Early in the week I finished Barack Obama’s presidential memoir, A Promised Land. Obama really is a good writer. Then I read Rob Bell’s newest book, Everything is Spiritual, which I liked a lot. Bell writes: I’ve had a sense since I was youngthat there’s more going on here, thatthe world is not a cold, … Continue reading What I Read This Week →

To journey without being changedis to be a nomad.To change without journeyingis to be a chameleon.To journey and to be transformedby the journeyis to be a pilgrim.-Mark Nepo, “Being a Pilgrim,” January 30, The Book of Awakening Henri Nouwen writes:When I taught academic courses on the spiritual life, I sometimes drew a long straight line … Continue reading A Journey To and From the Center →

I am someone who has had some sort of deep, in-born desire to be right, to do it right, and to get it right all my life. Now, in my late 40s, I am someone who has come to know the terrible limits of that way of being—the limits of my ability to be right … Continue reading Getting It Right →

I discovered a little notebook yesterday when I was cleaning off my desk. In it I had written down some notes about a year ago after reading a book by Richard Rohr called The Universal Christ. I wrote that somewhere around the 5th century, Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, started preaching and writing about something … Continue reading Original Blessing →

I have just finished reading the wonderfully insightful and disturbingly powerful book by Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. For a full review, see this from the New York Times. The basic thesis is expressed by Wilkerson early in the book, and it is worth sharing: A caste system is an artificial construction, … Continue reading Caste →

As I read in the 12/16/20 issue of The Christian Century, Loretta J. Ross, who teaches a popular class at Smith College, is challenging her students to address “call-out” culture—the practice of publicly shaming someone for behavior or speech deemed inappropriate. Ross, a radical Black feminist and a longtime activist, believes call-out culture is toxic. … Continue reading Call-In Culture →

Our friend Julie Rowe taught school as usual last Thursday and then, tragically, suffered a devasating stroke after she got home that afternoon. She died Sunday night, December 6, 2020. Julie was 41 years old. My wife Jamie has been close friends with Julie’s husband, Kyle, since high school and close friends with Julie for … Continue reading Julie Rowe Education Fund →

Brene Brown talks about learning about having a strong back and a soft front from Joan Halifax. The strong back is self-respect, strength, and courage. The soft front is openness and vulnerability. She quotes Joan Halifax: “All too often our so-called strength comes from fear, not love. Instead of having a strong back, many of … Continue reading Notes from my journal →

Like a lot of people, I’ve been thinking about karma a lot the last few days. The idea of karma is what’s reflected in a parable Jesus told that is the gospel text in many Christian churches around the world tomorrow. The story Jesus tells in this parable for tomorrow’s reading is this: The landowner … Continue reading Karma vs. Grace →

Sometimes I need to get my thoughts down on paper to clarify them and calm them down. *Jamie has inspired me to start doing “morning pages.” Morning pages is when, right after you get up in the morning, you get out a notebook and write down whatever comes to mind in a stream of consciousness … Continue reading Scattershooting →