Features
The force of silence: Uneasy holiness in the Sinai desert
People assume that silence and peace can be simply harnessed together, silence as Xanax for the soul. But that's not how deserts work.
Dying in Oregon: A critical look at death with dignity
Brittany Maynard's story is compelling—but not typical. Basing policy on cases like hers can be dangerous to the people the policy affects.
Rushing toward death? Assisted dying in the Netherlands
As a review committee member, I assured foreign delegations that the Dutch model was a good one. That conclusion has become harder to support.
Borderland churches: Faith and identity in Ukraine
The unrest in Ukraine has led to calls to establish a national church. But which church should play this uniting role?
How does one pray about cancer?
And what would happen if we didn't?
Headed toward Christ: The grand narrative of evolution
The biological concept of convergence lends credence to a Christian view of providence—and fits with a scriptural account of a story-shaped world.
The joy of stuff: Incarnation and the KonMari method
KonMari approaches clutter by asking just one question: “Does this item spark joy?” But this isn't always a simple question.
Black Lives Matter
BLM is writing a new chapter in the history of black people's struggle for full equality. What are the implications for churches?
The church's respectability politics: Black Lives Matter symposium
The young people leading this movement have heard enough about Martin Luther King's dream. It is not enough for church leaders to reply that they don't know much history.
Black lives rising: Black Lives Matter symposium
Black people can eat at most lunch counters and travel across state lines without being consigned to the back of the bus. But the fundamental right to life continues to be haunted by white supremacy.
Black love of black people: Black Lives Matter symposium
White Christians have to decide: will we show up and act for racial transformation, or will we sit idly by? But BLM isn't waiting to see what our verdict will be.
Jesus of the resistance: Black Lives Matter symposium
The BLM movement has issued a clarion call to the church, the black church in particular, to affirm a theology of resistance, not respectability. This means reckoning with who Jesus is.
Full humanity: Black Lives Matter symposium
In the civil rights movement, language of political participation was central. BLM activists are making a more profound demand.
The challenge to Christians: Black Lives Matter symposium
Putting up signs is great. Talking about racism together is even better.
The language of liberation: Black Lives Matter symposium
Disaster is understandable for black lives—they are antagonists in a narrative of humanity written to serve white supremacy. To say "black lives matter" is to interrupt this story.
Easter already: Living with the church calendar
In December, my Facebook friends and I voted to move Easter back to April, where it belongs. Yet here we are, already well into Lent.
The real Depression: The greatest generation needed welfare
Efforts to dismantle the U.S. welfare state rely on the myth of the redemptive Depression. It's an erasure and repackaging of a great crisis.
Waste not, hunger not: Daily Table sells fresh meals cheap
Forty percent of the food produced in the U.S. ends up in landfills. Meanwhile, people are hungry. Daily Table tries to address both problems.
Love goes to work: Miracles in the midst of dying
The difference between sickness and health depends on the strength of the love at work. It wasn't until I met Mark that I began to understand this.