Mar
21
2023
I have been thinking about unity and violence. How does the turn happen? For Cain it is losing his joy for being in union with his brother. He sees his own life separate, individual, and alien from Abel. He...
Mar
20
2023
March 18th was the birthday of my beloved father. I have been crying on and off all week. March is our family’s birthday month, and Dad is deeply missed during this time. So much reminds me of him. I...
Mar
16
2023
We read a gorgeous essay aloud as family members recently written by Albert Camus. He seems like a person I would have loved time with. A devout atheist who was full of gratitude and wonder. I think he will...
Mar
14
2023
At the conference Shann and I spoke at, we invited people to practice asking forgiveness. I role played with a woman who had been a Princeton professor for many years. Her eyes were incredibly empathetic. We both tried to...
Mar
13
2023
I sit watching about 20 robins congregating in the trees. They greet each other noisily and swoop continuously between my neighbor’s tree and mine.
They have bright red breasts and look so happy together. I feel the beauty of God...
Mar
09
2023
One of Dad’s favorite hymns came on when I was listening to my Pray As You Go app. The words say, “Thou my best thought by day or by night.” I can’t believe how that tiny line summarizes the way forward,...
Mar
08
2023
Driving through a beautiful college campus, I notice several ugly tree stumps in the middle of the landscaped meridian. They jut sideways with sharp points. I remember these trees. The trees, though flowering and covered in blossoms for spring...
Mar
06
2023
I loved my conversation with a devout atheist on a recent flight. I think he enjoyed the conversation as well. It was never truculent or contentious but full of curiosity as we both worked to understand the other person’s...
Mar
02
2023
Our family recently listened to a sermon delivered on the wrath of God. If you cringe reading this, it was cringeworthy. The message was delivered in a one-hour yell, a screed full of blame, without self-reflection and self-responsibility. Shann,...
Mar
01
2023
I met a devout atheist on a flight recently who loved Christopher Hitchens, a world-famous atheist. Hitchens contracted throat cancer and died denying God. My flight companion asked me what I thought of the “Christian” responses saying Christopher deserved...
