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December 2017

December 24, 2017

Grace and Peace

Grace means suddenly you’re in a different universe from the one where you were stuck,...

December 22, 2017

A Rashomon Nativity: Why the Details of Jesus’ Birth Don’t Matter

A few weeks ago, I was asked to take on a temporary administrative position in...

December 19, 2017

When a Prophet Speaks, People Listen (or at least they should)

The third Sunday of Advent is always John the Baptist Sunday; last Sunday's reading from...

December 14, 2017

The Great Homesickness

I was the world’s most pathetic camper. One of the (alleged) rewards for 12-15 weeks of...

December 12, 2017

It’s About Time

Time has been on my mind recently. A couple of months ago in my freshman...

December 05, 2017

The Greater Jihad

Lead on King Eternal, the day of march has come Henceforth in fields of conquest...

November 2017

November 26, 2017

God said it. I believe it. That settles it. (except that it doesn’t)

When trying to describe to predominantly Catholic students the religious world that I was born...

November 24, 2017

Why Thanksgiving is Always the Best Day of the Year

I have a Facebook acquaintance, a fellow graduate of St. John’s College, who posts five...

November 16, 2017

Spiritual Punctuation

In my life-long spiritual journey, the decade of my twenties was the charismatic decade. No,...

November 10, 2017

Evangelical Atheism

I just started a new unit in my General Ethics classes with fifty juniors and...

November 08, 2017

I Could Do That

Imagine a jigsaw puzzle, a thousand pieces or more. There is no box showing what...

October 2017

October 31, 2017

A Halloween Frame of Mind

It's Halloween!--one of my least favorite holidays of the year. I know that offends many...

October 26, 2017

Wherever You Go

The 8:00 show at church is for early morning people and those who prefer silence...

October 24, 2017

Ordinary Miracles

Every year, between Pentecost and the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the lectionary takes us through week...

October 05, 2017

Reboot and Retool

We seek retreats for ourselves in country places, on beaches and mountains . . ....

September 2017

September 11, 2017

Tired of Hating People: Thoughts on the Anniversary of 9/11

One year ago I posted the essay below on the fifteenth anniversary of 9 Never...

August 2017

August 27, 2017

Ten Years On

Ten years ago this summer, I attended a writers conference for the first time in...

August 13, 2017

It Isn’t Working

April may be the cruelest month, if T. S. Eliot is correct, but for teachers,...

August 06, 2017

Entertaining Angels

Angels show up in all shapes and sizes, in all sorts of situations and scenarios....

July 2017

July 07, 2017

An Exploding Heart

Last fall I had the opportunity to give the sermon on stewardship Sunday at my...

July 05, 2017

What Progressives Can Learn From A Professional Wrestler

Donald Trump reminded us last weekend of his history with professional wrestling. Well, Mister President,...

June 2017

June 26, 2017

Let Us Cultivate our Garden

What is one to do when what one professes to believe has become, as Macbeth...

June 09, 2017

The Little Red-Haired Girl

It is my blog custom on my wife Jeanne's birthday to post a reflection on...

May 2017

May 24, 2017

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Do dogs go to heaven? Some people turn this into a convoluted theological debate--Do dogs...

May 17, 2017

Fast and Slow

My college's commencement is this coming Sunday; Pentecost is two weeks after that. How might...

May 12, 2017

My Imaginary Friend

There are billions of human beings who shape their whole reality and might even stake...

April 2017

April 26, 2017

Wolf Hall

Christian Wiman writes that "every single expression of faith is provisional . . . because...

April 11, 2017

Flowering Trees

At the beginning of the first Holy Week, Jesus killed a fig tree for no...

April 09, 2017

To Die For

What is bothering me incessantly is the question of what Christianity really is, or indeed...

March 2017

March 19, 2017

St. Joseph the Worker

In my religious tradition, we didn’t do saints. We did do Christmas pageants—big time. I...

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