So You Want to be Free? Face your Demons

Last updated on: June 20, 2022 at 9:19 pm By Vance Morgan

Iris Murdoch is one of my favorite philosophers and novelists, a writer whose work is making more and more frequent appearances in my classes. Murdoch claimed to be an atheist, but she also believed that true moral commitment requires belief in something greater than ourselves, something transcendent not subject to the vagaries and whims of human existence. In the midst of exploring these matters in her philosophical essays and her novels, she crafted several memorable definitions of basic moral concepts.... Read more

What To Do When It Isn’t Working

Last updated on: June 15, 2022 at 8:16 am By Vance Morgan

What do you do when it just isn’t working? In the life of a teacher, this question is certain to arise far more often than one might hope. Every summer, teachers across the country are putting the final touches on lesson plans and syllabi, getting ready for the onslaught of the next round of students in just a few weeks. I will be sending the students enrolled in two of my fall courses the syllabus and a couple of paragraphs... Read more

What They Don’t Tell Us About Wisdom–Part One

Last updated on: June 16, 2022 at 8:21 am By Vance Morgan

In much wisdom there is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. Ecclesiastes 1:18 I was the lector at church last Sunday, which happened to be Trinity Sunday. The reading from the Jewish scriptures was a very cool passage from the book of Proverbs. Wisdom is introduced at the beginning of the reading from chapter 8: “At the crossroads she takes her stand . . . at the entrance of the portals she cries out.” Who is Wisdom,... Read more

Left-brain Christianity or Right-brain Faith?

Last updated on: June 7, 2022 at 6:36 pm By Vance Morgan

At age thirty-seven, Harvard trained brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor woke up one morning with a splitting headache. As she tried to get ready for work, her mind began to deteriorate over the course of four hours to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Taylor later learned that she had suffered a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. She lost a large portion of the cognitive skills... Read more

The Spiritual Life of Crows

Last updated on: June 10, 2022 at 8:45 pm By Vance Morgan

My childhood was filled with unusual characters, all products of my father’s fertile imagination. A Freudian would probably say that each was a projection of a different aspect of my father’s personality—all I know is that their appearances were both unpredictable and entertaining. The “Flying Gynzbyrd,” for instance, was a heavy bird who liked to land with a thud on the breakfast table and stomp through either my brother’s or my toast, leaving imprints the size of the tips of my... Read more

The Birthday Girl and the Dog with Three Legs

Last updated on: June 8, 2022 at 9:49 pm By Vance Morgan

Today is Jeanne’s birthday. Although I doubt she would mind (much), I won’t reveal the number. Suffice it to say that Jeanne is nine months older than I am. We’ve always said that she’s old enough to be my mother. Every June 9th I have posted a birthday essay–one of them, repeated more than once, is among the most popular essays I’ve ever posted among our mutual friends and family who know both of us well. I Got the Little... Read more

How Should a Normal Person Approach the Bible?

Last updated on: June 6, 2022 at 12:31 pm By Vance Morgan

I recently came across a great podcast called “The Bible for Normal People,” hosted by Peter Enns and Jared Byas. If those are not familiar names to you, the names of just a few the guests they have hosted over the past five years should be: Nadia Bolz-Weber, Richard Rohr, James Martin, Barbara Brown Taylor, Rachel Held Evans—these are just of the few guests I’ve heard so far. I had a bike mishap on Saturday which produced thirty stitches over... Read more

Faith After the Wind Dies Down: A Pentecost Reflection

Last updated on: June 5, 2022 at 6:33 am By Vance Morgan

I have the privilege of giving the Pentecost Sunday sermon at the Episcopal church we attend this morning. Trinity is a small and vibrant congregation; we are currently seeking a new priest after our former priest of several year moved to a different parish three or four months ago. Here’s what I’ll be saying in the sermon. The Day of Pentecost—next to Christmas and Easter, undoubtedly the biggest single day on the Christian liturgical calendar. I was taught as a... Read more

Faith Needs Many Things, But It Doesn’t Need a Creed

Last updated on: June 3, 2022 at 9:46 am By Vance Morgan

One Sunday I decided to pay close attention to the words of the Nicene Creed when it showed up as it does every Sunday morning in the Episcopal liturgy right after the homily. People usually pay about as much attention to the text of the Creed as they do to the words of the Lord’s Prayer—but try it sometime. “Wow,” I thought as I said the words, “there’s some pretty crazy stuff in here. I’m not sure that I believe... Read more

Being a Philosopher Makes Me a Better Christian

Last updated on: May 28, 2022 at 3:37 pm By Vance Morgan

I am not a regular reader of Christianity Today, but the title of Jon Ward’s May 11th article caught my eye—I saw a link to it at the end of Tim Alberta’s The Atlantic article that I referenced a few essays ago. Ward is the chief national correspondent for Yahoo News; the title of his CT article is “Being a Political Journalist Made Me a Better Christian.” CT presents itself as a primary media voice for evangelical Christianity; knowing that,... Read more