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June 2019

June 23, 2019

Do You Want To Be Free? Face Your Demons

The lectionary readings for today include two fascinating texts from Scripture: Elijah collapsed under a...

June 20, 2019

Faith By the Light of the Moon

Broken windows and empty hallways, a pale dead moon and a sky streaked with gray....

June 18, 2019

If Norway Speaks, Donald Trump Will Listen—but probably not to this

Norway is in the news—last week President Trump mentioned Norway as an example of a...

June 11, 2019

Your tree and your dog will get more “likes” than you do, and other things I have learned in seven years of blogging

This August will mark my seventh year of blogging, the last two and a half...

May 2019

May 28, 2019

Say Something Profound

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

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 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 19, 2019

To the Graduates . . .

Today is my college's Commencement Day. I've been to more than thirty college graduation events,...

May 17, 2019

Scottish Sheep are Waterproof, and other takeaways from Good Shepherd Sunday

One of my prized possessions, purchased when Jeanne and I on vacation last June in...

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

May 09, 2019

I’ll Remember You

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

May 07, 2019

Why Did Jesus Like Little Children So Much?

One of the stories that was emphasized regularly in the Baptist Sunday school of my...

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...

April 21, 2019

Now I See You: An Easter Reflection

Easter Sunday--the most triumphant day on the Christian liturgical calendar. According to New Testament scholar...

April 14, 2019

Blessed Is He Who Comes: A Palm Sunday Reflection

Today is Palm Sunday, one of the most dramatic days on the liturgical calendar. But...

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 24, 2019

Oysters, Ballerinas, and a Reminder that No One Owns God

There are several contemporary writers on spiritual issues and matters of faith whose work I...

March 11, 2019

Lent Without Religion

I love the cycle of the liturgical year, the anticipation of Advent, the joy of...

March 06, 2019

On My Birthday, Here Are Some Things That I Know Are True

Today is my birthday, so I ask for your indulgence. Our culture tends to assume...

March 03, 2019

Our Wishes Are Not God’s Primary Concern

Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12 In his...

February 2019

February 28, 2019

Choice, and “a certain lightness of heart”

On the recommendation of one of my colleagues, I recently read Alexander Waugh’s The House of...

February 12, 2019

The Most Important Lesson from the Sermon on the Mount: Don’t be a Jerk

In his lovely little book Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner suggests that what we often dismiss as...

February 10, 2019

What Can We Do Now That There Is No God?

Several weeks into the new year, I am for the first time getting to teach...

January 2019

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 12, 2019

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Donald Trump, and Stupidity

Why do intelligent people believe lies that are easily exposed as lies? Why do intelligent...

January 06, 2019

Alexa, Hear My Prayer

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

December 2018

December 21, 2018

Advent 101: Making Advent a Season of Recentering

We seek retreats for ourselves in country places, on beaches and mountains . . ....

December 20, 2018

An Advent Reboot

We seek retreats for ourselves in country places, on beaches and mountains . . ....

December 13, 2018

Did Jesus Ever Say “I’m Sorry”?

A popular Christian writer got herself in trouble not long ago by suggesting on Twitter...

November 2018

November 25, 2018

Does Christianity Solve the Problem of Evil? (spoiler alert: no, it doesn’t)

In the six-plus years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve occasionally been asked what...

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