This week, Joe Simmons continued his reflections on the dangers of sarcasm for the spiritual life. Week in Review thought about giving up sarcasm for Lent, but we’ve already failed within this sentence. Perhaps if hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue, sarcasm is the compliment cynicism pays to sincerity… but all witticisms (and blurbs and excerpts) aside, we’re sincerely grateful you’re with us for the beginning of Lent (have you checked out our minor redecoration-in-purple on the front page?), and our contributors have started off the season of renewal by jumping into the deep end:
- Some spiritual sincerity as you start the first full week of Lent:
- Matt Spotts tackles the true meaning of “everything happens for a reason“
- Even now, says Brendan Busse, even now we’re called to find the courage to turn back to God
- “I don’t know” is the beginning of inspiration, according to Tim O’Brien
- Michael Rossmann is giving up ESPN for Lent. You should probably pray for him.
- “Do you love me?” asked Demi Moore — but Jesus asked it first, as Perry Petrich points out
- And Michael Wegenka, new to the pages of TJP, asks us what we’re going to take on, not give up, for Lent
- There’s a fine line between sincere and sentimental, as Jayme Stayer explained last week; this week, he’s back with Part 2, examining the poetry of Mary Karr to consider the possibility of contemporary religious verse
- Of course, it’s not all serious:
- Jay Hooks inaugurates TJP’s YouTube channel with his video on Germaphobia — we’re just waiting for it to go viral. (Wait for it … wait for it … get it?)
- Back at All Things Linked, we continue to prove that “everything is a remix” with our up-to-the-minute coverage of cultural obsessions — in this case, Linsanity and another swing at Downton Abbey. Got a meme that needs a spiritual diagnosis? Let us know at [email protected].
- Speaking of memes, we trust Fr. James Martin won’t mind if we repost his contribution to the “What I really do” picture meme from Facebook:
What we really do does involve staring at our laptop screens, but it’s worth it to bring TJP to you each week.
