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November 2012

November 14, 2012

Thanksgiving, Sin, and Naming the Hunger

My Catholic friends reassure me that I know nothing about guilt. They are experts. The...

November 07, 2012

Learning to Talk Like Tina Fey

Today I read a review of Rachel Held Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood, her...

October 2012

October 30, 2012

Why, Today, I Am Still a Protestant

Tomorrow is Reformation Day, the day on which, 495 years ago Martin Luther posted his...

September 2012

September 17, 2012

Trinitarian Spirituality, 23: A Christ Sighting

“We want to see Jesus,” they said (Jn. 12.21). This request, from a group of...

March 2012

March 01, 2012

Fallen Threads I Will Not Search For

I HATE losing things. We all do, of course. Such losses are in turn...

February 2012

February 23, 2012

The Vanities of Lent

“We urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” (2 Cor. 6.1) As...

October 2011

October 04, 2011

Sin, History, and the False Self

God doesn’t give us much time to enjoy Eden. Two chapters of wonder and creative...

August 2011

August 12, 2011

Coexisting in Tyre and Sidon

The lectionary reading for this coming Sunday is from the Gospel of Matthew, 15.21-28...

August 08, 2011

Rebuild My Church

As many of you may know, my passion is the Church -- its unity, its...

July 2011

July 29, 2011

You’ve Got Mail: Forward or Perish

There isn’t much in scripture that seems to indicate Our Lord will be using my...

July 26, 2011

Real Transformation or a Pleasant Experience?

Today I ran across an interesting commentary on the quick fixes churches apply to the...

July 25, 2011

Vision: A Creedal Reflection on Psalm 10

“Why, O Lord, do you stand off? Why do you hide yourself in times of...

July 22, 2011

Beer Brewing and Carpentry

This week a handful of us had a lively conversation about Dorothy Sayers’ “Why Work?”...

July 21, 2011

Borders Blues

It’s not like I was a frequent customer. Its absence doesn’t directly affect me at...

July 20, 2011

Waving the White Flag

After a long while in the spiritual life, most of us come to the point...

July 19, 2011

An Ancient Radical

The bones drying on the shelves ... not so different from the valley of dry...

July 18, 2011

Sniffing Doldrums

Sometimes it seems that Christians of every stripe get more energy from differentiating themselves from...

February 2011

February 10, 2011

The Peculiar Society: Our Christian Memory

When we study the beginnings of the Church, we face first of all the shock...

February 02, 2011

“Woman, you have great faith!”: Our Christian Memory

Whenever I teach a survey of Church history, I include at the very beginning some...

September 2010

September 20, 2010

The Taxi to Hell

I caught an episode of “The Apprentice” this weekend. Sixteen hopefuls lined up respectfully and...

September 03, 2010

Doubt ~ “Could Be Wrong … but I Don’t Think So.” (Third time’s the charm.)

I don’t know anything at all about hunting pheasant. But I can imagine myself in...

July 2010

July 11, 2010

Doubt: “Just the Facts, Ma’am” – Second Thoughts

The show’s dramatic theme song prepped the audience for a thrill; the deep voice announced...

May 2010

May 06, 2010

Doubt, the Great Jeopardy? — First Blush

Doubt is on my mind. It really feels like an autumn topic, I think –...

March 2010

March 19, 2010

Lenten Letdown

The season always starts out with such zeal. About two days into it, I’m beginning...

February 2010

February 17, 2010

Ashes and Guilt by Association

I walked into the noon service today, and felt a great sense of comfort at...

January 2010

January 21, 2010

On Earthquakes and Providence

Normal days beg no explanations. Daily life asks no questions that the newspapers, Internet, or...

November 2009

November 24, 2009

Gratitude — a Risky Business

November is the month of Thanksgiving. We’ve exorcised our Halloween personas and we’re suspended between...

November 09, 2009

God Is Great

Some witnesses to last week’s massacre at Fort Hood say that the shooter cried “Allahu...

July 2009

July 22, 2009

Private Vice, Public Benefit? A Short and Selective History of Greed

How serendipitous for the Democratic party that the economic collapse is happening so happily under...

July 10, 2009

Tripping the Light Fantastic

I ran across this phrase when it ended up being the answer to a crossword...