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August 2022

August 30, 2022

It Is “The Best of Times” Once Again

Literary phrases for the beginning of a new academic year abound, such as Dickens' "It...

August 27, 2022

What the Wounds on Jesus’ Resurrected Body Tell Us

I consider myself to be well informed and well read, but every once in a...

August 22, 2022

Anniversary Week for “Freelance Christianity”: Here’s the #2 post in the past decade

This week marks the tenth anniversary of this blog--hard to believe! It has been on...

August 20, 2022

Something More Powerful than Our Virtues

One of the habits that having a puppy in the house for the past ten...

August 18, 2022

Die Before You Die

For many, the raising of Lazarus is Jesus' signature miracle, even though it is only...

August 16, 2022

When Your Imaginary Friend Is Real

From as early as I can remember, I had an invisible butler. My mother enjoyed...

August 14, 2022

“Whatever” is No Way to Live

Although I occasionally find myself immersed in things medieval with a bunch of freshmen in...

August 09, 2022

Remembering David McCullough and Why the Liberal Arts Matter More than Ever

I was saddened to hear that David McCullough, one of the great historians of his...

August 02, 2022

A Trip to the Zoo Reminds Me of My Mother

Jeanne and I hosted our grand-nephews last week--I forgot what it is like to have...

July 2022

July 30, 2022

Some Crooked Things Don’t Need to be Made Straight

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made. Immanuel Kant...

July 23, 2022

Negotiating with God

I have the privilege of giving the sermon today at Trinity Episcopal Church in Pawtuxet,...

July 20, 2022

The Webb Telescope Images and Confirmation Bias

I had an unexpected and very interesting exchange concerning science and faith on Facebook the...

June 2022

June 30, 2022

Cassidy Hutchinson and a Story from Ancient Syria

Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony before the January 6th Select Committee last Tuesday was both powerful and...

June 28, 2022

Four-Legged Trust

Jeanne’s and my 9-month-old corgi, Bovina, has been the center of our lives since we...

June 23, 2022

Problems with the Soul

Last week I posted an essay called “Left-Brain Christianity or Right-Brain Faith?” which discussed the...

June 21, 2022

So You Want to be Free? Face your Demons

Iris Murdoch is one of my favorite philosophers and novelists, a writer whose work is...

June 19, 2022

What To Do When It Isn’t Working

What do you do when it just isn’t working? In the life of a teacher,...

June 03, 2022

Faith Needs Many Things, But It Doesn’t Need a Creed

One Sunday I decided to pay close attention to the words of the Nicene Creed...

May 2022

May 23, 2022

The Story I am Willing to be Wrong About

My political scientist Dominican priest friend and colleague, who was my teaching partner in our...

May 21, 2022

Some Advice for the Graduating Seniors: Don’t Forget About the Room at the Back of your Shop

Today is Commencement Day for the Class of 2022 at my college. Commencement is always...

May 17, 2022

An Evolving Faith: It’s About Survival, not Progress

To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes...

May 03, 2022

The Gospel According to Compost

Alas, and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that...

April 2022

April 24, 2022

A Human Being Having a Divine Experience

Two decades ago, as my mother-in-law was steadily descending into the hell of Alzheimer’s, an...

April 19, 2022

A Physical Body Plus Something More

The central theme of my ethics class last fall was human dignity. Through short stories,...

April 17, 2022

I Will Awaken the Dawn: Some Thoughts for Easter

Our seven-month old corgi Bovina, one of the greatest joys of Jeanne’s and my life,...

April 16, 2022

Taking Death for a Walk: A Holy Saturday Reflection

A thing about dying is that you can't consult anyone who has done it. Peter...

April 12, 2022

Jewish Holy Man Kills Innocent Fig Tree In a Fit of Temper

A bit over a decade ago, I spent spent the early months of the year...

March 2022

March 12, 2022

Is a Ukrainian Life Worth Higher Gas Prices?

A regular reader of my blog asked the other day whether I might want to...

March 09, 2022

Confessions of a Tree Hugger

For the twenty-five-plus years that Jeanne and I have lived in our house, the lot...

February 2022

February 27, 2022

Stop, Look, and Listen: A Transfiguration Sunday Reflection

Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent....

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