Rainey Blogs on Some Days

Ash Wednesday . I got up in the morning and decided to fast until dinner after reading that this was the practice of earlier Christians. Since I'm quite conscious of Muslims now and know they fast for Ramadan from sunrise to sundown, I figured it was the least I could do for Ash Wednesday was to fast for one day. On the way to work, in the spirit of the practice I did know about Lent —giving up something during those forty days as a form of self-sacrifice—I randomly decided to give up listening to the radio on my commute to work in the morning. This would mostly knock out National Public Radio . (How was I supposed to know the Japanese earthquake and tsunami would hit right after and the temptation to find out what was happening would be too great to overcome?) But on that first Wednesday, I completed the readings and prayer of repentance. On the way to work I listed to a tape—yes, that's an actual tape. My car has a tape player!--of the Bible and thought about going to an As...

One of the great things about living near New York is getting to see famous people when you go to the City. Our friends Billieanne and Jason saw Alec Baldwin at a deli near their hotel in Manhattan when they were visiting during this past winter. My brother-in-law saw Dennis Rodman at a bar in the City a couple of years ago. For some reason, I keep seeing Jesus. After seeing Jesus walking his dog in Greenwich Village  four years ago after we had attended a play for our anniversary, I would have never thought in a million years we would see him again. But it happened, on our anniversary, again. We’d picked no particular restaurant for dinner, so we walked around from restaurant to restaurant looking at menus. The restaurants in Chelsea were packed on this warm Thursday summer evening.  Everyone was young and beautiful and looked like they had money. I know this is not really possible, but it seemed that way. I didn’t want to be around that oppressive kind of environment—...

Kurt Warner retired last week—we think, unless he pulls a Brett Favre on us—and I thought back a year ago to how happy I was to see him successful again after several years of struggling to regain the greatness he had shown with the Rams. Last January, before the Cardinals played in the NFC championship, I jotted a few notes about what I remembered of the amazing run Warner had with the Rams in 2000 when my Mom was still alive for what would be her last January. They beat Tampa Bay 11-6 that year. My Mom, who had never been interested in sports and thought it more of a worldly distraction, had gotten interested in football because of Warner, who was a Pentecostal Christian like we were. We had talked about it a few times during the football season as Warner and the Rams were taking the Midwest by storm. She really liked him, the Christian who went from bagging groceries to leading the “Greatest Show on Turf.” So after the Rams’ NFC championship victory, I called to talk to her about...

A few years ago in December, we went to see a play called “ No Child ” at the Barrow Street Theatre in Greenwich Village in New York City. After it was over, we were walking to the car and saw Jesus walking his dog, a Dalmatian. I was surprised to see Jesus in Greenwich Village, let alone with a Dalmatian. I would have thought Jesus would have had a collie or chocolate Labrador. Oh, it was him alright. I’ve seen enough pictures of Jesus to know him when I see him. Most celebrities wear dark sunglasses and try to hide their identity, but not Jesus. He was out in the open for all to see, walking his dog . . .  in Greenwhich Village! Go figure.