My relationship with adult beverages began when I was in high school. Of course, 95% of the adults in this country would probably say the same thing, but my story is a bit different. Alcoholic beverages were among the dozens of things that good Baptists did not indulge in (along with dancing, movies, colorful language, . . .). My father was a conservative Protestant minister, a national vice president of the IFCA, for God’s sake. That’s the Independent Fundamental Churches... Read more
I am currently two-thirds of the way through the second installment in Martin Walker’s “Bruno, Chief of Police” series (which has 17-18 entries). I like it–it is set in southwestern France where my hero Michel de Montaigne lived and worked five centuries ago. I’m learning a lot about rural French culture and a great deal about food and wine. I love mysteries and am reminded of an important conversation I had almost thirty-one years ago. “When you aren’t reading philosophy,... Read more
In last few minutes of Franco Zefferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, Zerah pokes his head into the tomb where he observed the dead Jesus of Nazareth being buried three days earlier. Zerah is a politically astute, power-hungry Pharisee who has been an enemy of Jesus since he first heard about the roving rabbi three years earlier. Zerah is the one who manipulates Judas into betraying Jesus. Zerah is the one who convinces the Romans to put a beefed-up military presence in front... Read more
I have been in a somber mood for the last few days, ever since the unexpected death of a longtime colleague and friend from the college. Hugh Lena was the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Providence College for the last fifteen years of his forty-five year career, first hired as an assistant professor of sociology in 1974. By the time I joined the faculty in 1994, Hugh was a major player in all aspects of the... Read more
I am not overstating the case when I say that I was raised on original sin. I wrote about this in a post a few days ago, but it is worth mentioning again, simply because I feel now, in my 68th year, that the grip of this pernicious doctrine has largely lost its power over me. There are many reasons for this positive development, not the least being that I have learned the power of unconditional love from a few people... Read more
Anne Lamott tells the story of an older woman who, along with other active geriatric members of her adult living community, was advised by the leader of a weekly therapy group to begin and end each day with a specific prayer or meditation—sort of like morning and evening prayer. Before long, the old woman and other members of the group shortened the meditation to “Whatever” at the beginning of the day and “Oh well” at the end. “Whatever” and “Oh... Read more
The Feast of the Epiphany is January 6. Let’s consider the heart of this unique liturgical season that marks the “coming out party” of Jesus. Here’s what I wrote for the day of Epiphany in my forthcoming book A Year of Faith and Philosophy. The gospel reading in all three years for Epiphany is the familiar story from Matthew 2 where wise men from the East, following a star, end up at the house where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph live.... Read more
Is it ever right to hold a grudge? Is resentment or unforgiveness ever justified? These questions were front and center in a seminar with a bunch of freshmen not long ago; their answers revealed one of the most important and ubiquitous moral divides of all—the divide between what we think we should believe and what we actually believe. And behind the discussion loomed an even larger moral issue: Where does a person’s moral compass come from, and is there any way... Read more
Iin his end-of-the-year op-ed in the Washington Post at the end of 2021 Michael Gerson wrote that The right sees a country in cultural decline, stripped of its identity and values. The left fears we are moving toward a new American authoritarianism. Both are ideologies of prophesied loss. In a society, such resentments easily become septic. So many otherwise irenic people seem captured by the politics of the clenched fist. A portion seem to genuinely wish some of their neighbors... Read more
The gospel reading in all three liturgical years for the First Sunday after Christmas is the familiar opening verses of John’s gospel. These verses provide a beautifully poetic introduction to the greatest story ever told. Because the language is poetic rather than discursive, in these verses the author of John has provided two millennia of theologians and persons of faith with more to write, talk, pontificate, preach, argue, and be confused about than could possibly be exhausted in future millennia.... Read more
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