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April 2026

April 12, 2026

Thomas–My Doubting Hero

The Second Sunday of Easter is always "Doubting Thomas Sunday," an opportunity for me to...

February 2026

February 18, 2026

An Ash Wednesday and Lenten Tale

Today is Ash Wednesday, which for a hardcore Protestant such as I presents several issues....

December 2025

December 18, 2025

Oysters, Ballerinas, and God

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

October 2025

October 30, 2025

God is Non-Binary

I feel like being controversial today . . . Here's a repeat from not long...

August 2025

August 07, 2025

Peeking into the Mind of God

I once led a seminar with a number of colleagues from the Honors Program as...

July 2025

July 29, 2025

God is Non-Binary

My baseline criterion for whether a particular class has gone well is to answer the...

June 2025

June 01, 2025

On the Art of Discussion

I'm currently reading through my book Nice Work If You Can Get It for the first time...

October 2024

October 15, 2024

Living an Autumn Life

Autumn is my favorite season, and October is my favorite month. This is not surprising...

September 2024

September 15, 2024

Comfort is vastly overrated

In the interdisciplinary, team-taught course I am participating in this semester, we spent our second...

September 13, 2024

Corrupted Memory Files

My youngest son, Justin, has a remarkable memory–for, as he puts it, “totally useless facts.”...

May 2024

May 02, 2024

Big News, and a Blast from the Past!

First, some big news! Yesterday I signed a contract for my book A Year of...

September 2023

September 11, 2023

Thoughts on the anniversary of 9/11

Everyone beyond a certain age can remember clearly what they were doing twenty-two years ago...

August 2023

August 10, 2023

If No One Reads Me, Have I Wasted My Time?

Women are not wrong at all when they reject the rules of life that have...

July 2023

July 16, 2023

Limitations, Shortcomings, and Contentment

For the past many years, my upper-division (juniors and seniors) classes have included an ongoing...

June 2023

June 06, 2023

Ordinary Lives in Ordinary Time

So here we are in Ordinary Time, the longest liturgical season that will stretch until...

February 2023

February 22, 2023

A Tale of Ash Wednesday and Lent

One Wednesday last winter, the student in front of me in line at the little...

September 2022

September 22, 2022

Autumn Peace is a Choice

Today is the first day of autumn. For those who love autumn as I do,...

September 10, 2022

Remembering 9/11 and Becoming a Better Person

Everyone beyond a certain age can remember clearly what they were doing twenty-one years ago...

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...

March 2022

March 31, 2022

Jesus on April Fools Day

I know it's the middle of Lent, but tomorrow is April Fools Day. It's the...

March 06, 2022

It’s My 66th Birthday, and I’m Still Here. Deal with it.

Early last week a friend emailed me the following comment in response to my latest...

March 01, 2022

An Assignment for Lent: Learn the Difference Between Solitude and Being Alone

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to yourself. Michel...

February 2022

February 16, 2022

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

We are all patchwork, and so shapeless and diverse in composition that each bit, each...

September 2021

September 12, 2021

The Stories We Tell and the Lies We Believe

As always, this past summer was a season of eclectic reading. I am team-teaching a...

May 2021

May 29, 2021

The Trinity and Adult Beverages: A Reflection on Trinity Sunday

Next to Lent, the part of the liturgical calendar that I have always found least...

May 05, 2021

No One Owns God

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

May 03, 2021

Because Survival is Insufficient

“Remember K from our colloquium last year?” my teaching partner emailed late last week. “G...

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...

April 07, 2021

A Doubting Disciple and a Bunch of Communists

In my “Markets and Morals” colloquium in the good old pre-pandemic days a couple of...

March 2021

March 31, 2021

An April Fools Day Question About Jesus: Did He Ever Laugh?

I know we're in the middle of Holy Week. I know that today is Maundy...

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