Nine years ago today, I started this blog. The last three and a half of those years have been here on Patheos. During a sabbatical eleven years ago, I began writing in a personal, non-academic essay style that was a sharp break from the academic writing that I had been doing (because I had to) for twenty years. I liked writing in this new way, found it both therapeutic (in a spiritual practice sort of way) and stimulating, but had... Read more
Just short of a year ago, I spent a Saturday morning listening to a lecture by Joan Chittister. Her work and writing has been an inspiration for me over the past several years; I wrote the essay below about her lecture and more the day after I heard her in person. Her words hit me like an Old Testament prophet a year ago, and they are just as relevant today. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a talk given... Read more
Classes begin at my college next Monday, and the stress levels among the faculty (and everyone else) are high. Verklemptness is through the roof. On a faculty Facebook page, one helpful colleague posted that some of her friends on other campuses reported that when their classes started this past Monday, Zoom crashed. Zoom has become the lifeline and life raft for thousands (millions, perhaps) of teachers over the past few months—my own classes will not be able to run fully... Read more
Today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel is both famous and infamous. Jesus asks his disciples “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” My guess is that Jesus knows very well what people are saying about him; the ensuing conversation tells Jesus (and us) more about the disciples than Jesus’ reputation. As various disciples report what people are saying, in my imagination I go further to an expanded version: Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others... Read more
Every once in a while, our lives are blessed with a person who uniquely and profoundly spreads peace, love, contentment, and wisdom just by being herself. Marsue Harris was one of those people. She passed away last Saturday after several months of struggling with cancer. She was a friend, mentor, spiritual advisor, reliable source of wisdom, and the big sister I always wished for. Here are a few of my many memories. I met Marsue almost two decades ago, at... Read more
This month marks the eighth anniversary of this blog. It started on WordPress as an outlet for short essays that I had been writing for a couple of years and didn’t know what to do with. Friends and colleagues told me that (1) I needed to get them out into the world and that (2) the best way to do that was to write a blog. I resisted for several months, deciding only to do it after agreeing with myself... Read more
My first teaching position was at a small university in Memphis. My department was the “Department of Religion and Philosophy,” housing four theologians and two philosophers. I taught most of the philosophy courses (five classes per semester—that’s a lot, in case you’re wondering); the other philosopher on staff had a reduced teaching load because he was also the Dean of the School of Humanities. Peter was also the most awkwardly, painfully introverted, and shy adult human being I have ever... Read more
I make no secret, on this blog or in person, of my love for Canada. I grew up just forty miles south of Quebec, visted both Montreal and Quebec City at least twice per year every year through high school, have visited those cites many more times and have come to know and love Toronto as an adult, have a number of good friends as well as followers of this blog from Canada . . . Canada is awesome! So,... Read more
Classes begin on my campus in three weeks. That, in the middle of a pandemic, is enough in itself to cause everyone involved some sleepless nights. But even in “normal” times, the final weeks before the new academic year begins is stressful for professors, as we scramble to complete all of the various tasks and preparations that we have put off all summer. The first reading assignment in the interdisciplinary course that I will be team-teaching with two friends and... Read more
The Sunday gospel readings this summer have recently provided us with some of Jesus’ greatest hits. Last Sunday’s reading was Matthew’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, the only pre-resurrection miracle that is recorded in all four of the canonical gospels. This week’s miracle on tap is Jesus walking on the water, an event that arguably ranks equally in fame with last week’s feeding as among Jesus’ best-known miracles, although Luke doesn’t bother to include the walking on... Read more
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