Is it possible to be a good Christian and a good capitalist? Surprisingly, an 800-year-old text from a medieval monk provides some insight . . . and the answer to the question appears to be "no." Read more
Is it possible to be a good Christian and a good capitalist? Surprisingly, an 800-year-old text from a medieval monk provides some insight . . . and the answer to the question appears to be "no." Read more
Christian Wiman writes that "every single expression of faith is provisional . . . because faith in God is, finally, faith in change." Rereading a great historical novel has confirmed this for me. Read more
Sometime things happen that make me want to seriously consider atheism. A three-year old child dying because he choked on a marshmallow is one of them. Read more
“What does the Lord require of us?" Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with your God. And don't forget to doubt. Read more
A Old Wild West conversation in Tombstone between a consumptive dentist and the sheriff's younger brother provides some insight into the reasons behind Easter. Read more
The Apostle Paul wrote that "now abide faith, hope, and love . . ." Easter is certainly about faith and love, but I think it is mostly about hope. Read more
On Holy Saturday, it is good to remember our mortality. "Mortals die, and are laid low"--even Jesus. Read more
"Total disaster." "Not good." "Sad." We're becoming used to these phrases. But they reach a new depth of intensity in the Good Friday story. Consider that "Actually, He Died" as you go through this solemn day. Read more
At the beginning of the first Holy Week, Jesus killed a fig tree for no apparent good reason. What’s up with that? Several years ago, I spent spent the early months of the year on sabbatical on the campus of a Benedictine college in Minnesota. Lining the road on the fifteen minute uphill walk from my Ecumenical Institute apartment to St. John’s Abbey in the depths of winter were any number of small, leafless trees. Judging from their shapes and sizes,... Read more
What is bothering me incessantly is the question of what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over—and that means the time of religion in general. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters from Prison A couple of years ago, after a week at work that completely wore me out, I was strongly tempted to skip church on Sunday morning for the... Read more
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