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April 2021

April 29, 2021

Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought to Say

Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. Shakespeare, King Lear Last week,...

April 27, 2021

So You Want to Be a Good Person?

A Polish Franciscan priest. A Lutheran pastor and theologian. A French, Jewish social activist attracted...

February 2021

February 04, 2021

The Best of 2020 #1: The Coronavirus, the Apocalypse, and The Book of Revelation

It is not surprising, given what 2020 was like, that the most viewed post on...

December 2020

December 22, 2020

That Mary Thing

I have a colleague and friend with whom I share a lot in common. Eric...

December 19, 2020

We Are the Hands and Feet of God

I begin with a couple of stories. Story #1: There has been vigorous debate on...

October 2020

October 25, 2020

“If people are just going to keep doing that, I wish I’d never been born.”

We’ve all done this, we bang and bang on the door of hope, and don’t...

October 08, 2020

Bombing Raids and a Spark of the Divine

Perhaps a novel whose main character is the squadron leader for World War II bombing...

May 2020

May 12, 2020

This is the Way the Semester Ends

During the early weeks of the semester in our “Apocalypse” seminar, my teaching colleague from...

March 2020

March 24, 2020

Visions of (the) Rapture Now Burst On My Sight

Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight; Angels, descending, bring...

March 18, 2020

The Coronavirus, the Apocalypse, and the Book of Revelation

There is something appropriate about teaching a course named “Apocalypse” in the middle of world...

January 2020

January 19, 2020

American Airlines 4395, Bombing Raids Over Germany, and a Spark of the Divine

Perhaps a novel whose main character is the squadron leader for World War II bombing...

December 2019

December 29, 2019

A Family on the Run, and Dead Babies in the Streets

This Christmas season seems more dissonant than most, with violence across the globe, an impeachment...

December 23, 2019

Why the Details of Jesus’ Birth Don’t Matter

A couple of years ago, I was asked to take on a temporary administrative position...

November 2019

November 21, 2019

What Are You Afraid Of?

I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with a young man named...

June 2019

June 09, 2019

For Jeanne’s Birthday: You’re my guardian angel who keeps out the cold

Last week Jeanne and I went with a friend to see the Elton John biopic...

May 2019

May 26, 2019

Do You Want to Be Made Well?

Anyone who reads this blog regularly or even occasionally knows that I love movies. Solidly...

May 05, 2019

In Honor of Rachel Held Evans

As millions of others, I was saddened by the devastating news yesterday of the death...

April 2019

April 23, 2019

What Do We Hope For?

“Now abide faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.” These words...

March 2019

March 13, 2019

My Love/Hate Relationship with the Fourth Member of the Trinity

Twenty-five years ago last month, I interviewed at Providence College for a tenure-track position in...

January 2019

January 10, 2019

Just Your Typical Family, or Jesus Gets Grounded

Each week for many years, Garrison Keillor told “Prairie Home Companion” listeners the news from...

December 2018

December 27, 2018

Murdering the Innocents: A Different Kind of Christmas Story

This Christmas season seems more dissonant than most, with violence across the globe, a partial...

December 24, 2018

Christus Natus Est

Christmas movies are a big deal at my house. Jeanne goes for the classics, such...

December 23, 2018

Mary with No Assumptions

I have a colleague and friend with whom I share a lot in common. Eric...

December 16, 2018

Joseph: An Awesome Stepfather with a Questionable Pedigree

In my religious tradition, we didn’t do saints. But we did do Christmas pageants—big time....

November 2018

November 29, 2018

Trailing Clouds of Glory, We Come From God

As we approach the Advent and Christmas seasons, I am in a forward-looking and hopeful...

August 2018

August 19, 2018

Wrestling With the Story

In Lies We Believe Abut God, Wm. Paul Young (author of The Shack) tells the...

July 2018

July 26, 2018

The Never-Ending Prayer

As I do initial work on my new book on prayer (contract now signed!), I...

July 22, 2018

Don’t Be Afraid

I had the opportunity to spend two hours with a young man named Hayden Bruce...

July 15, 2018

What If God and Morality Have Nothing to Do with Each Other?

Is there any true transcendence, or is this idea always a consoling dream projected by...

April 2018

April 22, 2018

How Do I Get There?–A Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday

Tomorrow is "Good Shepherd Sunday," including the 23rd Psalm--a text so familiar that it is...

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