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April 2013

April 25, 2013

[Me & My Naturopath] On Being Unfixable in a World Obsessed with Fixing

A few weeks ago, I took a detour from my naturopathy focus to go see...

April 03, 2013

Meet David, as He Blogs His Way Through Alzheimer’s

At the Potter's House Church in Washington, D.C. (part of the former Church of the...

March 2013

March 29, 2013

No, the Crucifixion is Not About Bloody Child Sacrifice Being Necessary for Forgiveness

In my post Message to the Nones, which countered some popular but wrong-headed notions of...

March 12, 2013

Taboo Stories About Disability: What We’re Not Allowed to Say

Last week's New York Times featured a story about Joshua Miele, who at the age...

March 11, 2013

When Conflicting Stories Are Both True: Illness, Identity, and the Tales We Tell of Living with Disability

In his vast and gripping book, Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search...

March 07, 2013

Bless Those Who Curse You (& Don’t Call Them Eugenicists, Moral Monsters, or Murderers)

A friend recently sent me an article written by an Australian man who has the...

March 06, 2013

How the Story of a Surrogate, Expectant Parents, and a Baby Reveals the Pitfalls of Repro Tech

Fundamentally, it is simply a sad story, one that took place just a few miles...

March 04, 2013

The Dangers of “Solutionism” Applied to Our Always Less-than-Perfect Children

In the New York Times Sunday Review yesterday, Evgeny Morosov defines "solutionism" as "an intellectual...

February 2013

February 19, 2013

My Cancer Playlist: On Wallowing, F-Bombs, and How We Suffer

This is a slightly edited version of a post originally published in July 2011 on...

February 15, 2013

“Love and Salt”: Two Friends Seeking God with Mind and Heart

Love and Salt: A Spiritual Friendship in Letters is the kind of book that you...

January 2013

January 23, 2013

A Message to the “Nones”: Don’t Reject God Because of Human Suffering or Christian Bullshit

It's one of the most notable cultural statistics of our time: According to the The...

January 18, 2013

December 2012

December 21, 2012

Broken Bones, School Shootings, Divine Intentions, and Why We Suffer

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I’m devoting Fridays from...

December 20, 2012

What to Do Now? Teach Kindness, Work to Curb Violence, and Hug Each Other

There are so many valuable words coming from my writing friends and colleagues in the...

December 17, 2012

“There but for the grace of God”?: Grace, Darkness, and the Sandy Hook Shooting

As I huddled beneath my flannel sheets Friday night, two of my children safely in...

November 2012

November 23, 2012

I Don’t Want to Be an Inspiration, I Just Want to Be Human

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I’m devoting Fridays from...

November 16, 2012

Which Story Do You Live By?

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I'm devoting Fridays from...

November 15, 2012

Jewish Views on Reproductive Technology: Part 2

This is the second of two posts on Jewish perspectives on reproductive technology. I posted...

October 2012

October 24, 2012

The Slippery Nature of Suffering: How Do We Decide What Makes Suffering Unbearable?

In Lois Lowry's novel The Giver, young Jonas knows nothing—absolutely nothing—about pain and suffering until...

October 18, 2012

Remembering Louis: On the Limits of Charity and the Need for a Government Safety Net

It took me a while to figure Louis out. Like all of the people, mostly...

September 2012

September 26, 2012

Christian Ethics 101: What Makes Ethics “Christian”?

I am teaching a five-week course at my Episcopal church on Christian ethics. In tandem...

September 20, 2012

What Shane Claiborne (& Mother Teresa!) Got Wrong: On Being the Body of Christ with Imperfect Bodies

Last spring, I heard a terrific talk from Shane Claiborne at the Festival of Faith...

September 11, 2012

God, Gratitude and Suffering: The Basics

On this day in which we remember another September 11—a day on which too many...

July 2012

July 18, 2012

Valuing Life, Preventing Suffering: A Central Tension in Genetic Screening for Disability

I'm attending and speaking at the 3rd annual Summer Institute on Theology and Disability, held...

May 2012

May 29, 2012

Do I Hate My Life? No. But I Do Hate My Disability.

Thomas, a reader who has the same bone disorder I do (osteogenesis imperfecta, or OI)...

April 2012

April 24, 2012

A Conversation About Reproductive Decisions and Faith

I was privileged to have a wonderful conversation several weeks ago with Martha Manikas-Foster, who...

April 13, 2012

Patheos (& Other) Peeps: Alison Hodgson on Etiquette for Perilous Times

Every Friday, I post a link to a blog post, sometimes written by one of...

April 09, 2012

Believe the Better Story

(Originally published on April 1, 2010 on my former blog, Five Dollars and Some Common...

March 2012

March 23, 2012

Patheos Peeps: Julie Clawson on the “Hunger Games,” Consumerism, and Justice

Every Friday, I post a link to a blog post written by one of my...

March 12, 2012

Basic Info for New Readers Who Read About Me in the Hartford Courant

Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green featured me and my book, No Easy Choice: A Story...