Life of Faith
Rebirth pangs
Where something has died, something else must now be born. It’s not going to be fun.
José Saramago’s clarifying unbelief
Reading the atheist novelist has shaped my faith’s suspicion of religious power, capitalist inevitability, and hollow progress.
Faith formed in correspondence
In their letters to each other, poet Christian Wiman and theologian Miroslav Volf test the language of belief.
Upside-down medicine
Jim O’Connell’s practice is built not on profit but on giving his patients—the unhoused of Boston—whatever time they need.
Church gossip and a pastor’s double life
I’m obligated to a high standard of confidentiality. I also find the stories on social media hard to resist.
Blessings for all
Christine Valters Paintner draws on Jewish, Islamic, and Celtic traditions to widen what is worthy of blessing.
My prayer for soldiers
I looked up to see a line of 50 kids in uniform boarding the plane. Every one of them had brown skin like mine.
The price of virtue
It is often easier to do good or be good if you are rich. Just ask Job.
A gospel of belonging in Korea
It’s my first time here in decades, and I have been struck by the depth of relational intimacy on display everywhere I go.
Annie Dillard’s unrestrained hallelujah
The visionary writer showed us that paying attention could make us certain that the world is holy.
Masks hide us—and shape us
When extremists don disguises and terrorize others, they also do grave moral damage to themselves.
An NGO’s complex ethics
Journalist Ross Halperin tells the story of two friends whose work in Honduras finds them bearing the high costs of discipleship.
In love with a fantasy
Amanda McCracken thought she’d been unlucky in love. Instead she’d been faithful to the idea of longing itself.
Beauty and how to see it
Reading Van Gogh’s letters has helped me uncover a deeper, more textured theological understanding.
Wendell Berry’s vision of a sacred world
Experience, reading, and the daily rounds of farm work taught Wendell that scripture is correct: Every creature and every inch of earth is made and approved by God.