Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian

love

Select a Category abortion Advent AI Angels Artificial intelligence atheism attention baptism Baptists beauty belief Benedictines Bible bicycling Big Bird books Bovina Camaldoli hermitage Canada Catholicism cats certainty change Christianity Christmas Collegeville Covid-19 creativity Development of Western Civilization dogs doubt Easter Enneagram Epiphany Episcopal ethics Eucharist evil extroverts Facebook faith family fear flowers forgiveness freedom friends God goodness grace happiness heaven hell history Holy Spirit Holy Week hope human nature humility humor idolatry incarnation introverts irreverence Islam Jeanne Jesus Joe Biden joy Judaism justice Kamala Harris knowledge Lent listen literature liturgy love Marsue Memorial Day miracles movies music mystery mythology NPR Old Testament optimism paradox peace Penguins philosophy piano podcast politics power prayer Protestantism Providence College Religion Rhode Island sabbatical sacrament science seeing silence Simone Weil Socrates soul sports St. John's College stories suffering tattoo teaching technology television theology thinking time tolerance transcendence travel trees trust truth Uncategorized Vermont wisdom wonder writing

Select a Month May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012

February 2020

February 08, 2020

The Gospel at Gun-Point

In the religious world of my youth and adolescence, Billy Graham was a rock star....

January 2020

January 19, 2020

American Airlines 4395, Bombing Raids Over Germany, and a Spark of the Divine

Perhaps a novel whose main character is the squadron leader for World War II bombing...

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...

December 2019

December 29, 2019

A Family on the Run, and Dead Babies in the Streets

This Christmas season seems more dissonant than most, with violence across the globe, an impeachment...

December 26, 2019

Dammit, It’s the Incarnation!

Last year around this time, I posted an essay that turned out to be more...

December 17, 2019

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Cages: Why Faith is Always Political

When Claremont (California) United Methodist Church unveiled its annual outdoor Nativity last week, it caused...

December 15, 2019

What May We Hope For?

Advent is the liturgical season that is most meaningful to me. I first encountered the...

December 01, 2019

Living in the Advent Zone

In Philosophical Fragments, 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard tells a lovely story about a powerful king...

November 2019

November 25, 2019

Things I Am Thankful For–what is your list?

I have a Facebook acquaintance, a fellow graduate of St. John’s College, who posts five...

November 21, 2019

What Are You Afraid Of?

I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with a young man named...

October 2019

October 07, 2019

Who Are You, Really? Think Carefully About Your Answer . . .

Jeanne and I are great lovers of movies. As I have described in this blog...

October 01, 2019

Are you a “Christian Capitalist” or a “Capitalist Christian”?

For those who claim to be persons of Christian faith and who also are largely...

September 2019

September 24, 2019

Living an Autumn Faith

Yesterday was the first day of autumn, which is good thing, because autumn is (by...

September 22, 2019

Are You Jesus? A Prophetic Challenge from Joan Chittister

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a talk given by one of my heroes....

September 08, 2019

Reason Touched By Grace: Getting Faith and Intellect on the Same Page

A few days ago, Pete Buttigeig, mayor of South Bend and candidate for the Democratic...

August 2019

August 25, 2019

Remembering One of my Best Friends (and celebrating seven years of blogging)

This week marks seven years since I, with trepidation, misgivings and a certain amount of...

August 21, 2019

Is Donald Trump “The Chosen One”?

So that just happened. In a wide-ranging “conversation” with reporters on the White House lawn...

August 20, 2019

Will All Things Be Well?

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

August 18, 2019

Finding the Light

We are not simply made by God—we are made of God Julian of Norwich Toward the end of a...

August 08, 2019

We are not better than this, and this is exactly who we are

In the aftermath of two more mass shootings last Saturday, I read a number of...

August 04, 2019

The National Cathedral Speaks Truth to Donald Trump

“Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented.” “I’m Not That Kind of Christian.” “The Christian Left.” These...

July 2019

July 03, 2019

Compromise is Patriotic

I think it’s time for us to get a little bit more uncompromising in our...

July 02, 2019

Superhero Theology

I think that a lot of people stop taking their birthdays seriously after a certain...

June 2019

June 29, 2019

It’s My Life, and I’ll Die When I Want To

If you got to choose the manner of your death, what would your choice be?...

June 13, 2019

What My Father Taught Me About Reading and Belief

One of the most important tasks that an author has to face when a book...

June 09, 2019

For Jeanne’s Birthday: You’re my guardian angel who keeps out the cold

Last week Jeanne and I went with a friend to see the Elton John biopic...

June 03, 2019

When Christianity Becomes an Angry and Fearful Faith

At its best, faith is the overflow of gratitude, the attempt to live as if...

May 2019

May 28, 2019

Say Something Profound

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

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 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...

Related posts from Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

The Lonely Pawn: On Faith, Doubt, and Meaning

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Agency

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Love: When a Chatbot Becomes a...

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Transcendence

Freelance Christianity

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos