Chaplain Dollar Tree Darth Vader

Republicans officially going with "Jesus was a beta" as their attack line for Talarico.

Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways,
Old now is earth, and none may count her days,
Age after age their tragic empires rise.
Built while they dream, and in their dreaming weep,
Would man but wake from out his haunted sleep,
Earth might be fair, and all men glad and wise.

"You have no cards."

Spending part of Lent as a patient on the oncology unit where I work. Was not part of my plan this week. However I'm battling a lingering infection that needs the big antibiotic guns with a side of steroids. With luck I'll be home in time to preach on Sunday.

What do you think Renee Good and Alex Pretti were doing?

If you're horrified by footage of Bahrain and other countries hit with Iranian Shahed drones. Consider this is a nightly occurrence for Ukrainians and has been for years. Do you suddenly care now?

They advocate for use of generative AI in spiritual care and even in the use of grief bots and dead bots.

The sad irony is the creator of that tech that lost his mom is mired in complicated grief and it is in fact destroying his life based on the article. Dying is the most human thing as is mourning and grieving. Grief isn't a flaw to be fixed.

I'm a clinical pastoral educator. That's the fancy title to say I chaplain students (CPE students.) There is not nearly enough work done around the unethical aspects of AI. Yet chaplains are out here blithely using AI casually. I'm one of the 1st instructors to talk about AI.

I just needed to share the brain melt as I was reviewing things to add to CPE curriculum.

@chaplainjohn.medsky.social wouldn't want you to miss this! 🫠

The AI Companies Trying to Make Grief Obsolete You can buy an AI version of your lost loved one. But should you?

We're killing the planet to deny the reality of grief and death. People wonder why I have an entire curriculum about the evils of AI and exploitation of vulnerable people I teach chaplaincy students. Pope Leo is one of the few to grasp the dangers of AI.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

4 years ago the genocidal invasion of Ukraine began. We remember the fallen, the murdered, the missing, the tortured. Ukraine will be free.

It's Ash Wednesday. "Remember O mortal from the dust you came, to the dust you return." We contain elements from dead stars. When we die those elements return to the cosmos to birth new life and new stars. Death is part of life. Memento Mori. Remember Your Death.

Slayed the pancreatic cancer beast and final treatment. Unfortunately it's left me quite unwell and my immune system suppressed. Take the good with the bad. Immunotherapy continues to hold stage 4 colon at bay.

Corporate would like you to find the difference between these pictures.
(this is to distract from the crushing tragedy of episode 5 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.)

Can God even hear our prayers above the blood of the Innocents crying from the ground? What travels faster: a Shahed drone or a human soul?

The surge in Minneapolis may be winding down. However ICE/CBP has just swapped tactics like they did in LA. Hitting smaller towns and cities targeting isolated individuals and small groups with fewer agents in places like: Coon Rapids, Rochester, Duluth etc.

If people want to help, lots of orgs are doing this. But the one responsible for this particular distribution is apparently found here: giving.servantkeeper.com/stjohnsepisc...

This is what one afternoon drop looks like for one (1) Minneapolis mutual aid distributor (read: random mom who wants to help families at her kids’ schools)

One other thing: if you DO NOT LIVE IN MINNESOTA, and are NOT AFFECTED BY THIS AT ALL, and you think it's a good and productive to come in here and gloat and stir chaos and dunk on someone you dislike from the internet, maybe think a little harder about what you're doing and when you're doing it.

So I can attest to this. My wife and I flew in for a few weeks with other clergy and healthcare workers to help. It's the grinding work of observing and logistics of caring for community members. There are "war" tourists here trying co-opt the real work people are doing for their own purposes.

To help you keep track today in Minneapolis:

-ICE tear-gassed children, adults and abducted a legal observer from a park.

-Tear-gassed people at an Alex Pretti memorial.

-Are drive-by pepper spraying folks. Including myself. I was wearing a stole.

These are intentional acts of terror.

Glory to the heroes of the Republic 🫡

Independent journalist Georgia Fort was also arrested by federal agents earlier for reporting on the church protest in Minneapolis. She was live streaming when agents arrived to take her into custody.

"...I believe in jesus christ
who rises again and again in our lives
so that we will be free
from prejudice and arrogance
from fear and hate
and carry on his revolution
and make way for his kingdom."-Dorothee Soelle.

ICE hasn't deescalated up here.

Is it cheesy or have people become poisoned by irony and cynicism?

The question is rhetorical and the answer is the latter.

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

That's actually a really good comparison.