I am not a huge fan of satire. Oh, admittedly, when it’s done well, I do laugh. But the difficulty with satire is that, by nature, it exaggerates and relies on caricature. So, while the avowed purpose of satire is to offer up a subject up for examination, it almost always invites ridicule as well. There is little room for conversation, nuance, or true bridge building, when an individual or a group of individuals is belittled. That said, satire and... Read more
In the fall of 2013 when I was installed as the first holder of the Rueben P. Job Chair in Spiritual Formation at Garrett-Evangelical, I understood well that I was not only assuming responsibilities for my students, but that I was shouldering the on-going work of the man whose name graced the chair that I hold. His prayerful, measured, and visionary leadership stretched across six decades, touching people in the Dakotas, the Armed Forces in Europe, and Iowa. His work... Read more
As I follow the news about the ministry of Pope Francis, I’m often struck by the way in which people project their personal expectations on his ministry. People seem to expect him to function like a progressive Protestant or hope that he will. That, it seems to me, is unrealistic. His training and orientation to the world is decidedly Catholic, which should be no surprise, and he was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II. His position in the... Read more
Introduction to the series My brother, Dave, battled a fatal brain cancer for nearly eight years and he died in January of 2013 as the result of a fall that was due in large part to his illness. In reaction to Dave’s quest to find a durable faith and supportive friends, I wrote a book calledThe Dave Test. The book distills Dave’s quest into ten questions that any of us can ask ourselves, when we are in one of life’s... Read more
 The lasting concern over the hacking of email at Sony Pictures will no doubt revolve around the question of what the perpetrators do with an early script from the James Bond franchise. But what we should be paying attention to is the evidence of prejudice that thrives behind closed doors among the Sony leadership elite. Co-chair Amy Pascal and Producer Scot Rudin are, it seems, capable of the same childish, mean-spirited prejudice that some would have us believe thrives... Read more
I’ve thought a lot about the future of theological education this semester. Some of that thinking was inevitably a product of engaging the task itself. Some of it was associated with my responsibilities as a member of The Episcopal Church’s Board of Examining Chaplains, and some of it emerged from watching the situation at General Theological Seminary. Here is what has crystallized for me: One: While the situation at every seminary is different and many seminaries (my own included) are... Read more
“Can I give up my broken gods?”  Introduction to the series My brother, Dave, battled a fatal brain cancer for nearly eight years and he died in January of 2013 as the result of a fall that was due in large part to his illness. In reaction to Dave’s quest to find a durable faith and supportive friends, I wrote a book calledThe Dave Test. The book distills Dave’s quest into ten questions that any of us can ask... Read more
Question One: “Can I say life sucks?” Introduction to the series My brother, Dave, battled a fatal brain cancer for nearly eight years and he died in January of 2013 as the result of a fall that was due in large part to his illness. In reaction to Dave’s quest to find a durable faith and supportive friends, I wrote a book calledThe Dave Test. The book distills Dave’s quest into ten questions that any of us can ask ourselves,... Read more
Mark Sandlin recently wrote a telling article on the rise of the “Dones,” people who have been active in the church and their departure. The article hit a deep nerve and a number of people declared themselves among this new, disaffected tribe. Sandlin lays the blame at the church’s doorstep, noting that the church has “killed spiritual community.” On one level, I agree, but reading the church’s failure against the backdrop of over two thousand years of history I could... Read more
For people who don’t believe that there is a god, atheists have a lot to say about the subject. One of the latest arguments offered by “Godless in Dixie” also rates as one of the more narcissistic defenses I’ve heard offered for atheism: Jesus didn’t “return his calls.” It would be easy to poke gaping holes in this argument (which GiD counts as one of the more important reasons he is an atheist). One could simply start with the “me-ocentric”... Read more
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