Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian

attention

Select a Category abortion Advent AI Angels Artificial intelligence atheism attention baptism Baptists beauty belief Benedictines Bible bicycling Big Bird books Bovina Camaldoli hermitage Canada Catholicism cats certainty change Christianity Christmas Collegeville Covid-19 creativity Development of Western Civilization dogs doubt Easter Enneagram Epiphany Episcopal ethics Eucharist evil extroverts Facebook faith family fear flowers forgiveness freedom friends God goodness grace happiness heaven hell history Holy Spirit Holy Week hope human nature humility humor idolatry incarnation introverts irreverence Islam Jeanne Jesus Joe Biden joy Judaism justice Kamala Harris knowledge Lent listen literature liturgy love Marsue Memorial Day miracles movies music mystery mythology NPR Old Testament optimism paradox peace Penguins philosophy piano podcast politics power prayer Protestantism Providence College Religion Rhode Island sabbatical sacrament science seeing silence Simone Weil Socrates soul sports St. John's College stories suffering tattoo teaching technology television theology thinking time tolerance transcendence travel trees trust truth Uncategorized Vermont wisdom wonder writing

Select a Month May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012

April 2020

April 09, 2020

Actually, He Died

Several Christmas Eves ago, Jeanne, Justin and I were invited to share dinner with a...

April 08, 2020

Waiting for an Hour: A Maundy Thursday Meditation

Some people can sleep anywhere. One of those people was a student in one of...

March 2020

March 11, 2020

The Gospel in a Nutshell

Sports fans old enough to remember the 70s and 80s will recall that a regular...

February 2020

February 24, 2020

A Lenten Reflection: The Difference Between Solitude and Being Alone

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to yourself. Michel...

February 23, 2020

A Lesson from Transfiguration Sunday: Stop, Look, and Listen–but don’t touch

Today is the last Sunday before Lent, a Sunday which, in the liturgical calendar, is...

February 18, 2020

When an Important Memory Turns Out to be Wrong

My youngest son, Justin, has a remarkable memory--for, as he puts it, "totally useless facts."...

February 15, 2020

The Prophet Isaiah Goes to the National Prayer Breakfast

I was the scheduled lector at the 8:00 service last Sunday, the first time I...

January 2020

January 28, 2020

When to Care, and When Not to Care

The only way I can get through the tedium of working out on an aerobic...

January 26, 2020

Staying Sane During the Impeachment Trial

The other day somebody wrote on Twitter that “President Trump is the best president in...

December 2019

December 15, 2019

What May We Hope For?

Advent is the liturgical season that is most meaningful to me. I first encountered the...

November 2019

November 23, 2019

Difficult Dialogues: Can We Disagree Without Demonizing?

Over the past several years on my campus, events called “Difficult Dialogues” have regularly been...

October 2019

October 22, 2019

Living the Dream and Getting S**t Done

Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. This, promises...

October 15, 2019

A Story from Syria: Listen to People Other than Yourself

As the expected chaos and violence in Turkey and Syria continue to develop in the...

October 07, 2019

Who Are You, Really? Think Carefully About Your Answer . . .

Jeanne and I are great lovers of movies. As I have described in this blog...

July 2019

July 23, 2019

Crows, Ravens, Golden Eagles, and the Holy Spirit

My childhood was filled with unusual characters, all products of my father’s fertile imagination. A...

July 07, 2019

What Are We Doing When We Pray?

I am currently in the middle of working through the proofs of my forthcoming book,...

July 05, 2019

A Thankless and Glorious Assignment: Enter if You are Brave Enough

In the early hours of a Sunday morning not long ago, I read the final...

June 2019

June 02, 2019

Passing the Baton: An Ascension Sunday Reflection

A disturbingly common mishap in recent Summer Olympic games has been the failure of U.S....

May 2019

May 28, 2019

Say Something Profound

At the end of each academic year, I tend to reflect back on the past...

May 21, 2019

Rise, Kill, and Eat: A Story About Learning to See Things Differently

Iris Murdoch was one of the philosophers whose work was front and center in my...

May 14, 2019

Are Evangelical Christians Discriminated Against? The Dangers of Tribal Christianity

Last week, a Christianity Today article reported that "Half of Americans Say Evangelicals are Discriminated Against." www.christianitytoday.com

April 2019

April 10, 2019

Remembering What Matters Most

The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper. I cannot quite make...

March 2019

March 10, 2019

Lifting the Fog from Faith

What we call doubt is often simply dullness of mind and spirit, not the absence...

January 2019

January 26, 2019

When it Comes to Prayer, Stop Talking and Start Relating

One of the most fascinating and troubling verses in the Jewish scriptures is from the...

January 17, 2019

Know Your Bible, and Know Your Greek Mythology

During summer orientation for freshmen, I often help the director of the Honors Program on...

January 15, 2019

We Have Met the Nazis, and They are Us

We ought not to hide from ourselves that Nazi Germany is a mirror for all...

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...

January 06, 2019

Alexa, Hear My Prayer

I read a fascinating article in the November 2018 edition of The Atlantic that explores the various...

November 2018

November 04, 2018

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

A couple of months ago, Jeanne and I saw "Won't You Be My Neighbor?", the...

June 2018

June 17, 2018

When to Be Skeptical, and When to Believe

Once upon a time two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. In the...

Related posts from Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

The Lonely Pawn: On Faith, Doubt, and Meaning

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Agency

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Love: When a Chatbot Becomes a...

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Transcendence

Freelance Christianity

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos