If we remembered that water takes its color from the vessel containing it, we would not interfere with the beliefs of others, but would perceive God in every form of belief. James Carse Once a number of years ago, in the early days of a four-month sabbatical at an ecumenical institute, I presented an overview of my sabbatical project to my fellow institute resident scholars during our weekly scheduled seminar. In its early stages, my project was an intended exploration of... Read more
Dear Dr. Morgan: I’m writing to let you know that I won’t be in class today at 11:30. Our lacrosse match on campus that was scheduled for yesterday was rescheduled for today at 3:30. Our pre-game prep starts at 12:00, so I won’t be able to make class. I know that I have already missed a couple of classes this semester [four, as a matter of fact], but I’m hoping this won’t be a big problem. My academic advisor’s email address... Read more
About half way through the 1989 film “Field of Dreams,” Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) and Terrence Mann (played by James Earl Jones) are in the bowels of my beloved Fenway Park. Ray has brought Terry there in an attempt to involve him in a ludicrous scheme that Mann is trying to resist getting sucked into. Mann was a major player in the 60s civil rights and anti-Viet Nam protests who now, twenty years later, is tired of being... Read more
Autumn is my favorite season, and October is my favorite month. This is not surprising for a native New Englander—fall weather is the best that the Northeast has to offer and October promises cloudless skies, reducing temperatures, turning leaves, and no humidity. I love it. But those of us fortunate enough to be living the academic life welcome October for more reasons than beautiful weather. By the time this month arrives, the fall semester has been in session for a... Read more
According to the gospel accounts, Jesus had little regard for traditional honorifics, titles, or the ways in which we construct human pecking orders. He criticized the Pharisees for their concern about externals rather than the heart, promised that in the kingdom of heaven “the last shall be first,” and criticized his disciples as they jockeyed for position in his inner circle and competed in order to establish who was Jesus’ favorite. I get all that. But over the past week,... Read more
It’s been a rough couple of months at our house, as two members of the family passed away. Our beloved dachshund Frieda died a bit over three weeks ago–I haven’t been able to write about that yet (although I will eventually). A month or so before that, I received a call at the office from Jeanne–she said “Ezekiel died.” “How do you know?” I asked. “He’s floating on his side on top of the water and isn’t moving.” Ezekiel lived... Read more
One of my many fond memories of my sons’ youth was our early Saturday morning routine. Their mother worked the night shift at a nursing home; I would wake the boys up around 6:00 and throw them in the car as I went to pick her up (she didn’t drive). Upon returning and seeing their mother off to bed, I would cook the boys breakfast and we would settle in for television fare that was even better than the cartoons... Read more
A couple of Sundays ago, it was my turn to be lector at the Episcopal church I attend. I got there early to take a look at what I would be reading and saw that the first reading, from the Hebrew scriptures, was from Proverbs 31, starting with verse 10. “A capable wife who can find?” Shit, I thought. In a world of #MeToo, lack of respect for women who do not immediately report sexual abuse and rape, and old... Read more
In her wonderful book Take This Bread, Sara Miles describes a conversation she had with one of the priests at her Episcopal church. Sara was new to the church, an atheist who was knocked on her ass by something greater than herself when she wandered into St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal in San Francisco a few months earlier. She asked the priest about the Nicene Creed, which seemed to her “like saying the Pledge of Allegiance in second grade.” The... Read more
Although it often caused trouble and brought me grief during my primary and secondary education years, I have never tried very hard to hide my serious geekiness. Accordingly, I start today’s blog post with the ancient Greek lyric poet Pindar. I need to be careful here, because I have four colleagues and friends on campus who are trained classicists—for all I know, one of them might have written their dissertation on Pindar. Many of Pindar’s surviving poems are “victory odes,” celebrations... Read more
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