Parallel universes — the semi-serious idea that there are multiple, co-existing and self-contained dimensions of reality — make for fun thought experiments (e.g., is there a universe in which I’m a good dancer?) and are a staple for comic book writers running out of ideas. I’m also starting to think that they provide a useful […]
Stubborn Burros: Why Intrafaith Dialogue May Be More Important Than Interfaith Dialogue
“[A]s far as I’m concerned, he can go to hell.” — President Jimmy Carter on Jerry Falwell, Sept. 1986 Dialogue across social and political lines often seems to get a bad rap these days. I wish I had counted how many of my social media peers had gleefully announced over the past two to three […]
Giving Tuesday Indulgences for Black Friday Guilt
Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and then Cyber Monday. For four days we buy, buy, and buy — for others (because we have to) but also for ourselves. Perhaps mostly for ourselves. The frenzy of spending is occasioned by the holiday season, but more and more of us have been self-gifting. With all the […]
On Cities Unseen: Living in the Homelessness of Grace
We are Settled until We are Unsettled, Home and Yet Not. It’s a Weird Way to Live.
The Irony of Outrage and Sufjan Stevens’ “America”
Criticism which Intimately Involves Self-Criticism Will Almost Always be More Readily Received
David Brooks on the Beauty of Jesus in the Raging Storm
“When You See Jesus in this Context, You See How Completely Bold and Aggressive He Was. He Lived in a Crowded, Angry World yet Took on all Comers.”