Life of Faith
Sing Christmas carols during Advent. Put up the tree before Halloween.
God’s RSVP has no date or time.
Advent in all its terror
If we remove the difficult facts of history leading up to Jesus’ birth, the story loses its power.
The night the universe looked back at me
Sometimes we glimpse magnificence in common occurrences. Science stumbles into poetry. We get a taste of singularity.
Christ in my nerve endings
Living with chronic pain is deepening my understanding of the incarnation.
I’m dreaming of a disarmed faith
In the Bethlehem cattle stall, no coercion is in the air. No imposition of will.
I keep listening for the chorus
My partial hearing loss is teaching me about Advent waiting and finding my place in God’s song.
A theology of impossible cheeseburger pie
A seminary cookbook from 1984 led me to revisit the potlucks—and the beliefs—of my midwestern childhood.
Where God waits in line
In 2019, Cristina Rathbone immersed herself in a tent camp at the border in Juárez, Mexico.
Training faith leaders to work against suicide
“Suicide happens because of loss of hope and loss of social connection,” says Michelle Snyder of Soul Shop. “What if we became a church where no one loses hope and no one is alone?”
Learning from people who can’t quit
Musicians never stop being musicians. I hope it’s the same for justice seekers.
Apocalypses all around us
Martha Park unearths surprising connections between the natural and the supernatural, the material and the ineffable.
Art that stretches us
I’ve been thinking about different ways visual art can challenge our perceptions and assumptions.
Writing through grief
In her new memoir, Miriam Toews explores connections between suicide, silence, and writing.
November 1, All Saints (Luke 6:20-31)
My friend Mollie didn’t need to be a minister. She was already a fisher of people.
Hope in the face of racist backlash
Aran Shetterly celebrates Greensboro massacre survivors Nelson and Joyce Johnson as great moral leaders.
What type of knowledge does the psalmist have?
Cultural anthropologist Johannes Fabian’s work has helped me better understand scripture—and my own faith.
The inverse wisdom of a second-century martyr
“Perpetua was a grandstander,” says Sarah Ruden. “She saw martyrdom—and that means testimony—as a personal glorification.”
A river runs through us
Robert Macfarlane helps us appreciate that life is not a possession. It is a process we participate in.
More thoughts on private morality
I’m back with another column, and I’m still being a killjoy.