The Burden of Light

Last updated on: June 26, 2023 at 1:18 pm By Vance Morgan

Teaching for thirty years in an interdisciplinary program with colleagues from a multitude of disciplines has provided me with the best that academe can offer a professor—a continuing education. In an academic world which so often demands narrower and narrower research focus and specialization from its members, it has been a gift to spend the majority of my career thus far at a college that welcomes breadth and encourages—and sometimes requires—its faculty to regularly wander outside their comfort zone in... Read more

Why Don’t You Just Admit that You’re a Heretic?

Last updated on: June 26, 2023 at 12:51 pm By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

One of my favorite passages from the Gospels is when Jesus is asked “Which is the greatest commandment?” He memorably answers, You shall hold correct beliefs about the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall convert your neighbors who do not hold correct beliefs, and if they will not convert, you shall defeat them in... Read more

How to Be the Resurrection

Last updated on: June 24, 2023 at 7:57 am By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

Lead on King Eternal, the day of march has come Henceforth in fields of conquest Thy tents shall be our home Through days of preparation, Thy grace hath made us strong And now O King Eternal we lift our battle song. Many of the hymns of my childhood shared a common theme—we Christian believers are at war and must be prepared to do battle at any moment. From “Lead On, O King Eternal” and “Onward Christian Soldiers” through “Soldiers of Christ, Arise,”... Read more

How to Drink Coffee Like a Stoic

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 5:18 pm By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

If you are fond of a cup, say “I am fond of a cup!” For then when it is broken you will not be upset. Epictetus Every time I teach the Stoics, I am reminded of how full their philosophy is of “Well, duh!!” truths. That’s a compliment. As a philosophy professor, I rely on such truths when trying to hook students into a discipline that can often be—as Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor accused Jesus of being—“vague, exceptional, and enigmatic.” Every... Read more

Loving Your Life

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 12:24 pm By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

I have a good friend and teaching colleague who told me the other day that another colleague revealed in conversation that I have denied the resurrection on this blog. That’s not true—although I have occasionally said that the historical details of what happened at the nativity and Easter are not nearly as important as the difference that those stories make in the daily lives of those who claim to believe them to be true. Although my friend did not reveal... Read more

Of Jackalopes and Loons

Last updated on: June 17, 2023 at 2:10 pm By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

I just finished a lovely week with my brother Vaughn and sister-in-law LaVona in Santa Fe, a trip I’m sure that will be showing up in posts and pictures here for the rest of the summer and beyond. Santa Fe has a special place in both Jeanne’s and my history. I spent four years in the seventies earning my Bachelor’s degree at St. John’s College in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains; Jeanne and I spent the first... Read more

Twenty Years Ago, I Spent Father’s Day in Cuba

Last updated on: June 14, 2023 at 6:20 pm By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

Twenty years ago I spent Father’s Day in Cuba, part of a trip that changed my perspective on many things. I described my experiences in my article entitled “Shattering the Myths About Cuba,” included in one of my college’s publications in the Spring of 2004 . . . The story is told that Augustine used to get annoyed at his students when, as he pointed toward something that he wished them to consider, they focused their attention on his finger... Read more

Walking Away from Jesusland

Last updated on: June 7, 2023 at 6:52 pm By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

In our never-ending search for excellent police dramas, Jeanne and I watched the first season of “The Wall” this past week. In French with subtitles (something we don’t normally do), the series is set in Fermont, Quebec, a mining town located in subartic landscape hundreds of miles northeast of Quebec City and Montreal, just a few miles from the Labrador border. I’ve already noticed that the second season (of three) of the series is set in Quebec City, one of... Read more

Have an Introspective Day

Last updated on: June 4, 2023 at 7:33 am By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

In our three years in Milwaukee, our first years together as a married couple trying to cobble a functional stepfamily together, Jeanne and I set our radio alarm to NPR, which would awaken us every morning at six o’clock. The early show was classical music, hosted by a local public radio fixture with the comforting and dulcet tones of an educated uncle. As we emerged into the day from sleep, the host would provide a brief weather report before queuing... Read more

Happy Birthday to my Double Opposite!

Last updated on: June 3, 2023 at 7:35 pm By Vance Morgan

0 Comments

Are you into Enneagrams? Over the past few years I have heard people throwing their Enneagram number around in general conversation with more and more regularity, in much the same way that people have shared their Myer-Briggs four-letter personality fingerprint for decades. The Enneagram diagram has always looked New-Agey with a shade of witchcraft to me, and I solidly identify with my Myer-Briggs INFJness, so I’ve never felt the need to take yet another serious personality test. But a few... Read more