Well, here we are once again. As we head into the short days and long nights of winter, a new liturgical year dawns with the arrival of Advent. And while there is hope and joy (and egg nog...soooo much egg nog!) just on the horizon, we here at Church Drunk know that you've got to walk through the darkness to get to the light at the end of the tunnel. So  pour yourself something opaque and join Dizzy & Ges for a bit of seasonal darkness as we continue our Advent Examen!

'Tis the season to be jolly...and stressed...and sometimes a bit disgruntled...and perhaps occasionally flying into fits of rage about the many injustices of the world, not the least of which is one's inability to just find a damn parking spot already! But if there's one thing we get right about the holidays, it's that we start it all off with a day to give thanks. Join Dizzy & Ges as we officially kick off a new season of Church Drunk by counting our blessings (but never our cocktails - some things are best left uncounted).

Did you miss us? After a bit of a sabbatical, the Church Drunk podcast is back in action with a long-overdue bonus episode/introduction to the upcoming season. To help us celebrate the launch of a new chapter in Church Drunk history, we are joined by two very special guests: Mrs. Ges and Baby Ges! So grab a cocktail, put it in a baby bottle, and let's do this.

Here at Church Drunk we'd like to think that our address puts us squarely at the intersection of Faith and Reason (though our irrational side often does get the better of us!), and if this is truly where we reside then our neighbor across the street in this dreamland scenario would surely be Brother Guy Consolmagno. Thus, to finish out our Church Drunk Summer Reading List, we present to you God's Mechanics, Br. Guy's impassioned plea for a dialogue between religion and science. Pour yourself something cosmological in a beaker, and join the conversation!

Here at Church Drunk, we tend to believe that life gets a bit spicier when heroism is tempered with a bit of truly wretched villainy. I mean, who doesn't love a good fairy tale? And so, as our Summer Reading List continues, Dizzy and Ges invite you to put on your most indescribable hat and cry bejeweled tears of joy while wandering the winding corridors of Coffin Castle in James Thurber's classic The 13 Clocks.

Here at Church Drunk, we are big advocates of words. In fact, we use them regularly. However, we are first in line to admit that we don't have all the best words. That honor, in our humble estimation, goes to Tom Robbins. And if you want to explore some of the best words that Mr. Robbins has to offer, then we strongly advise you to pick up a copy of Jitterbug Perfume, a book about perfume and time travel and immortality and falling in love and pagan gods and so much else. Or just listen to Episode 47 of the podcast. Dizzy & Ges will fill you in!

Summer Sundays are for praising the Good Lord and savoring a refreshing beverage while watching (or listening to, if you're an audiophile) the game that God gave us. To us here at Church Drunk, it just seems like booze, baseball, and churchin' go hand-in-hand. With that thought in mind, join us for a close look at the spiritual and recreational benefits of W.P. Kinsella's Iowa Baseball Confederacy, a book for everyone who finished watching Field of Dreams and said, "I want more!"

Does the perfect summer read have to be about summer? What is the appropriate age to embrace the delicate brevity of life? Does dandelion wine give you a hangover? Join Dizzy and Ges as we tackle these and other philosophical musings in our exploration of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. I mean, it's a book named after booze...how could we NOT include it on the summer reading list?

If you've ever confuzzled the angel and the devil that sit on your respective shoulders, well then do we have the book for you! Join Dizzy & Ges as they continue their Church Drunk Summer Reading List with Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. It's Neil Gaiman, it's Terry Pratchett, it's church nerd literary candy. You want it.

Here at Church Drunk, we love gold. It is, after all, the color of some of our favorite rums, lagers, tequilas, and other gilded boozy treats. So who wouldn't want jump at the chance to turn everyday items into golden goodness? Our next installment of the Church Drunk Summer Reading List takes a look at The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a book about seeking gold and finding it in the most unexpected places. So pour yourself a pint, throw a starfish into the sea (because it matters to that one!) and get ready for Episode 43 with Dizzy & Ges!