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Progressive Christian

2022-03-23T20:45:37-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Have Yourself an Introspective Day

Last updated on: March 23, 2022 at 8:45 pm By Vance Morgan

In our three years in Milwaukee, our first years together as a married couple trying to cobble a functional stepfamily together, Jeanne and I set our radio alarm to NPR, which would awaken us every morning at six o’clock. The early show was classical music, hosted by a local public radio fixture with the comforting and dulcet tones of an educated uncle. As we emerged into the day from sleep, the host would provide a brief weather report before queuing... Read more

2022-03-20T06:23:42-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Will of God: How to Know It?

Last updated on: March 20, 2022 at 6:23 am By Vance Morgan

Midterm grades are due on my campus by midnight Wednesday; last Wednesday was the official midpoint of the semester. In my “Faith and Doubt” colloquium, we are starting two weeks on the work of Simone Weil after spending the first half of the semester, in order of appearance, with Anne Lamott, Job, Michel de Montaigne, Soren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with Ludwig van Beethoven thrown in for musical relief four weeks or so ago. Although they... Read more

2022-03-19T15:45:34-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hanging Out with the World’s Most Interesting Man

Last updated on: March 19, 2022 at 3:45 pm By Vance Morgan

His words carry weight that would break a less interesting man’s jaw Every once in a while, Madison Avenue gets it right and an advertising campaign takes on a life of its own. When I was in my late twenties and early thirties, Miller Lite’s “Tastes Great . . . Less Filling” campaign went viral. This simple disagreement about what was more remarkable about Miller Lite—either that it tasted more like real beer than expected or that its reduced calories... Read more

2022-03-16T10:15:39-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today Is St. Patrick’s Day. Big Deal.

Last updated on: March 16, 2022 at 10:15 am By Vance Morgan

Three years ago, I had a brief locker room conversation with a campus security guard who frequently tortured himself at the gym around the same time that I did. He noted how much he was dreading Saint Patrick’s Day the next day. “I’ll be here dealing with drunk students for twelve hours,” he predicted. “It’s always the worst day of the year; on a Friday, it’s going to be especially bad” I would not go so far as to say... Read more

2022-03-13T12:20:54-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The God Who is With Us and Forsakes Us

Last updated on: March 13, 2022 at 12:20 pm By Vance Morgan

This week in my “Faith and Doubt” seminar we are encountering Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most important “faith and doubt” voices of the twentieth century. Bonhoeffer was a Protestant pastor and theologian during the Nazi era who ultimately found himself in prison awaiting execution because of his involvement in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. In letters to his friend Eberhard Bethge, Bonhoeffer described the many ways in which his understanding of Christian commitment and action was changing. Lurking... Read more

2022-03-12T15:24:15-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is a Ukrainian Life Worth Higher Gas Prices?

Last updated on: March 12, 2022 at 3:24 pm By Vance Morgan

A regular reader of my blog asked the other day whether I might want to consider writing about topical things rather than the apparently more remote and esoteric stuff that I tend to write about. Another regular reader wanted to know why I posted an essay (a revision of an older one) called “The Sacrament of Sports Fanaticism” yesterday. “Help me understand the emphasis though when a dictator is blowing up hospitals.” In response, I said that I avoid writing... Read more

2022-03-11T08:30:11-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Sacrament of Sports Fanaticism

Last updated on: March 11, 2022 at 8:30 am By Vance Morgan

This is the first week of the best four weeks of the year: March Madness. This week is called “Championship Week,” when the thirty-or-so Division One basketball conferences play their post-season tournaments. The winners of those tournaments plus an equal number of other worthy teams get to play in the NCAA basketball tournament that starts next week. This coming Sunday is “Selection Sunday,” when the participants in the NCAA tournament will be announced, as well as brackets and seeding. Many... Read more

2022-03-09T14:08:05-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Confessions of a Tree Hugger

Last updated on: March 9, 2022 at 2:08 pm By Vance Morgan

For the twenty-five-plus years that Jeanne and I have lived in our house, the lot behind our small back yard has been vacant. We live in a city residential area, so such empty lots are rare. We often dreamed of purchasing the lot so that our dogs could have an expansive yard to run around in, so we could build a beautiful deck/patio, and so on. But it was both prohibitively expensive (for us, at least), and furthermore was not... Read more

2022-03-07T21:33:10-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Stranger (Protestant) in a Strange Land (Catholic)

Last updated on: March 7, 2022 at 9:33 pm By Vance Morgan

Last Wednesday the student in front of me in line at the little on campus coffee shop in the building next to mine plopped what looked like a pre-packaged chicken Caesar salad on the counter. While fumbling for her card to pay, the cashier said “that isn’t chicken, you know. It’s tofu.” “WHAT?” the student cried. “It’s Ash Wednesday. We aren’t allowed to serve meat on Ash Wednesday or Fridays during Lent.” The exasperated student left her no-longer-wanted tofu Caesar... Read more

2022-03-05T10:52:51-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s My 66th Birthday, and I’m Still Here. Deal with it.

Last updated on: March 5, 2022 at 10:52 am By Vance Morgan

Early last week a friend emailed me the following comment in response to my latest blog post: How about something a bit more topical? There’s a humanitarian crisis going on in the Ukraine; and I feel we have to address it!!! Prayer? A call to discern? Other thoughts? Thks. The email caught me at the wrong time, in the midst of preparation for a complicated lecture I would be giving in less than an hour. Rather than doing the grownup... Read more

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