Grace means suddenly you’re in a different universe from the one where you were stuck, and there was absolutely no way for you get there on you own. Anne Lamott A few years ago, Jeanne surprised me for Father’s Day by taking me to a concert in Maryland by one of my favorite musicians. I discovered Fernando Ortega’s music many years ago after plugging the name of one of the few Christian artists I can stand into Pandora. After playing a... Read more
For many Christians attuned to the liturgical year, thoughts turn toward Mary during the final days of Advent. Since this coming Sunday is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent, let’s do that. I have a colleague and friend with whom I share a lot in common. Eric and I are both “Johnnies,” graduates of the St. John’s College Great Books curriculum (he graduated a few years before I did back in the 1970s). We share the same scholarly interests; he... Read more
Regular readers of this blog know how obsessed Jeanne and I are with our corgi Bovina. She’s a bit over two years old and runs the house with the ease and confidence of someone who knows that everything works together for her good, as I described in an essay last July. What We Can Learn about Trust from a Corgi Bovina is the fifth dog we have had over our thirty-five years together; not all of the previous four have... Read more
During Advent season, John the Baptist gets a lot of play. This makes sense, since Christians view him as a forerunner of Jesus, the sort of person who should take center stage during the season that anticipates the Incarnation. In their respective gospels, Mark and John give John the Baptist center stage from the outset, beginning their narratives with John’s ministry and activities while not even bothering to mention Jesus’ birth. Mark’s version was last week’s gospel; today it’s John’s turn.... Read more
There is a saying attributed to Saint Francis that I have heard frequently in more than three decades as a non-Catholic professor in Catholic higher education: Preach the Gospel—use words if necessary. If you google the statement, the items at the top of the search results are mostly attempts to establish that despite the popularity of the attribution, Francis never said this. Not only did he not say it, some deniers argue, it would be misleading and problematic if he... Read more
Two of the contemporary authors whose insights on faith and spirituality challenge me the most in fruitful ways both have spent years afflicted with cancer. Kate Bowler is an associate professor of the history of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School; she burst onto the national scene with her 2018 book Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved), a memoir that a reviewer calls “A meditation on sense-making when there’s no sense to be made,... Read more
I am currently starting the process of finding a literary agent for the teaching memoir that has been the primary focues of my soon-to-be-over sabbatical. A few blog readers have been asking me questions about the book–here is an annotated outline of the book (the sort of thing literary agents and prospective publishers always want to see). Let me know if this strikes you as a book you would want to read! Nice Work If You Can Get It: Stories... Read more
I have taught philosophy in Catholic higher education for more that thirty years as a non-Catholic. Although I have become accustomed to any number of Catholic commitments and beliefs that are far outside the parameters of the Protestant Christianity in which I was raised, few of these beliefs are more “out there” than the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. I have found that many—perhaps most—of my predominantly Catholic students believe, incorrectly, that the doctrine applies to virgin birth of Jesus.... Read more
I was on retreat when I wrote this, a fitting capstone to my sabbatical that will be ending before long. I brought five books along with me, one mystery novel and four works of non-fiction of various sorts. One of the non-fiction books is Pádraig Ó Tuama’s In the Shelter. Ó Tuama is an Irish poet, theologian, and conflict resolution specialist of whom I had heard obliquely because of his partnership with Krista Tippett and On Being. In the last... Read more
Last Thursday was Saint Andrew’s Day; I was reminded beause my Scottish friend Craig posted about it on Facebook. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and Craig is the most Scottish person I know. We haven’t seen each other in over two decades, but were colleagues in the phiilosophy department for a few years during my first decade at the college before he moved on to different things. Everything I know about single malt scotch whisky (which is quite... Read more
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