It seems funny to start a post about Catholics with a story about a Reno Hindu man who just recited the first Hindu prayer on the floor of the U.S. Senate, but I think this gives a clear picture of what can be found at the ugly end of Christianity when we start our triumphal back and forth playground screaming of "We've got the fullness of Jesus and the rest of you can go to Hell."

As Rajan Zed prayed "United your resolve, united your hearts, may your spirits be at one, that you may long dwell in unity and concord. Peace, peace, peace be unto all," he was interrupted, not by Catholics, but by other Christians who screamed out, "Lord Jesus have mercy on us" and "Thou shall have no other God before you."

In a country where the big news is a pampered socialite and a $500 phone, I think it's safe to say we need all the perspective we can get. This morning I woke up to a story on NPR which reminded me of the horrible cost of the war being waged in our names while the mainstream media chats endlessly about whether Paris has finally found Jesus and what she's wearing on her way out of jail.

I just came back to Nevada and the news of Jerry Falwell's death from a cross country trip to celebrate my graduation in Maine. With a master's degree in pastoral ministry from a Roman Catholic College, my former life as a fundamentalist Baptist seems destined to intrude with all the ironic force I keep meeting in God.

Men like Jerry Falwell were looming figures in my childhood faith. How much I wanted those powerful, self-assured, Bible-believing men, the ones we saw on television screens during video nights in church halls and the real life pastors who preached to me on Sundays, to think I was smart enough and good enough to serve God.

April 24 is Equal Pay Day. Equal pay is certainly about the respect and dignity of women. It's also about the equal opportunity this country claims to cherish. But even beyond that, it's about poor working families and the larger costs of pay inequity which affect the poorest among us most of all. Consider these facts from a joint study undertaken by the AFL-CIO and the Institute for Women's Policy Research:

After listening to the NPR piece on the latest ad from the Wake Up Wal-Mart campaign, I have been wondering what to make of this new tactic to gain conservative support in the fight against Wal-Mart's bad labor practices. Turning away from the usual issues which appeal to their liberal base, Wake Up Wal-Mart has decided to exploit post 9-11 fears of a terrorist attack to broaden their appeal. The ad, which you can see on their web-site, juxtaposes a nuclear explosion, Osama bin Laden and gun-toting terrorists with a condemnation of Wal-Mart for lobbying against an amendment to a House bill calling for 100% container scanning at our ports.

"Stop practicing the politics of complaint and start writing the vision."

These are the words I heard from Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, during a keynote address at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress while I was trying to decide if blogging was a good idea. It seemed like a pretty clear sign! But if I'm honest, on most days I'd just rather be complaining. Complaining doesn't take much effort, blaming others is so much easier than considering how I might need to be responsible for changing things, and the rush that can come with righteous ranting has a certain appeal. But struggling to articulate a vision and committing my life to it - that's work and it makes me feel vulnerable.