Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Good Letters

Home
Catholic

God

Select a Category A. G. Harmon Alissa Wilkinson Allison Backous Art Authors Brad Fruhauff Bradford Winters Bryan Bliss Caroline Langston Chad Thomas Johnston Chris Hoke Christiana N. Peterson Culture D.G. Myers D.L. Mayfield Daniel Bowman Jr. David Griffith Elizabeth Duffy Faith Film Greg Wolfe Guest Contributor Interview Jan Vallone Jeffrey Overstreet Jessica Eddings-Roeser Jessica Mesman Griffith Kelly Foster Lindsey Crittenden Morgan Meis music Natalie Vestin Nick Olson Peggy Rosenthal Personal Reflection Poetry Friday Reflection Relationships Review Richard Chess Richard Cole Sara Zarr Shannon Huffman Polson Sonya Bilocerkowycz Tania Runyan Tony Woodlief Topical Categories Uncategorized Vic Sizemore Writing

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

October 2015

October 16, 2015

The Way of Saint James

My Uncle Jimmy died in September at the age of ninety. Born in Sicily, he...

October 14, 2015

Driving the Dark Roads

The other day I got an email from a high-school boyfriend, which drove me headlong...

September 2015

September 21, 2015

Let Me Die Like This

When I die, Lord, let me go in a plane crash, spiraling down, earthward, earthward,...

August 2015

August 31, 2015

The Fear of God, Texas-Style

Recently, I found myself in Texas. Driving mostly. Stopping here and there to eat, put...

June 2015

June 18, 2015

A Holy Habitation for Life’s Story

By Allison Backous Troy May the Lord bless thee out of Zion; and so shalt...

June 17, 2015

Wanted: God—Dead or Alive?

If you practice a religion faithfully—faith-fully—, why do you do this? And why is it...

June 15, 2015

His Murderer and His Keeper

Some days I can’t remember: Am I Abel or Cain? Blackberry soda in the afternoon...

June 11, 2015

Prayers in the River

I stand hip-deep in a river, casting into the eddies. I am not the kind...

May 2015

May 29, 2015

Triple Scoop

By Jessica Mesman Griffith My best friend died suddenly almost two years ago. She’d lived...

May 20, 2015

Monasticism in Lockdown America, Part 9: Psalms, In the End

Continued from yesterday. Thinking of the psalms as a way to cycle through the...

May 19, 2015

Monasticism in Lockdown America, Part 8: Psalms, In the Beginning

I always privately hated the psalms. Most of them, anyway. As a teenager, I’d leaf...

May 14, 2015

Contemplative Questions: An Interview on Spirituality and Prayer with Fr. Raymond Shore, OP, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. Jan Vallone: You say that joy is the knowledge of the possession...

May 13, 2015

Contemplative Questions: An Interview on Spirituality and Prayer with Fr. Raymond Shore, OP, Part 1

Spurred by both confusion and curiosity, I recently took a graduate course on contemporary spirituality...

May 12, 2015

Facing Calvary

There’s a line from last year’s thought-provoking film, Calvary, that’s uttered by a young French...

May 11, 2015

Finding God in Updike Country

It took me more than a year of living out here to realize I am...

May 08, 2015

Sugar, Sugar, Part 2: May 8, 2015

Continued from yesterday. When the editors of Good Letters first asked if they could rerun...

May 07, 2015

Sugar, Sugar, Part 1: June 10, 2011

I’ve written before about my father’s alcoholism. From my adolescence until his death, I spent...

May 05, 2015

When We Die

A text from a friend: “What do you believe happens when we die?” She’d recently...

May 01, 2015

Jesus and Legos in the Deep, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. “Judas the transgressor,” we Eastern Orthodox sing during Holy Friday Matins,“was unwilling...

April 2015

April 21, 2015

What Will Pass for Mercy

By Brian Volck “Do not say God is just. Justice has not been evident in...

April 16, 2015

Make It Old: A Wedding Anniversary Epithalamion

In the beginning was a wedding. The ceremony began with light. The ceremony included the...

April 07, 2015

Saving the World: A Reflection on Germanwings Flight 9525

A couple of weeks ago, a German man decided to kill himself. There are thousands...

April 03, 2015

It Is Finished: Christ’s Words from the Cross

When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head,...

April 02, 2015

The Kiss of Judas

When Judas approached Jesus in the Garden and kissed him, how do you think Jesus...

March 2015

March 31, 2015

Wearing God: A Conversation with Lauren F. Winner, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. Image: A lot of history makes its way into your new book...

March 30, 2015

Wearing God: A Conversation with Lauren F. Winner, Part 1

Lauren F. Winner’s new book, Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of...

March 26, 2015

Monasticism In Lockdown America, Part 7: Holy Fool

Continued from yesterday. Hank’s trembling confession had charged the small jail visitation cell where...

March 25, 2015

Monasticism in Lockdown America, Part 6: Icons

The jail staff asked if I would meet with some of the guys in the...

March 20, 2015

My Only Begotten Sin

Because I remain restless and impatient even in middle age, I am often only halfway...

March 19, 2015

The Bible, Science, and Higher Education

By Vic Sizemore In an evening church service at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg,...