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September 2025

September 14, 2025

Remembering a Good and Faithful Servant

Father Kilian McDonnell OSB died last week at the age of 103. His funeral this...

August 2025

August 15, 2025

Owls, Penguins, and Joy

Just about fifteen years ago, on a beautiful summer morning very similar to the ones...

March 2025

March 11, 2025

What Does “Conversion” Mean?

Conversion is an odd phenomenon. I've often observed that those who convert, who ''tum around"...

July 2024

July 09, 2024

Where to Find Me

The end of my revision of my book A Year of Faith and Philosophy is in...

August 2023

August 27, 2023

The Great Homesickness We Could Never Shake Off

The first draft of my first sabbatical book project is completed, minus the introduction and...

June 2023

June 22, 2023

How to Drink Coffee Like a Stoic

If you are fond of a cup, say “I am fond of a cup!” For...

September 2022

September 15, 2022

This Book Changed My Life: Kathleen Norris’ “The Cloister Walk”

I asked my Facebook friends at the beginning of the summer to list three or...

April 2022

April 12, 2022

Jewish Holy Man Kills Innocent Fig Tree In a Fit of Temper

A bit over a decade ago, I spent spent the early months of the year...

March 2022

March 07, 2022

A Stranger (Protestant) in a Strange Land (Catholic)

Last Wednesday the student in front of me in line at the little on campus...

January 2022

January 11, 2022

Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and the Power of Forgiveness

I, as well as the rest of the world, was saddened to hear of the...

December 2021

December 21, 2021

When Your Favorite Thing Breaks

If you are fond of a cup, say “I am fond of a cup!” For...

September 2021

September 07, 2021

When Life Gets Messy

We all know that when life hands you a lemon that you should make lemonade....

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 18, 2021

Twelve Years Ago, My Life Changed–here’s why

Exactly twelve years ago today, I headed home from a four-month sabbatical as a Resident...

January 2021

January 10, 2021

When Selective Amnesia is a Good Thing

Tolerance, acceptance, and embracing difference--even in the face of established tradition and clear procedures--has been...

August 2020

August 25, 2020

O God, Come to My Assistance

Classes begin at my college next Monday, and the stress levels among the faculty (and...

December 2019

December 26, 2019

Dammit, It’s the Incarnation!

Last year around this time, I posted an essay that turned out to be more...

December 19, 2019

I Will Bring You Home

Baptist preacher’s kids get to do some very odd things. I memorized large portions of...

August 2019

August 27, 2019

What is the Best Evidence that God is Real?

In her wonderful memoir Take This Bread, Sara Miles tells us of a conversation she had...

June 2019

June 16, 2019

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit walk into a bar: Some thoughts about Trinity Sunday and Ordinary Time

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

February 2019

February 26, 2019

Forgiveness with No Boundaries

As we drove home from a lovely two-day celebration of our twenty-fifth anniversary several years...

January 2019

January 08, 2019

A New Year’s Resolution: Dream More, and Waste Less Time

At the beginning of a new year, I often find myself thinking not so much...

July 2018

July 31, 2018

Magnetic Jesus

In one of the many recent books written by an atheist about Christianity (I forget...

July 28, 2018

I Forgot What You Said

This morning I am in the middle of a writer's conference hosted by an ecumenical...

February 2018

February 04, 2018

Keeping Hope Alive

The theme of a philosophy conference that I attended a couple of years ago was...

January 2018

January 12, 2018

What Are You Reading?

Over the holiday season my house always welcomes at least a half dozen new books...

December 2017

December 14, 2017

The Great Homesickness

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

August 2017

August 31, 2017

Idols and Icons

Of all the lessons I've learned in my three decades of teaching, none is more...

August 17, 2017

Two Reasons to be Hopeful (even with Donald Trump as President)

There are reasons to be hopeful--even on those days that Nazis, white supremacists, racists, and...

June 2017

June 03, 2017

The Confusion of Babel and the Clarity of Pentecost

The voices of spirituality, religion, secularism, materialism, power, and greed often are speaking languages so...

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