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May 2020

May 10, 2020

Sometimes, Getting Stoned is a Bad Thing

The New Testament reading in today's lectionary line-up is the stoning of Stephen from the...

May 02, 2020

Sheep in the Streets: A Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday

As horrific and tragic as most Covid-19 stories are, every once in a while these...

April 2020

April 30, 2020

We are Nothing but Wind

I am not a complainer by nature. My wife, my family, and my friends would...

April 23, 2020

Jesus, Cleopas, and George Have a Conversation About Hope

“Now abide faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.” These words...

April 21, 2020

Why No Sports During the Coronavirus is a Spiritual Challenge

I’ve written more than once in the last month about how the “Apocalypse” colloquium I...

April 18, 2020

9/11, the Coronavirus, and Becoming a Better Person

Everyone beyond a certain age can remember clearly what they were doing eighteen-and-a-half years ago...

April 16, 2020

Faith in a Time of Doubt and Uncertainty

The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty   Anne Lamott We are currently living...

April 14, 2020

Don’t Put Jesus Back in the Tomb

During his Easter Sunday homily last year, my friend Mitch—the rector of the Episcopal church...

April 11, 2020

New Life is for Real: A Childhood Easter Tale

Several years ago, just in time for the Christmas holiday season, a new book by Sarah...

April 09, 2020

Actually, He Died

Several Christmas Eves ago, Jeanne, Justin and I were invited to share dinner with a...

April 08, 2020

Waiting for an Hour: A Maundy Thursday Meditation

Some people can sleep anywhere. One of those people was a student in one of...

April 05, 2020

Palm Sunday and the Teaching Life

With Palm Sunday begins what will be the strangest Holy Week of my lifetime. The...

April 02, 2020

“I Don’t Know”: The most profoundly religious statement of all

Let me tell you here first, “trust in God” has never floated my boat as...

March 2020

March 31, 2020

Don’t Be Afraid to Die

Last Sunday was the Fifth Sunday of Lent; we are heading directly for Palm Sunday,...

March 29, 2020

Step back, be quiet, and be at peace

My friend Mitch, who is the priest-in-charge at the Episcopal church I attend, has asked...

March 24, 2020

Visions of (the) Rapture Now Burst On My Sight

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

March 18, 2020

The Coronavirus, the Apocalypse, and the Book of Revelation

There is something appropriate about teaching a course named “Apocalypse” in the middle of world...

March 14, 2020

Jesus’ Advice Concerning the Coronavirus: Don’t Be Afraid of Tomorrow

If there ever was a time when Jesus’ suggestion that we should “not worry about...

March 11, 2020

The Gospel in a Nutshell

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

March 02, 2020

God Is Doing the Best that God Can Do

Frank Tupper, an important Baptist theologian who argued that God is in control of very...

February 2020

February 29, 2020

Jesus I Know . . . But Who are You?

Today is the First Sunday of Lent; the gospel traditionally is a version of Jesus'...

February 23, 2020

A Lesson from Transfiguration Sunday: Stop, Look, and Listen–but don’t touch

Today is the last Sunday before Lent, a Sunday which, in the liturgical calendar, is...

February 15, 2020

The Prophet Isaiah Goes to the National Prayer Breakfast

I was the scheduled lector at the 8:00 service last Sunday, the first time I...

February 11, 2020

Spiritual Punctuation

In my life-long spiritual journey, the decade of my twenties was the charismatic decade. No,...

February 02, 2020

Idolatry and Abortion

I wrote the essay that follows several months ago; on the advice of some trusted...

January 2020

January 28, 2020

When to Care, and When Not to Care

The only way I can get through the tedium of working out on an aerobic...

January 26, 2020

Staying Sane During the Impeachment Trial

The other day somebody wrote on Twitter that “President Trump is the best president in...

January 16, 2020

Best of 2019 #3: When Christianity Becomes an Angry and Fearful Faith

Last June, I used essays by Michael Gerson and Marilynne Robinson to explore what happens...

January 12, 2020

What Really Happened that Day at the Jordan River?

The season of Epiphany, squeezed in between the Christmas season and Lent, is the annual...

January 06, 2020

An Epiphany in Real Time

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany, the first day of the liturgical season that...

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