November 2009

Life Without God: Part Two

Whether or not you believe that these were two literal human beings in a Garden in the Middle East thousands of years ago, the story of Genesis 2-3 rings true. Because we make the same decision all the time. The history of humanity, and the story of our own lives, is one ...

Happy and Special

Since "Life without God" isn't exactly good fodder for Thanksgiving Day, I'll come back to those thoughts over the weekend...

For now, a quick reminder of what this day is all about.

I was sitting with Penny this morning and told her, "Pen, today is a day when we get to think ...

Life Without God: Part One

If God is good, and God's creation is good, then why is the world the way it is? In the talk series I presented last weekend, I argued that the world is the way it is because we humans–individually, collectively, now and throughout history–choose to live without God:

Let me explain ...

Knowing Good and Evil

New Post on the Park Forum: Back to the Garden of Eden.

"What matters is if God believes in us..." (Life With God, Part Two)

My theme for my talks last weekend was "Life with God." And yet before I could talk about life with God, I had to address the question of God's existence

So, some thoughts on that question, taken from the first talk I gave this past weekend:

I'm not planning to mount a defense ...

Life with God

I'm speaking at a conference this weekend for a group of about 160 people, mostly high school students. And I'm supposed to explain the Christian faith to them over the course of four 20 minute talks. Whatever you believe, it's a good exercise: how would you explain the way ...

So, Really, Did Christianity Cause the Crash?

A quick response to the Atlantic's cover article on the Park Forum, here.

The Prayers of a Three-year old

Penny and I got into the car to go to the hospital yesterday at noon. Peter buckled her into her seat, kissed her on the forehead, and said, "I'll see you tonight, beautiful girl."

"Pray, Dad," she replied.

The night before, she had a hard time falling asleep.

"Are you afraid, ...

The Reality of Hope

I have an essay published in the "On the Square" section of First Things today. It is called "The Reality of Hope." Here's the opening paragraph:

After she died, it was as if I had broken my arm. A part of me ached all the time, and something that had been functional was now ...

"The Divine Feminine"?

I spoke on a panel Friday night for a Women and Spirituality conference. There were three other women on the panel–an Episcopal priest, a Roman Catholic lay leader who is also a counselor, and a woman who was raised Muslim but left the faith after deciding it was too patriarchal. ...

Making Mistakes

William and Penny and I were taking a walk. William said, "Wa! Wa!" (Watch! Watch!) I complied. Penny took off in the other direction. So I chased her down, plunked her in the stroller next to her brother, and resumed walking. It was about 30 seconds later that I realized William ...

Afraid of the Flu?

New post on the Park Forum: Afraid of the Flu?
Also a helpful comment on there about the science involved. And, incidentally, I got the flu shot and so will our kids. Just not planning to panic if they get sick...

Talking about Disability, Talking about Ability...

Penny and I went to a birthday party yesterday, and I met another mom. She said, "I have a child with special needs, too." She pointed out the window. "My daughter is ten. She's the one with the walker."

Over the course of the afternoon, I found myself watching this woman's ...

Architecture is Evangelism

"Architecture is evangelism." The person who said it was talking about churches and the way in which they welcome (or fail to welcome) people with disabilities. When the ramp for wheelchair access is around back and hard to find, what message does it convey?Architecture is evangelism ...

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