Summer 2015

This Land: Summer 2015 explores faith and spirituality in the middle of America. The Story in our Stars: Vedic astrologer Lynn Bootes assesses the alignment of stars and planets over Oklahoma and our neighbors. Heaven Is a Place for Sale: Sarah Morice-Brubaker deconstructs the phenomena of heavenly tourism, and concludes accounts from beyond the veil may actually tell us more about our own world than the next. Shalom, Ardmore: Russell Cobb meets the last Jews of Ardmore, Oklahoma, who teach him a thing or two about the history and spirituality of his home state. Scenes from Muslim Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol: Randy Roberts Potts reports from the Oklahoma State Capitol on a day designed to demystify Islam. Lament: A poem by Michael Wright that’s also a toast to confusion. Letter to my Son the Weekend he Died: Barry Friedman navigates through his grief in the days following his son’s death. Downtown Sunday Morning: A poem by Walt Kosty that catalogs the transgressions of our mythology. Scalpel: David Schneider describes the painful precision of performing a shoulder surgery: cutting skin feels like slicing open a fresh peach. Devotion and Consciousness: A illustrative primer on Hinduism by Subhash Kak. Tulsa’s Temple of Three Jewels: Holly Wall attends a Buddhist Festival. Photos by Jeremy Charles. Home State: A poem by Nicole Callahan on faraway feelings for a distant plain. Love Beyond Belief: A letter from Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar on Unitarianism and the intersections of religion and humanism. Passing Over: Cheryl Pallant muses on the loss of a beloved pet and the lessons learned from ghosts half a world away. Wind Cannot Dry, Water Cannot Wet: A letter from Head Chief of the African Ancestry Society Egunwale F. Amusan on the historical significance of May Day and the illusion of power and ego. Video Killed the Pulpit Star: Mike Mariani tunes into LifeChurch.tv and examines the irony of a congregation suspended in the celluloid. The Gold and the Glory: David Fritze offers a 1970s perspective on the construction and aspirations of Oral Robets’ wacky faith-healing hospital. Peyote Madness: From the archives, an article from 1921 that offers one doctor’s assessment of peyote use among Native Americans. Where the Goddesses Go: Shaun Perkins visits the festivals that celebrate the feminine divine across Middle America. Way the Crow Flies: New fiction by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke. Last Lynching in Cimarron: In a piece from the archives, Cyrus Townsend Brady describes the final example of vigilante justice in Cimarron, Oklahoma.