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May 2026

May 13, 2026

AI and Love: When a Chatbot Becomes a Companion

Ten days ago, I set the stage for my next several posts by engaging with...

March 2026

March 29, 2026

A Palm Sunday Reflection: Blessed is He Who Comes

Today is Palm Sunday, one of the most dramatic days on the liturgical calendar. But...

March 15, 2026

The Problem with Substituionary Atonement

I just returned yesterday from a wonderful week with Justin in Sweden! To get back...

February 2026

February 05, 2026

What Does the Lord Require of You?

Over the past months, I have become more and more familiar with how Lutherans do...

January 2026

January 22, 2026

Where Is Your Bullet?

There's nothing better than a good dog story--I've told many of them over the dozen-plus...

July 2025

July 23, 2025

A Forgotten Anniversary–Again!

Jeanne and I visited our friends Suzy and Michael in Florida over the weekend. They...

June 2025

June 29, 2025

Did Jesus Care About Family Values?

Throughout the gospel lectionary readings in Ordinary Time, Jesus regularly says surprising things that contradict...

June 12, 2025

Is God a Helicopter Parent?

When you've been together with someone for thirty-seven years, being creative for that person's birthday...

June 09, 2025

A Force of Nature’s Birthday Is Today!

Today is Jeanne's birthday. It's an important one as she begins a new decade. Last...

May 2025

May 04, 2025

Finding Hope on the Road to Emmaus

One of the downsides of the liturgical calendar is that, since it runs in a...

February 2025

February 14, 2025

Something for Valentine’s Day: Home for Each Other

Human love in the purest forms we can know it, wife and husband, parent and...

October 2024

October 13, 2024

Hard Sayings and Inconvenient Truths

I will be receiving the copyedited version of my book A Year of Faith and Philosophy...

September 2024

September 10, 2024

Remembering Frieda–a dog who was a person

Facebook reminded me that we lost our beloved dachshund Frieda six years ago yesterday. She...

August 2024

August 18, 2024

Dr. Seuss on Immanence and Transcendence

Today is Ordinary Time 13, the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Here's the section for that...

August 11, 2024

Speaking the Truth in Love

During my youth and adolescence, my father was the president and primary fundraiser for a...

July 2024

July 22, 2024

When a Word is a Complete Sentence

All of us live in a world filled with words. For academics, words are the...

July 17, 2024

Growing old together: An anniversary reflection

Thirty-six years ago today, two early thirty-somethings stood in front of their four parents and...

February 2024

February 27, 2024

God, Your Boss at Applebee’s, and Larry

An alternative title for this essay might be “A Comedian Interprets the Parable of the...

December 2023

December 18, 2023

The Dog with a Bullet In Him

Regular readers of this blog know how obsessed Jeanne and I are with our corgi...

November 2023

November 14, 2023

What to Do When Your Conception of God Does Not Line Up with Reality

Last Thursday I posted my second recent essay revisiting the problem of evil, arguing that...

November 09, 2023

Why Traditional “Solutions” to the Problem of Evil Don’t Work

In the most recent episode of their podcast “The Bible for Normal People,” Pete Enns...

October 2023

October 31, 2023

What Atheists and Theists Can Agree On

If God is both all-good and all-powerful, why is there so much evil in the...

October 22, 2023

Pragmatic Love

Last weekend Jeanne and I made a quick trip to Minneapolis to attend the annual...

September 2023

September 28, 2023

What Would Dorothea Do?

I saw a bumper sticker once that said “So many books, so little time.” I...

August 2023

August 22, 2023

The Big Sister I Always Wanted: Remembering Marsue three years later

It doesn't seem possible that it has been exactly three years since Marsue Harris, one...

July 2023

July 25, 2023

God is Not a Helicopter Parent

Every teacher knows about helicopter parents. Most of us, teacher or not, intuitively know what...

July 11, 2023

Complete Sentences in One Word

All of us live in a world filled with words. For academics, words are the...

June 2023

June 20, 2023

Loving Your Life

I have a good friend and teaching colleague who told me the other day that...

June 09, 2023

Happy Birthday to my Double Opposite!

Are you into Enneagrams? Over the past few years I have heard people throwing their...

April 2023

April 02, 2023

Blessed is He Who Comes: A Palm Sunday Meditation

Today is Palm Sunday, one of the most dramatic days on the liturgical calendar. But...

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