Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

freelancechristianity

suffering

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

July 2025

July 15, 2025

Finding the Thing with Feathers

Anyone who has ever stepped inside a Catholic church more than once for a mass...

February 2025

February 09, 2025

An Unexpected Speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast

The annual National Prayer Breakfast happened last Thursday. I don't know what happened or what...

March 2024

March 28, 2024

Could You Not Watch With Me One Hour?

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

November 2023

November 12, 2023

The Cost of Doing Evolutionary Business–God and Darwin have a conversation

Regular readers of this blog know that I am currently thinking through an old issue--the...

November 07, 2023

Disability Theology

One of the speakers at the Evolving Faith 2023 conference that Jeanne and I attended...

October 2023

October 31, 2023

What Atheists and Theists Can Agree On

If God is both all-good and all-powerful, why is there so much evil in the...

May 2023

May 02, 2023

The Most Profoundly Religious Statement of All

In last Thursday's meeting of the "Faith and Doubt" seminar I team-teach with a Dominican...

March 2023

March 07, 2023

Living with “Moment Faith”

After spending six and a half decades in the middle of this faith thing, one...

February 2023

February 12, 2023

What Are We Fighting For?

During my sabbatical semester over a decade ago at an ecumenial institute on the campus...

January 2023

January 28, 2023

An Epiphany Worthy of the Season

I have heard of you with my ears, but now my eyes have seen you. The...

November 2022

November 06, 2022

One Wife for Seven Brothers: A Strange Story with an Important Lesson

A conversation overheard as a bunch of guys at a sports bar wait for the...

October 2022

October 20, 2022

The Best Answer for Unanswerable Questions: “I Don’t Know”

Natural disasters have been on my mind recently. Perhaps it's because of the fury of...

August 2022

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...

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...

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 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 15, 2022

Actually, He Died: A Good Friday Meditation

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

April 14, 2022

Falling Asleep in All the Wrong Places: A Maundy Thursday Reflection

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

March 2022

March 26, 2022

On the Days when I Believe . . .

After spending six and a half decades in the middle of this faith thing, one...

December 2021

December 09, 2021

A Cosmic Homecoming

Baptist preacher’s kids get to do some very odd things. I memorized large portions of...

November 2021

November 11, 2021

Fighting for Our Lives

Psalm 146, one of my favorites among many candidates in the Book of Psalms from...

November 07, 2021

How to Survive the Time Change (and other first world problems)

In the wee hours of this morning, the time changed from Daylight Saving Time to...

November 04, 2021

A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma

November is a month of transitions. Here in New England, we are squarely in the...

October 2021

October 17, 2021

The Music of the Book of Job

When discussing which Biblical text or texts we should include in our new “Faith and...

June 2021

June 22, 2021

The Truth Will Mess You Up

I’ve always been afraid of people in possession of what they believe to be the...

June 17, 2021

Faith Is About Asking the “What If?” Questions

In Lies We Believe Abut God, Wm. Paul Young (author of The Shack) tells the story of...

April 2021

April 29, 2021

Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought to Say

Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. Shakespeare, King Lear Last week,...

April 02, 2021

A Good Friday Meditation: God is With Us

During the college basketball season, Jeanne and I frequently watch a replay of the Providence...

March 2021

March 27, 2021

A Palm Sunday Reflection on Power and Love

Today is Palm Sunday, one of the most dramatic days on the liturgical calendar. But...

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

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube