Personally, the better answer to a question like "where would I be without God" calls up a lot of powerful memories. I know the Holy Spirit has moved in my life through specific people and situations, which I can recall as vividly as if the intervening decades disappeared. I can name the names, in fact, and I do a couple of times. They are people who loved me in a way that supersedes human understanding, empowering me to do God's will. I have loved. I do love. I will love.

Different Drummer: Chris Rice

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Idolatry can be described as making something other than God sacred, or treating things as objects of worship. It can be that direct, in the sense of idols, but it also can be as abstract as the notion of the "image" of ourselves that we show the world. Too often, these things interfere with our spirituality, even when they are deeply embedded within our rituals or temples.

Different Drummer: Victoria Williams

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Exactly 30 years ago tonight (from the time of this posting) I was the victim of an armed robbery, staring down the barrel of a gun. I know a bit about courage, not because I demonstrated such resolve in the face of fear, but because I didn't. Nothing about that experience changed or solidified my perspective on gun control or gun violence. It did bring other changes, though, like maturity in facing my fears.

Different Drummer: Joni Mitchell

Behind the song: "A Case Of You"

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In challenging emotional and ethical decisions related to the end of life, we are often told that no one can make that decision.  "These matters belong to God," for example.  Regardless of your religious beliefs, there is something false in such statements.  By taking the ownership and responsibility for a life away from the person living that life, the control doesn't disappear completely; instead, it goes elsewhere and typically to those who neither know nor love the person facing the dilemma.  The answer to the "whose life is it?" question simply cannot be the government, insurance agencies, hospitals, or politically active strangers.

Different Drummer: Reba McEntire

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The Nativity storyline runs throughout popular culture, but we often fail to notice even at Christmas time.  Whether we don't expect it, or accept it, when it is told through rap music or in films like The Matrix, it's not hard to find examples of a chosen one entering into a dangerous and fallen world with a destiny to restore and renew.  I hope you find the hope of Christmas in unexpected places this year.  After all, "It's Christmas, Yes It Is"!

Different Drummer: Phil Manzanera

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After speaking boldly about questions of sexual identity and unacceptable answers presented by the "religious right," it's important to turn the other cheek.  I do not speak as someone who has always stood up for the rights of non-heterosexuals.  No, I understand homophobia because I have experienced it.  I have felt that irrational fear; and, even though I was much younger then, it's still important to put it to rest.  I've recently seen a hashtag on Twitter -- #LeaveItIn2012.  Let's leave homophobia in 2012.  Ashes to ashes.

Different Drummer: Freddie Mercury

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As a genre, "thriller" is different from horror or other suspense films, but that distinction is in grave danger of being lost forever.  Before the most common forms of scary cinema became slashers or demonic possession, when serial killer movies were crime-dramas rather than gorefests, the thriller was the TV equivalent of the midnight movie.  Now, with Halloween approaching, you are more likely to see Friday The Umpteenth than any of the classics starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, or Vincent Price.  Film fans have lost more than we realize.

Different Drummer: Jakob Rehlinger

Arachnidisc's videos including Moonwood and Babel

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