Have you ever questioned your faith or wondered if what you were taught was true for you? As a child, I learned about faith and religion from a catechism: a summary of principles of the Christian religion in the form of questions and answers. Catechisms were viewed as foundational among… Read More »Living the Questions
Was there a time when a friend or loved one said something to you that led you to a new insight or a moment of growth? In my college years, I would venture with a group of fellow students for weekend retreats at a remote farmhouse in the mountains of… Read More »No Pain, No Gain! Are You Sure?
Do good things happen in your life for no reason? Have you received something beneficial by chance, luck, or serendipity? What role have others played to enable you to experience something wonderful? A familiar story told by many preachers goes something like this: A fellow was stuck on his rooftop… Read More »Grace: Make it Happen!
Has there been a time when you did something important for a while? Then, because of other things you needed to do, you stopped doing it? Sometime later, you began to do it once again, and realized how important it actually was to you? E-merging. In January 2010, I began… Read More »Beginning Again
2007. Nine years ago. It doesn’t seem like that long ago. I was spending several days at a retreat center in Tucson, Arizona where I was a presenter at a spiritual direction training program. Having some time before my next presentation, I placed a call to my mother who lived… Read More »Time for a Change
I’m well aware that I’m a white man of a certain age. Like other white men in my age group in the United States, I know that because of my age it would be difficult for me to find full time employment if I left my current job. I also… Read More »2016: A Year to Move Beyond Fear
As I drove down a familiar street one evening, traffic began to slow….then crawl….then stop and start at a hesitant snail’s pace. I checked the time. It was nearly 9:00 PM. I wondered if there was an accident up ahead. Then I remembered the likely cause of the delay. I… Read More »Keeping Christ in Christmas, Part 4: Stories of Hope for those Marginalized
I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that I follow news about religion very closely. In fact, I receive daily email alerts and summaries about religion in the news. While there are a variety of headlines each day, some of which are awe inspiring, there is a… Read More »Keeping Christ in Christmas, part 3: Foreigners and Their Strange Religions
