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November 2024

November 12, 2024

Darkness, Silence, and Prayer

One Sunday some time ago as I was listening to our local NPR station in...

October 2024

October 22, 2024

A Report from Theology Beer Camp

This past weekend I was at a conference in Denver called "Theology Beer Camp." If...

October 08, 2024

A Christian Nightmare

What would happen if we actually took the things we claim to believe seriously enough...

September 2024

September 20, 2024

Why Being Uncomfortable is a Good Thing

A new podcast that I've been enjoying recently is Ali Velshi's "Banned Book Club"--I highly...

September 13, 2024

Corrupted Memory Files

My youngest son, Justin, has a remarkable memory–for, as he puts it, “totally useless facts.”...

September 10, 2024

Remembering Frieda–a dog who was a person

Facebook reminded me that we lost our beloved dachshund Frieda six years ago yesterday. She...

August 2024

August 25, 2024

What To Do with a Difficult Teaching

Today is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Here is my entry for this Sunday in...

August 23, 2024

Non-Toxic Masculinity on Display

The non-toxic masculinity that has been on display at the Democratic convention in Chicago this...

August 11, 2024

Speaking the Truth in Love

During my youth and adolescence, my father was the president and primary fundraiser for a...

July 2024

July 30, 2024

Memories of Olympics Past

It often is a surprise to those who know that I am a college professor...

July 14, 2024

The Head of John the Baptist

Today is the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost; the gospel reading from Mark tells the story...

July 07, 2024

The Wonder of a Child

I'm back! After a two week break it's good to be blogging again. As I continue...

June 2024

June 11, 2024

Jesus and Family Values

As I work on putting the final "Ordinary Time" chapter of my book A Year of...

June 08, 2024

Sixty-Nine on 6/9: It’s Jeanne’s birthday!

Tomorrow is Jeanne's birthday, and it's a big one! As she's been telling everyone, she...

May 2024

May 14, 2024

Perfection or Slight Improvement?

As I begin work on the final version of my forthcoming book A Year of...

May 10, 2024

She Opens Her Mouth with Wisdom: A Mother’s Day Reflection

Sunday is Mother's Day--it also happens to be Ascension Sunday, so this weekend gets a...

May 04, 2024

Weaponizing the Bible

The final meeting of my honors colloquium on Michel de Montaigne was last Thursday. It...

April 2024

April 23, 2024

Of Betta Fish and Forgiveness

One day several years ago, Jeanne said “I want a fish.” This was a rather...

April 09, 2024

Fast and Slow in the Life of Faith

I learned a couple of days ago on "Hidden Brain," one of my favorite podcasts,...

April 04, 2024

The Rapture or a Random Harvest?

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

March 2024

March 24, 2024

Kicking Off Holy Week: “I’ll be Jesus”

The Palm Sunday celebration in a liturgical Christian church can be both confusing and jarring....

March 19, 2024

On Being a Person

In her award-winning trilogy of novels about Thomas Cromwell, the consigliere and fixer for Henry...

March 17, 2024

Saint Patrick? Let Me Introduce you to Saint Bridget!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, not my favorite holiday (as you'll see below). Portions of...

March 05, 2024

Another Birthday Tomorrow–do I have anything new to say?

Tomorrow is my birthday (#68)--the fact that my youngest son finds a way to travel...

February 2024

February 27, 2024

God, Your Boss at Applebee’s, and Larry

An alternative title for this essay might be “A Comedian Interprets the Parable of the...

February 25, 2024

What If I Don’t Want to Take Up My Cross?

Last week I introduced a bunch of honors sophomores to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's distinction between "Cheap...

February 18, 2024

Who Would Jesus Bomb? A President’s Day Reflection

Tomorrow is President's Day, which for all college professors means--as do all Monday holidays in...

February 13, 2024

Lent and Valentine’s Day

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent (my least favorite liturgical season). As the...

January 2024

January 30, 2024

What Sort of Bubble Do You Live In?

In my last post I wrote about being comfortable in my own skin as an...

January 28, 2024

Enneagrams, Personality Tests, and the Virtues of Elitism

A bit over a year ago at my brother-in-law’s wake, I spent several minutes chatting...

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