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March 2017

March 03, 2017

Getting Ready for the Apocalypse

A colleague and friend from the English department contacted me a few months ago and...

February 2017

February 22, 2017

A Crooked Faith

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made. Immanuel Kant...

January 2017

January 30, 2017

I Was a Stranger

A bit over a year ago, in the midst of the Presidential campaign that no...

January 04, 2017

The Sun and the Other Stars

On the west side of the stone entryway to the beautiful humanities center on my...

December 2016

December 21, 2016

How Can This Be?

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

December 19, 2016

Bring It On

In a recent interview with Krista Tippett on NPR’s On Being, Jesuit author and spiritual...

December 12, 2016

Constellations

I love the stars. Not as in “Dancing with . . .” or in Hollywood...

December 09, 2016

The Real War On Christmas

A few days ago I stumbled across one of the most remarkable tweets I have...

November 2016

November 11, 2016

As Good As We Make Them

The gospel reading for last Sunday was the Beatitudes from Matthew's gospel. It seems appropriate...

October 2016

October 21, 2016

Something Rather Than Nothing

One of the most reliable ways to deaden a lively conversation in class is to...

October 12, 2016

October Musings

Autumn is my favorite season of the year, and October is my favorite month. This...

September 2016

September 30, 2016

It’s Not a Holy Relic!

In Milos Forman’s 1984 Academy Award winning film Amadeus, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, played...

September 16, 2016

The Fruit of the Blackberry

A few years ago, Jeanne returned from a weekend with a friend in Vermont with...

August 2016

August 19, 2016

I Speak for the Trees

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water (Psa 1:3) Those...

July 2016

July 29, 2016

Those Effing Blue Jays

It has been hot this week—low to mid-nineties with high humidity. I know, for those...

July 09, 2016

Welfare in my Back Yard

Although I am a very liberal guy, I occasionally worry about the welfare state. I...

June 2016

June 24, 2016

A Reluctant Rose

In spite of my love of and occasional success with flowers and plants, I have...

June 15, 2016

A Free Man of Faith

I wrote this essay last Saturday as a reflection on Muhammad Ali's memorial service that...

May 2016

May 25, 2016

Ordinary Lives

There is no greatness where there is no goodness, simplicity, or truth Leo Tolstoy Although...

May 20, 2016

Tasmanian Dog

As I was cleaning out files last week, I came across an essay from a...

April 2016

April 22, 2016

April is the Coolest Month

I am enjoying reading Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery series these days; the third book...

April 09, 2016

Under My Skin

I hate being a disappointment to my son, but I know that I am. Caleb...

April 07, 2016

Adepto Ex Meus Visio

Jeanne and I are headed to Florida this evening to spend a week with family...

January 2016

January 25, 2016

Give Us Barabbas

An annual musical fixture of my Baptist upbringing was the Easter Cantata. Each year on...

December 2015

December 26, 2015

Remembering a Friend

“Happy Stoning Day!” Brother John said as he greeted me below the choir stalls after...

December 07, 2015

Righteous Peace, Godly Glory

Over the past several weeks I have been working through the second draft of my...

November 2015

November 30, 2015

Too Soon

Just before Thanksgiving a year ago a wonderful colleague and friend from my college died...

October 2015

October 07, 2015

Confessions of an Ocean-Hater

As I'm reviewing various posts for a current large writing project, I came across a...

September 2015

September 25, 2015

An Aria as Lovely as a Tree

As Jeanne headed into Dunkin’ Donuts to purchase her customary large decaf French Vanilla with eight...

September 23, 2015

Her Children Rise Up

I learned something interesting about giraffes from one of my colleagues the other day. He...

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