ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — Last week, as I was contemplating my religious life and processing what it meant that I would voluntarily chose to spend up to eight hours a day praying, I wondered if I’d ever write about politics again. But something about the Private Bradley Manning/San Francisco Pride flap so touched me, even while I’m still away from the United States, that I got back in the saddle. Gawker was kind enough to put my debut piece for them on their front page last night, titled “Haaay to the Chief: The Military-Industrial Complex Conquers the Homos”.

I think I want to start examining endless militarism (in my nation, in my community and in myself) and to start to seriously think about what I can think and do about it with the tools at my disposal. The most obvious tool I have is my ability to write (and I feel very blessed indeed to realize that this tool is still intact after the past year). In once sense, my angry Gawker piece feels at odds with the pacifist, meditative religious treatise I just wrote about Taizé. But in another sense, I totally see how similar and related they are.

I feel grateful that I am getting the chance in my life right now to write what I want, when I want, without much worry. I’m enjoying seeing where it will lead me. I haven’t a clue where that will be, but I’m appreciating being on this pilgrimage of trust.