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December 2018

December 31, 2018

Slouching Toward 2019

Love does not say “I ought to love”—it loves. Pity does not say “It is...

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 04, 2018

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

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

October 2018

October 07, 2018

It Don’t Matter

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

July 2018

July 28, 2018

I Forgot What You Said

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

March 2018

March 15, 2018

The Christian Faith In a Nutshell

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

March 09, 2018

Do I (Still) Really Hate Donald Trump?

Last Sunday's gospel gives us John's version of Jesus "going Brooklyn" on the moneychangers in...

February 2018

February 11, 2018

Donald Trump at the National Prayer Breakfast

Last Thursday morning, the President tweeted the following: Will be heading over shortly to make...

January 2018

January 07, 2018

An Epiphany

Today is the First Sunday after the Epiphany (which was celebrated yesterday). I'm at a...

December 2017

December 19, 2017

When a Prophet Speaks, People Listen (or at least they should)

The third Sunday of Advent is always John the Baptist Sunday; last Sunday's reading from...

December 14, 2017

The Great Homesickness

I was the world’s most pathetic camper. One of the (alleged) rewards for 12-15 weeks of...

October 2017

October 26, 2017

Wherever You Go

The 8:00 show at church is for early morning people and those who prefer silence...

September 2017

September 11, 2017

Tired of Hating People: Thoughts on the Anniversary of 9/11

One year ago I posted the essay below on the fifteenth anniversary of 9 Never...

July 2017

July 23, 2017

Be Ye Therefore Slightly Improved

Jesus said 'Be ye therefore perfect." Wouldn't it have been more sensible for him to...

June 2017

June 09, 2017

The Little Red-Haired Girl

It is my blog custom on my wife Jeanne's birthday to post a reflection on...

June 02, 2017

Radical Forgiveness

From the book of Acts, a story of a person who experienced radical forgiveness, then...

April 2017

April 11, 2017

Flowering Trees

At the beginning of the first Holy Week, Jesus killed a fig tree for no...

February 2017

February 24, 2017

Just Do It

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

February 15, 2017

A Hard Saying

Yesterday I introduced a bunch of college sophomores to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's distinction between "Cheap grace"...

December 2016

December 26, 2016

Clouds of Glory

The great but incredibly difficult German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in a rare moment of clarity,...

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 26, 2016

The Designer God Project

Voltaire once said that if God did not exist, we would have to invent him....

June 2016

June 29, 2016

Raising the Bar

One of my greatest joys as a philosophy professor is that I get to be...

June 08, 2016

Here Comes This Dreamer

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

April 2016

April 07, 2016

Adepto Ex Meus Visio

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

March 2016

March 25, 2016

A Common Criminal

During the Providence Friars’ recent exciting basketball season, Jeanne and I frequently watched a replay of...

July 2014

July 16, 2014

My Neighbor

Humility is not a peculiar habit of self-effacement. It is a selfless respect for reality...

June 2014

June 09, 2014

The Little Red-Haired Girl

Today is my lovely Jeanne's birthday--please join me in celebrating my favorite person's natal day!...

December 2013

December 07, 2013

Ubuntu

As we drove home from a lovely two-day celebration of our twenty-fifth anniversary, Jeanne and...

January 2013

January 09, 2013

Dr. Seuss and Heresy

Three days after the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, an...

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