In the desert south of Tucson, Arizona, just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, paved roads turn into dirt paths that wind through dried up river beds called “washes.” When I was traveling those borderlands several years ago with a group of Christian peacemakers, our guide assured us that crossing the washes would be a little bumpy, but no problem. The rivulets that wound their way over that dry ground were no challenge to our four-wheel drive vehicle. But then it... Read more
I read with great interest Ross Douthat’s column in the New York Times, “Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?” While Douthat doesn’t share many sympathies with those who consider themselves liberal, he did honestly acknowledge that “the defining idea of liberal Christianity — that faith should spur social reform as well as personal conversion — has been an immensely positive force in our national life.” Though he seems to think Mainline Christianity doomed, Douthat holds out a prayer that liberals might... Read more
Every once in a while, especially when I’m speaking at a seminary, someone will ask what theologians have most shaped my understanding of the church. I’m a reader, and I’m grateful to the teachers that I’ve read and known. There’s a long list I can share, and it varies a bit depending on where I am. But I always say that some of the teachers who’ve shaped me the most are people you’ve never heard of. And one of them... Read more
A big thanks to everyone who’s responded this week to my request for $20 donations toward raising $10K for Project TURN, School for Conversion’s prison-based education program. We’ve not yet reached our goal, but we’re off to a good start. And we have a few weeks left til the end of August. We have learned that God is faithful, but rarely early. “Give us this day our bread for today.” I’ve been on vacation with my family this week, but... Read more
Project TURN is the prison-based education program that grew out of our realization here in Walltown that there are two kinds of people in America—those for whom prison is an unimaginable reality and those for whom it has always been part of their life. When we came here fresh from college with a lofty theological vision, most of us fell into the first category. We quickly learned that most of our neighbors live and move and have their being... Read more
Today, July 11th, is the feast of Saint Benedict. On the day when this father of Western monasticism died, communities around the world will celebrate the gift of his life and witness. People throughout history have turned to The Rule of Saint Benedict for the same reason that people in sixth-century Italy flocked to Benedict himself: they saw a way of life that made sense and offered real hope. Last year, I got to spend several months with Benedict’s words,... Read more
When the Supreme Court ruled last week to uphold legislation that will ensure health care for all Americans, a friend posted on Facebook that she was “grateful on behalf of my mom, who might have survived her cancer if she hadn’t put off going to the doctor because she was afraid that more doctor bills would push our family into homelessness.” When you put it in those terms, it’s hard to be against universal health care. But for so many... Read more
I never tire of telling people that my family’s only real claim to fame is that my momma’s people are from Mt. Airy, North Carolina. I’ve been there quite a bit these past couple of years, first to bury my uncle, and then my Granny back at Easter this year. A generation is passing away in Mt. Airy. But when my Granny and her brothers were growing up, there was another fellow, a bit younger than most of them, who... Read more
Just last week I got to visit with my friend Dave Andrews, who lives half a world away in Brisbane, Australia. We have a Peter’s Projection of the world up on our wall at Rutba House. When I introduced JaiMichael to Dave and he observed that Dave “talks funny,” I asked him to go find Brisbane on the map. “Wow,” he said, “that’s about as far as you can get from here.” Indeed. But one of the things I love... Read more
My son JaiMichael, who doesn’t want me to scare the bird, says to be quiet before I walk onto the front porch. He is watching through the storm door, studying the work of this busy homemaker. She is perched on the top of our mailbox, its lid open, trying to maneuver a leaf clutched in her beak. Later, after she has flown away and JaiMichael lets me out the door, I look in the mailbox to see the beginnings of... Read more
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
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