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Progressive Christian

2020-05-04T07:14:21-04:00

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.

Emerging from the Tomb

Last updated on: May 4, 2020 at 7:14 am By Vance Morgan

My newest online publication at “Bearings Online,” link below, reflects on the appropriateness of coronavirus seclustion and separation during the Easter season. When the time comes, what will our emergence from the tomb be like? What does resurrection in real time look like? Enjoy! Emerging from the Tomb Read more

2020-05-02T13:10:11-04:00

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.

Sheep in the Streets: A Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday

Last updated on: May 2, 2020 at 1:10 pm By Vance Morgan

As horrific and tragic as most Covid-19 stories are, every once in a while these days I come across a story that both makes me smile and gives me hope. These stories have a common theme–while the fragility of human lives and interests are on daily display world-wide, it appears that non-human nature is benefitting from, even kind of enjoying, the brave new world that the coronavirus has thrust upon us. For instance, a new species of clientele is showing... Read more

2020-04-29T13:33:21-04:00

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.

We are Nothing but Wind

Last updated on: April 29, 2020 at 1:33 pm By Vance Morgan

I am not a complainer by nature. My wife, my family, and my friends would attest to this (I think). I’m an optimist at heart, a glass-half-full sort of guy. I’m like the kid from the joke who explains why he is digging through a pile of horseshit by saying that “there must be a pony in here somewhere.” I will admit that my native optimism has been challenged more seriously than usual over the past several weeks—but most of... Read more

2020-04-27T10:34:55-04:00

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.

Why Certainty and Faith Don’t Belong Together

Last updated on: April 27, 2020 at 10:34 am By Vance Morgan

Human beings never behave so badly as when they believe they are protecting God. Barbara Brown Taylor Every time someone claims that we live in a country founded on “Christian principles,” I think of Benjamin Franklin. His Autobiography is often a text at the appropriate time in the interdisciplinary program I teach in—it’s short, pithy, no nonsense and quintessentially American. Exactly what I would expect from Ben. He doesn’t say a lot about organized religion other than to express his distaste for and... Read more

2020-04-26T07:26:07-04:00

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.

Facing Coronavirus “What Ifs?”

Last updated on: April 26, 2020 at 7:26 am By Vance Morgan

The final week of the strangest academic semester of my life begins tomorrow. As I told a close friend and fellow academic on the phone last night, a friend who had the very good sense to be on sabbatical working on a book project during this challenging semester, I have told people for years of my happiness that I am old enough to never have to deal with teaching distance learning courses on line. And yet over the past several... Read more

2020-04-23T11:58:04-04:00

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.

Jesus, Cleopas, and George Have a Conversation About Hope

Last updated on: April 23, 2020 at 11:58 am By Vance Morgan

“Now abide faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.” These words from the apostle Paul are heard at many, perhaps most, weddings. Everyone wants to believe that love is the greatest, especially on their wedding day. Faith seems to be part of my DNA—challenging it, trying to get rid of it, redefining it, being confused by it, and generally struggling with the “f-word” (as I call it in the classroom) has shaped me for as long... Read more

2020-04-21T15:03:43-04:00

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.

On Earth Day, I’m Wondering: Is Planet Earth a Loser?

Last updated on: April 21, 2020 at 3:03 pm By Vance Morgan

My youngest son was born in 1981 and grew up as Americans began, for the first time in my lifetime, to be aware of simple ways, such as recycling, that each of us can contribute to the health and maintenance of our planet. After a picnic at a Wyoming lake with his grandfather and me, my son (then about five years old) noticed that Grandpa had just thrown all of his garbage, including a couple of plastic containers, into the... Read more

2020-04-21T05:42:32-04:00

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.

Why No Sports During the Coronavirus is a Spiritual Challenge

Last updated on: April 21, 2020 at 5:42 am By Vance Morgan

I’ve written more than once in the last month about how the “Apocalypse” colloquium I am team-teaching with a friend and colleague from the English department this semester has become both strikingly and uncomfortably relevant to real life over the past month. So much so that we invited our students to consider keeping a “Coronavirus journal,” in which each could record and reflect on even small details of what it is like to be living through this pandemic sheltered in... Read more

2020-04-18T11:57:53-04:00

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.

9/11, the Coronavirus, and Becoming a Better Person

Last updated on: April 18, 2020 at 11:57 am By Vance Morgan

Everyone beyond a certain age can remember clearly what they were doing eighteen-and-a-half years ago when they heard the news. I was in my college’s main cafeteria getting coffee and noticed something weird happening on the Today Show broadcast on a television hanging from the ceiling in the corner. At that point all they knew was that one of the Twin Towers was on fire, apparently because an airplane had crashed into it. I had scheduled office hours that morning, so... Read more

2020-04-13T19:22:41-04:00

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.

Faith in a Time of Doubt and Uncertainty

Last updated on: April 13, 2020 at 7:22 pm By Vance Morgan

The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty Anne Lamott We are currently living in a time of uncertainty. I am 64 years old, grew up as the Vietnam War raged and the Civil Rights movement changed our nation, a time in which domestic unrest, violence, and assassination were normal events. More recently, I remember 9/11, the towers falling, and the changed country and world that followed. But I have never experienced or observed the sort of uncertainty that... Read more

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