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Annie Dillard

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May 2026

May 14, 2026

AI and Transcendence

Two weeks ago, I set the stage for my next several posts by engaging with...

April 2026

April 30, 2026

Advice that Saint Francis Never Gave

There is a saying attributed to Saint Francis that I have heard frequently over more...

October 2025

October 19, 2025

“Hello, God!”

You can either think of the creeds of the great traditions . . . as...

June 2025

June 25, 2025

The Most Important and Influential Literary Character

Some time ago I read the first few pages of Greg Epstein’s Good without God....

June 19, 2025

There Is No One But Us

As I continue to work through my next book project that has been on the...

February 2024

February 15, 2024

A Terrible Beauty

The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper. I cannot quite make...

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...

June 2023

June 17, 2023

Of Jackalopes and Loons

I just finished a lovely week with my brother Vaughn and sister-in-law LaVona in Santa...

May 2023

May 04, 2023

Various Ways of Saying “Hello” to God

You can either think of the creeds of the great traditions . . . as...

November 2022

November 27, 2022

Happy Advent–Stay Awake!

Happy New Year! Today is the First Sunday of Advent, the first day of the...

October 2022

October 22, 2022

What is Prayer Supposed to Accomplish?

Today's gospel lectionary reading reminds me of an August day several years ago when the...

September 2022

September 27, 2022

Why Aren’t Red Maples Blue, and other random autumn thoughts

Autumn is my favorite season—not even a close contest. I grew up in northern Vermont,...

July 2022

July 26, 2022

This Book Changed My Life: Annie Dillard’s “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek”

We wake, if we ever wake at all, to mystery, rumors of death, beauty, violence....

February 2022

February 08, 2022

Playing With Fire: Be Careful What You Say “Yes” To

Somewhere not long ago I heard or read that one of the top television programs...

November 2021

November 28, 2021

What Advent is Saying to Us: Stay Awake!

Today is the first day of the new Christian liturgical year--the First Sunday of Advent....

November 04, 2021

A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma

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

August 2021

August 08, 2021

Charles Darwin and the Creator of the Universe Walk Into a Bar . . .

I'm currently reading Shankar Vendantam's Useful Delusions; one of his continuing points throughout the book is...

July 2021

July 08, 2021

Is There Anyone Home Up There?

This week, my preliminary work on my next book project--a teaching memoir tentatively entitled Nice...

May 2021

May 05, 2021

No One Owns God

Over the past few weeks, I have received more negative comments on my blog than...

April 2021

April 10, 2021

Faith and Doubt Go Hand in Hand

The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty   Anne Lamott I am currently in...

November 2020

November 28, 2020

The Message of Advent: Stay Awake!

I have the privilege of giving the sermon for the First Sunday of Advent, at...

November 22, 2020

Cathedrals and Physics Labs: Saying “Hello” to God

You can either think of the creeds of the great traditions . . . as...

June 2020

June 10, 2020

Interfaith Travel, and a Reminder that No One Owns God

There are several contemporary writers on spiritual issues and matters of faith whose work I...

June 02, 2020

God and Darwin have a conversation about diversity

A number of years ago, during a public forum on my campus focused on steps...

May 2020

May 18, 2020

We Are On Our Own

In preparation for my next book project, a teaching memoir tentatively titled Nice Work If You...

October 2019

October 05, 2019

Spiritual Lessons Learned from an Obese Cat: A reflection for “Blessing of the Animals” Sunday

I was reminded yesterday that exactly eight years ago, one of my favorite pictures of...

June 2019

June 13, 2019

What My Father Taught Me About Reading and Belief

One of the most important tasks that an author has to face when a book...

October 2018

October 23, 2018

Assisting the Absent God: Helping to Repair a Broken World

Every once in a while someone posts a comment on my blog that reminds me...

September 2018

September 20, 2018

Calling God Back to the Mountain

What is the difference between a cathedral and a physics lab? Are they not both...

July 2018

July 10, 2018

God’s Works Are as Good as We Make Them

God would have us know that we must live as people who manage our lives...

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