It often is a surprise to those who know that I am a college professor to learn that I am also a sports fanatic. In truth, the most rabid sports fans I know are some of my academic colleagues—we talk trash about our favorite teams and athletes with the same energy you might find at any sports bar; indeed, we often have such arguments while drinking adult beverages. My own sports addictions have become selective as I get older, now... Read more
Today’s gospel is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, one of the few Jesus stories that makes it into all four gospels. Here’s the section in my new book A Year of Faith and Philosophy that addresses this miracle. The Ordinary Time 10 Year A and B gospel is one of Jesus’ most famous miracles: the feeding of the five thousand. This miracle is reported in all four of the canonical gospels which, for once, pretty much agree... Read more
It’s been a crazy week, hasn’t it? I have deliberately avoided going political on this blog for some time, but I suspect I may have a diffficult time sticking to that in the coming weeks. The presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency is a woman of color (gasp), an accomplished woman with prosecuting attorney, attorney general of the most populous state in the country, senator of that same state, and Vice President of the United States in her resume. Yet... Read more
All of us live in a world filled with words. For academics, words are the tools of our trade. Even for introverted academics such as I am, the tendency both verbally and in writing is to think that the more words one uses, the better. One of the most difficult things I’ve had to learn during the decade-plus of writing this blog is how to be concise and how to introduce, develop, and complete an idea in no more than... Read more
I’ve spent significant time over the past fourteen or fifteen months immersed in the Bible. I’ve often said and written that I was brainwashed in the Bible as a youth, so I’ll put my knowledge of and familiarity with scripture up against most anyone’s (except those whose job it is to be buried in the Bible all the time (priests, pastors, theologians, etc.). But this is different. I began assembling material for a book tentatively called A Freelance Christian’s Guide to... Read more
On Monday I will be sending the final manuscript of A Year of Faith and Philosophy: Exploring Spiritual Growth Through the Liturgical Cycle (three weeks ahead of the deadline I might add!) to my editor at Church Publishing. I will be sending it digitally, of course–the hard copy is just for my own pleasure. For those unfamiliar with the proces of book publishing, here’s what comes next: After reading the manuscript, my editor will send questions and/or suggested editorial changes.... Read more
Thirty-six years ago today, two early thirty-somethings stood in front of their four parents and exchanged promises; the groom’s father was an ordained minister, so the promises exchanged were official. It was a quickly organized, impromptu event because the groom’s mother was dying of cancer and might not live to experience the real, full-blown wedding planned for a year or so down the road. That wedding never happened. The groom’s mother died less than three months later, followed unexpectedly by... Read more
Regular readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of “The Chosen,” a multi-year cinematic treatment of the life of Jesus that is currently filming the fifth of a projected seven seasons. The fourth season ends with Jesus riding a donkey toward Jerusalem, followed by the men and women who have become part of his inner circle entourage (including a number of women). Like all dedicated fans of “The Chosen,” Jeanne and I cannot wait for season... Read more
Today is the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost; the gospel reading from Mark tells the story of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and execution, the final chapter in John’s story that was an important part of both Advent and Epiphany. Here is my entry for this Sunday in my book A Year of Faith and Philosophy that I am putting the final touches on: In a second season episode of “The Chosen,” Jesus has a private conversation with his relative John the Baptist. Jesus... Read more
I ran an informal experiment on Facebook the other day, the point of which was to see how quickly it would take people to get upset and defensive over something that, arguably, is not worth getting upset or defensive about. I posted There are two kinds of people. People who back into parking spots and normal people. That’s it. I could, of course, have posed the issue more neutrally: Do you back into a parking spot or do you pull... Read more
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