It’s a season of wonder. And by wonder, I don’t mean the usual wonder of the fall—bright skies, crisp air, the changing colors of leaves. These will surely come and, I hope, refresh us. But there is also the more ominous wonder of this particular...
I just listened to a talk by Cynthia Bourgeault at the annual meeting of the American Teilhard Association. It’s a profound talk on so many levels. The point which I want to focus on for this brief article is Teilhard’s conviction that just as ultimate...
Recently, Rosanne and I stumbled across a Netflix series called, “The Good Place.” It’s a comedy about the journey of the afterlife, filled with many twists and turns and surprises. I won’t comment on it in any specific way, so that if you want to...
A funny thing happened after many of my friends started turning sixty-four. I’m sure that this is not limited to me. I would make a fuss that we all sing The Beatles’ song, “When I’m Sixty-Four.” To help us with our faulty memories and less...
It’s early yet, but signs of seasonal transition are around us. As I write, we are just a few days into the official turning of spring and, honestly, the landscape doesn’t look much different from when it was still officially winter. But there is something...
The Lenten journey, like the Christian journey itself, is full of paradox. Jesus tells us paradoxes like, in order to find life, we must lose it, that the first will be last and the last will be first, that those who humble themselves will be...
In light of the recent attack on the Capitol, there is conversation among us about finding or working to create unity. This makes sense, but I wonder if we have the understanding, the resources, and the collective will to make this happen. Because religion, so...
My daily spiritual practice is to get up early, make a cup of coffee and to sit with a biblical text, to let it have its way with me. I keep a journal to help in this task. Then I pray/chant five Psalms before sitting...
January is always a time of looking backward and forward. Taking stock and setting a fresh path. This seems like especially meaningful work for us this year, doesn’t it? 2020 was a year like no other. We are looking forward, in hope, that 2021 will...
The section of the Book of Isaiah, beginning with chapter 40, from which so much of our Advent and Christmas inspiration comes, is called by many the Book of Consolation. After prophesying judgment and punishment in the first section of this prophetic book, in chapter...