Life of Faith
The consolation of studying theology
Theological education is precarious, inconvenient, and uncomfortable. So why do students keep enrolling?
Forerunners like John
Not everyone who makes a difference in the world gets the credit—or seeks it.
Made to be broken
Sometimes the harm caused by breaking a promise is less than the harm caused by keeping it.
The hope-filled worldview of John B. Cobb Jr.
Cobb was a visionary who saw theology as a force for transformation—as much about action as thought.
Jimmy Carter, America’s best ex-president
After his 1980 defeat, Carter devoted himself to the causes of a progressive evangelicalism that has all but disappeared from public view.
My word for 2024 was monasticism
One highlight of the year was a busy week in a cabin with three friends and a dog.
The Christmas of Baby Tommy
We raised our kids without a religious narrative. My young son stumbled upon one on his own.
The grace of apocalyptic imagination
As the depth of the climate crisis is revealed, our despair grows. But God hovers at the edge of doom.
Eight homilies for practicing presence
Rabbi Sharon Brous believes we can build beloved community simply by showing up for one another.
Sheer vulnerability
The nakedness of the incarnation reframes what it means to be strong.
Advent in the squatters’ camp
As a human rights worker during Argentina’s Dirty War, I learned to read the signs.
What if your plants could hear you?
Science writer Zoë Schlanger investigates the edges of botany research—and uncovers deep philosophical questions.
There’s no such thing as a Bonhoeffer moment
Dietrich Bonhoeffer didn’t choose to be a martyr. He simply tried, as many others did, to be decent in the face of evil.
Divine silence
A Quaker colleague taught me how stillness exercises agency, how it acts upon worshipers.
Ancestral blessings
I attended a talk by a pastor who begins services by asking, “Who do you bring into worship with you?”