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December 2022

December 29, 2022

Is it the end of us? An end-of-the-year reflection

He who loves his life will lose it. John 12:25 I subscribe to two magazines, The...

November 2022

November 17, 2022

What I Have Learned From Our Blackberry Bush

It is mid-November; the leaves on the large oak tree in the yard diagonally behind...

November 15, 2022

“Dear White America”: A Young Woman Reflects on her Inherent Racism

Yesterday was the final class in the “Race” unit in my General Ethics class; the...

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...

August 14, 2022

“Whatever” is No Way to Live

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

July 2022

July 23, 2022

Negotiating with God

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

July 05, 2022

When People of Good Faith have Incompatible First Principles on the Abortion Issue

I had an unusually positive experience a couple of days ago—amazingly enough, it was in...

May 2022

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...

April 2022

April 26, 2022

The Wisdom of Socrates’ Younger Brother–Mediocrates

A Facebook friend who knows that I am a philosophy professor sent me a thought-provoking...

April 20, 2022

Curb Your Enthusiasm

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

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 04, 2022

What Playing Wordle has Taught Me About Myself

It seems that just about everyone I know is playing “Wordle” every day. I asked...

March 2022

March 28, 2022

Wild West Ethics

Bein’ born is craps. How we live is poker. Doc Holliday Of the dozens of...

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...

February 2022

February 10, 2022

No One Cares if You are Comfortable or Not

I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of the peace....

February 03, 2022

Revisiting the Garden of Eden

I am not overstating the case when I say that I was raised on original...

January 2022

January 27, 2022

Raised on Original Sin

It hardly seems possible that I am now in the tenth calendar year of writing...

December 2021

December 11, 2021

What I am Thankful For at the End of the Semester

As I write this essay on Friday afternoon, it is the last day of regular...

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 02, 2021

The Tweet of God

As is the case with many of the things in my life, my knowledge of...

October 2021

October 14, 2021

The Ethics of Invisibility: What would you do if no one is watching?

Hey Justin! What if you had a ring that made you invisible when you put...

September 2021

September 26, 2021

Sometimes, it just doesn’t matter

One day, Jeanne said “I want a fish.” This was a rather random request, but...

September 02, 2021

Not Even Jesus Was Always His Best Self

My first teaching position was at a small university in Memphis. My department was the...

May 2021

May 25, 2021

Do You Believe In the Human Heart?

The central theme of my ethics class this past semester was human dignity. Through short...

April 2021

April 20, 2021

What Kind of Person Do You Want to Be?

I’ve been reminded recently, in a number of random ways, of just how quickly time...

March 2021

March 18, 2021

Our Great and Glorious Masterpiece

Over the years, a typical scenario has unfolded when I meet someone for the first...

March 11, 2021

Jesus Didn’t Care About Family Values

I was angry with my father for a lot of reasons over the years, some...

March 09, 2021

#SayThisNotThat

To clarify thought, to discredit the intrinsically meaningless words, and to define the use of...

February 2021

February 23, 2021

It’s Been a Year of Wonders

One of the pleasant surprises of the new semester, now four weeks old, is that...

February 18, 2021

Flesh and Blood Goodness

Once many years ago, a couple I was close friends with was having marital problems....

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