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May 2020

May 12, 2020

This is the Way the Semester Ends

During the early weeks of the semester in our “Apocalypse” seminar, my teaching colleague from...

March 2020

March 05, 2020

When I’m Sixty-Four

"Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?" Paul McCartney,...

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...

December 2019

December 10, 2019

Living in a Minor Key

At some point early in their musical training, all serious musicians are introduced to the...

August 2019

August 11, 2019

This is Just Too Weird: Dealing with Inconvenient Truths from the Gospels

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

June 2019

June 25, 2019

Getting Old Is God’s Worst Idea

I've been thinking a lot about end of life issues lately. Really. They seem to...

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...

March 2019

March 21, 2019

The GOATs of the Western Tradition

The beautiful Ruane Center for the Humanities on our campus opened in the Fall of 2013,...

February 2019

February 24, 2019

Does Christianity Call for Perfection or Slight Improvement?

I have the privilege of giving the homily this morning at Trinity Episcopal Church in...

December 2018

December 11, 2018

Advent is for Introverts

I was raised in a version of Christianity that had no sense of the liturgical...

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...

August 2018

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...

July 2018

July 26, 2018

The Never-Ending Prayer

As I do initial work on my new book on prayer (contract now signed!), I...

June 2018

June 19, 2018

Be Careful What You Vote For

An annual musical fixture of my Baptist upbringing was the Easter Cantata. Each year on...

May 2018

May 15, 2018

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk to you again. “The Sound of Silence”...

February 2018

February 13, 2018

Lent is for Lovers

This year, for the first time since 1945, Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day fall on...

December 2017

December 24, 2017

Grace and Peace

Grace means suddenly you’re in a different universe from the one where you were stuck,...

December 07, 2017

Peace Be To You

I was raised in a version of Christianity that had no sense of the liturgical...

December 05, 2017

The Greater Jihad

Lead on King Eternal, the day of march has come Henceforth in fields of conquest...

August 2017

August 13, 2017

It Isn’t Working

April may be the cruelest month, if T. S. Eliot is correct, but for teachers,...

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...

July 14, 2017

The Western Tradition in Eighteen Windows

Your assignment is to name the eighteen most important figures in the Western liberal arts...

July 09, 2017

The Burden of LIght

In today's gospel, Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light....

June 2017

June 26, 2017

Let Us Cultivate our Garden

What is one to do when what one professes to believe has become, as Macbeth...

May 2017

May 26, 2017

How to know the will of God

God has given us everything we need to address the problems in front of us....

May 05, 2017

Joy in a Minor Key

Richard Powers write that there’s joy in a minor key, a deep pleasure to be...

April 2017

April 15, 2017

Mortals Die, and are Laid Low

On Holy Saturday, it is good to remember our mortality. "Mortals die, and are laid...

April 11, 2017

Flowering Trees

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

April 07, 2017

Your Heart’s Desire

I received the welcome news this past week that my forthcoming book, which has been...

April 03, 2017

The Lazarus Cycle

In the liturgical year, the last Sunday of Lent focuses on Jesus' signature miracle--the raising...

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