At the close of 2016, it seemed as if people everywhere were clamoring for the year to end and for a new year to begin. I was less optimistic. The negative energy, the constant yelling, dividing communities, and rabid fear didn’t seem like it would stop simply because the calendar page flipped. And it didn’t. …
Category Archives: Theology
When the President Prays…
Lately I have made an effort to read articles & op-eds from those whose political and social views differ from my own. I often start with Drudge Report as it links to many news sites, most of which are right-leaning. Last week Drudge grabbed my attention by promoting an article which suggested that Bible studies were …
The Man in the Doorway
Like I do early each Sunday morning, I walked out of my apartment to take a contemplative walk around Denver’s Cheesman Park. Complete with coffee in hand, the bright Sunday morning sun shined through my apartment window inviting me into a needed quiet space in the middle of a normally busy city. The normalcy only …
Evangelicalism’s Trump Problem
A recent article from the Washington Post reveals that 14% of evangelicals have left their church community after the election of Donald Trump. This blow to church attendance and membership may, in fact, grow if the Church continues to pledge allegiance to Republican power. It would be unfair and untrue to suggest that politics do …
Merton’s Guide through Political Unrest
“The greatest need of our time,” Thomas Merton said, “is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds and makes of all the political and social life a mass illness. Without this housecleaning we cannot begin to see.” Like many, I have bought into the political rhetoric of 21st …
2015: The Year My Faith Became Free
2015 was one of those years that, upon quick reflection, you want to forget. On an international level, there’s been chaos. Violent extremism ravages our world. Bias and prejudice plague us. Guns continue to kill. On a personal level, there has been family hardship and difficult times. I was also let go from my teaching …
The King & the Maiden: Kierkegaard’s Christmas Parable
I’m largely going to leave this post to Kierkegaard’s own words from his famous “The King & the Maiden” parable from his book, Philosophical Fragments. I do want to offer a few cursory thoughts as to why this parable is significant for us this Christmas season. Invoking “The King & the Maiden” is not new …
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O Come, Emmanuel
As my roommate and I were finishing our meal at a restaurant in Denver last night, a trio of women came and sat at the open spot at the communal table at which we were dining. We exchanged some brief pleasantries, and at one point one of the women started talking about her colleague who …
The Sacred Space of Absence
The desert is a vacancy. It is a place of silence. It is harsh, both in its design and its impact. Yet even in a place as treacherous as the desert, one finds resilience. And it’s beautiful. The thing about the desert, as with all nature, is its welcome embrace of those who find themselves …
Learning about Christ from an Unlikely Source
One of the glorious things about studying philosophy and theology is that sometimes you find allies in unlikely places. Lately, the “antichrist” himself – Friedrich Nietzsche has become a bit of a refuge with an interpretation of certain aspects of the Gospels. As I’ve been re-reading through Miroslav Volf’s marvelous text Exclusion & Embrace as …
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Former Aspiring Philosopher 