Month: April 2015

The End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine: A minority report from one of the last living Christians in Austin…. or something like that.

Published April 18, 2015 by Doug Harrison

rbz-Doug-Harrison-01 — Photo by Ralph Barrera @ the Austin American Statesman.

On Friday April 17th the Austin American-Statesman ran a front page article with my mug plastered on it that highlighted how the religious culture of Austin has changed. It is a good article and I felt it deserved as thoughtful of a response as I could produce on a Friday night. So here it is. The original article is here.

In graduate school, one of the few books I read that radically changed my life was a little book by an ethicist and a chaplain called “Resident Aliens.” Its premise was simple, but it pried open a very hopeful window for me and changed the trajectory of my faith. According to one of the authors, the worl Unknown-6 d changed on a Sunday night in 1963 with the Fox theater in Greenville South Carolina opened its doors in defiance of the states traditional ”blue laws” which kept such businesses closed on a Sunday. In that moment, the reign of Christianity as the default-faith of that community had ended. The shocking part about that story for me was how this might be really good news for Christians… and indeed, in a way, it has been.

Living in Easter

Being Moved: Why am I a Christian? The Gospel according to Doug.

Published April 3, 2015 by Doug Harrison

I suppose that it behooves a Christian man, from time to time, to give a plain and simple account of his faith. I can’t tell you that I am feeling particularly inspired to do so in this moment. Frankly, I find myself a little short on inspiration in general this evening and feel there are (what do we call them?), “pressing matters,” to take care of, but it seems as good a time as any to say a thing or two about why this Good Friday is such a big deal and why I choose to build my life around the drama we see unfolding this and every Easter weekend from today and through the next fifty days of Easter. Tonight stands before me a simple and fair question to which I intend to give at least one good answer, “Why, Doug, given all that Christianity seems to have evolved in to, do you bother calling yourself a Christian and carrying on like ya do?”

I plan to start with a short answer and then keep just keep writing till some of the pieces “Pull-to” as my Grandpa used to say. I am not promising exhaustive answers to this question or even several. I suppose that is why I keep a blog, There is a lot to be said about the life of faith that just takes time and more importantly, stories, to have light dawn of the whole life of faith in God. But, I will start by simply trying to provide an answer that is as short and as honest of an answer that I can provide:

I am a Christian because this is simply the most beautiful story I have ever known, and I want more than anything to be a part of it.

Being Moved

Being Moved: Religious freedom and the quest to be the Servant of All.

Published April 1, 2015 by Doug Harrison

Traditionally, Wednesday of Holy week is a day to think about Judas and his relationship to Jesus. It is often called Spy Wednesday and it commemorates the the night Judas agreed to hand Jesus over to the authorities. This sets in motion the events that result in Jesus’ crucifixion.

What remains so striking about the Judas story is how someone who had sacrificed so much of his life and chosen to follow and live closely with Jesus would ultimately betray him in the worst way. What could possibly have been unfolding in Judas’ mind and heart that made him think that turning Jesus over to the authorities was a good idea? What was the deal breaker for Judas? What, I wonder, would be the deal breaker for me?

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