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December 2018

December 06, 2018

Does the Word of God Settle Everything?

I recently had a brief, unproductive exchange in the comment section of this blog with...

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...

November 23, 2018

Black Friday and the War on Christmas

Today is Black Friday, the unfortunate beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Apparently in service...

November 20, 2018

A Birthday Worth Noting

Today is my youngest son Justin's thirty-seventh birthday. If that's not enough to make me...

November 13, 2018

A Foreign Widow, Seduction, and the Book of Ruth

One of my favorite features of liturgical worship is encountering familiar and favorite texts during...

November 09, 2018

Am I My Neighbor’s Keeper?

Thanks to the caravan of refugees moving north, President Trump's choice to stoke up fears...

October 2018

October 31, 2018

Halloween Jesus or Fire-Insurance Policy Jesus?

One Sunday, toward the end of a particularly lively and deep seminar with my “Living...

October 30, 2018

The Ghosts of Halloweens Past

Tomorrow is Halloween!–one of my least favorite holidays of the year. I know that offends...

October 21, 2018

The Chapel and the Man Cave: Bridging the Gap Between Faith and Intellect

About a month ago I received an email from my friend Marsue, brief and to...

October 09, 2018

Call Her “Doctor”–She’s Earned It (and so have I)

According to the gospel accounts, Jesus had little regard for traditional honorifics, titles, or the...

October 07, 2018

It Don’t Matter

It's been a rough couple of months at our house, as two members of the...

September 2018

September 25, 2018

Obsessed with the Apocalypse

Last spring I taught a colloquium called "Apocalypse" with a colleague from the English department....

September 11, 2018

Seventeen Years Ago Today

Two years ago, the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11 fell on a Sunday. The priest of...

September 03, 2018

It’s Labor Day–What is YOUR Labor Worth?

It's Labor Day--an opportunity for each of us to reflect on the value of our...

September 02, 2018

Remembering John McCain: How to Move Past a Season of Cowardice

While the President of the United States tweeted his usual string of petty Saturday morning...

August 2018

August 30, 2018

Is Planet Earth a Loser?

My youngest son was born in 1981 and grew up as Americans began, for the...

August 23, 2018

Getting Over Original Sin

Last Tuesday, on the sixth anniversary of my blog, I posted my first blog post--an...

August 21, 2018

Hail Frieda, Full of Grace

Six years ago today, after a great deal of resistance, I finally followed the advice...

August 16, 2018

Get Up, Kill, and Eat

I grew up in hunting country where at the appropriate times each year the males...

August 14, 2018

Remember You are Dust

I've been thinking about ashes lately. I just finished reading Sara Miles's City of God, a...

August 12, 2018

I Didn’t Make This Stuff Up

During the three years that I lived in Milwaukee while completing my Ph.D. studies at...

August 02, 2018

The Whatevers

Although I regularly find myself immersed in things medieval with a bunch of freshmen every...

July 2018

July 29, 2018

Like this God Stuff is Real

In her wonderful memoir Take This Bread, Sara Miles tells us of a conversation she...

July 28, 2018

I Forgot What You Said

This morning I am in the middle of a writer's conference hosted by an ecumenical...

July 13, 2018

What the Scots Think Of Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom is underway—something that makes me very happy that...

July 03, 2018

All Things Shall Be Well?

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall...

June 2018

June 14, 2018

Lessons Learned From a Blackberry Bush

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

June 10, 2018

What Do You Do When No One Is Watching?

Hey Justin! What if you had a ring that made you invisible when you put...

June 08, 2018

The Little Red Haired Girl’s Birthday

Tomorrow is my wife Jeanne's birthday--join me in celebrating this wonderful event by reading my...

June 05, 2018

Jesus Has a Bad Day

A conversation heard behind the scenes: Dude! Did you see what just happened?? How could...

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