I promised myself that I would not write another blog post on Donald Trump, mostly because he drives me crazy.  I think he is not only idiotic, but very dangerous, and I get discouraged about the state of this country when I see how many people are interested in him and voting for him. The…… Continue reading Trump Telling Lies [again]

Like all other academics I know, I have a shelf full of “to-read” theology books—some of which have been there an embarrassingly long time.  I get to them when I can—in between other pressing books that relate directly to current courses I am teaching, or current writing projects.  It’s an aspirational shelf to which I…… Continue reading Asking the Beasts

  As I sit down to write this blog post, the news is just breaking about Barbie’s new curves—have you seen the story?  If you missed it, Mattel has designed a new Barbie—well, several new Barbies, actually:  three new body types [petite, tall, and curvy] with 30 hair colors, 22 eye colors and seven skin tones. …… Continue reading Divine Thoughts on Barbie: Blue Hair and Curves

Today is the beginning of a new semester, which means I am once again thinking of that brilliant essay by Simone Weil [pictured above], “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God.”  [I know I have blogged about this before, but I can’t resist talking about it…… Continue reading Studies with a View to the Love of God

This is a plug for a great exhibit currently at the National Geographic Musuem in Washington DC–“PhotoArk,” a collection of photographs by Joel Sartore.  He is trying to document all the world’s threatened species–5,000 so far & counting.  He visits zoos & rescue centers to take pictures of the animals against a stark black or…… Continue reading Lessons from the PhotoArk

When I got home for lunch after chapel today, a lovely Christmas card was waiting for me, with a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke:  “And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.”It seemed particularly appropriate, given what had just happened a few hours earlier.  At the end of…… Continue reading Doing a New Thing!

This is my harp–isn’t it lovely?  I play the harp–more or less.  I’ve been playing for a few years now, and I’m still pretty bad:  I don’t practice as much as I should, and I don’t have much natural ability.  Mark Oldenburg is responsible for my foray into the music world:  when I was turning…… Continue reading Lessons from a Mediocre Harp-player

Like many of you, I’m sure, I have been being thinking way more about Donald Trump than I would like these past few days.  I vacillate between thinking he is so bombastic that he is dangerous, and thinking he is so absurd he is ridiculous.  However, after reading this New York Times article [Words that Killed Medieval Jews],…… Continue reading Why Words Matter, and Trump is no Laughing Matter

So, my dear friend Richard Payne just posted this powerful reflection on his blog.  This is the link; you can read the whole thing here:  Piety is Not Enough  I’m copying enough so that you can get the gist of it:Last night, driving home from a meeting in Berkeley, like many other commuters, I was listening…… Continue reading "Piety is Not Enough"

I love cartoons–I always have; and even as an adult, I still do.  One of my favorite animators is Hayao Miyazaki:  he did “Spirited Away,” which is an amazing movie–along with a bunch of other great movies; and he also did “Sherlock Hound,” a very cute Sherlock Holmes parody with dogs as the main characters…… Continue reading Rudolph and Other Misfits