I like open options. Who doesn’t? Even in my spiritual life. Sure, the Bible gives us a moral roadmap for life's big temptations, but once we accept its framework as truth, a zillion miniscule options are still a matter of choice. A menu of spiritual options presents itself each year the week or so before … Continue reading A Little Litany for Lenten Temptations: Choose Life
Starry skies call those who long for silence: leave the party, the mall, the jingle bell rock, the smart phone, the laptop and the trivial TV. Step outside. Look up. Robert Frost's 1943 poem “Choose Something Like a Star" speaks to our position beneath the glittering skyscape. Alone beneath the stars the poet addresses "the … Continue reading Choose Something Like a Star: A Christmas Contemplation Inspired by Robert Frost
I don't want sentimental piety at Advent; I crave a seeker's authenticity and a contemplative's conviction. I welcome Sally Read's voice at any time of year, and Advent isn't the occasion that produced Annunciation: A Call to Faith in A Broken World. It's just that Annunciation is the best book of its kind I encountered … Continue reading Live the Questions this Advent with Sally Read’s Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World
I used to teach the art of argument to college freshmen. We read classic texts on the great questions of the centuries and debated our views in passionate discussion laced with laughter and an occasional angry flare. Students then constructed written arguments clarifying their thought and defending their positions. Essay by essay, they honed their … Continue reading Arguing Religion and the Search Engine of the Soul
"Most educated people are not religious," a friend remarked the other day when the subject of faith came up in conversation. What troubled me most about his comment was its case-closed lack of curiosity about the transcendent realm. Whatever his source for adopting such a stance, if this bright young man allows the argumentum ad … Continue reading Tracking the Transcendent: Four Physicists Open to Its Possibilities
At the end of the Christmas season as we celebrate the Visit of the Magi to the Christ Child born in Bethlehem, we often hear the saying, "Wise men still seek Him." Outside the church walls, skepticism purports to be the only true wisdom and has the sheen of cool to boot. Still, believers of … Continue reading Reasons to Believe from The Mystery of the Magi
"At the very moment when we need faith the most, it can seem most elusive." The man who wrote these words is losing his eyesight, and I'd begun reading his book on suffering only a day or two before the news of a mass shooting at the Sunday morning service of the First Baptist Church … Continue reading In the Night: A Song for Your Playlist of Hope
"Space: the Final Frontier." It's impossible to hear these words without feeling summoned by the stirring music and masculine voice inviting us to follow the voyages of starship Enterprise. You don't have to be a Star Trek fan to have been influenced by the classic TV series and its optimistic wonder. I'd only seen Star … Continue reading The Truth Is in the Stars … or Is Faith the Final Frontier?
Blatantly evangelistic movies aren't really my cup of tea. As much as I appreciate the effort to share the good news at the movies, I find that films designed to argue viewers into belief come off as pushy and strident. I'm on their side when it comes to loving Christ, but their style often falls … Continue reading The Case for Christ Film an Improvement over God’s Not Dead
