read More

Had a small change of heart as I was driving to my office this morning (38 minutes, so I have time to think). In my previous post, I expressed skepticism about a search for God being a driver of promiscuity. What I realized today is that my novel Cobalt Blue is about that very thing: […] Read More

Is sexual promiscuity ever a spiritual quest? An effort to satisfy spiritual hunger? A friend suggested I write about this. I’ve delayed getting to it, because I’m skeptical. My sense is that “sleeping around” is most often a quest for love, power, pleasure, adventure, and/or a view of one’s self as rakish/seductive/desirable. Any combo of […] Read More

Lately I’ve gotten acquainted with a mermaid. Her name is Shelley Opearls. She has been keeping me up on mermaid life in the Southeast. As a native of coastal Wilmington NC, I’m of course a great fan of merfolk and their particular grace and enchantment. I’m not alone. Mermaid Shelley burbles: I certainly have been […] Read More

“Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.” This wildly popular TED talk reveals postures that create confidence. Who doesn’t want confidence? Amy Cuddy’s 21 minutes of advice on the subject is the second most popular TED talk ever. More than thirty million people have seen it online. The postures she describes that create confidence and […] Read More

The first moments of the New Year are upon us, saturated with ritual, spiritual meaning, alcohol, and social pressure. These days I don’t much give a damn about New Year’s Eve, or so I tell myself. Back when I was single (32 years ago), I did give a damn. It was a night when I […] Read More

More than just a spin-the-bottle Christmas decoration, mistletoe is a plant with a wild past. What seems to give rise to its mythic reputation is the fact that it grows high in trees and stays green even when its host tree loses its leaves. With no visible means of support, it was believed to be […] Read More

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, late December is an intense time of year in this hemisphere and the concept of the virgin birth has probably affected your life. There’s plenty of argument about whether Jesus was born of a virgin mother. Fundamentalists of course say yes. Liberal Christians often say the virginity is symbolic. […] Read More