At the American Academy of Religion meeting last week, the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies sponsored a panel honoring the work of Jim Fredericks, pioneer in Buddhist-Christian dialogue and all-around wonderful human being.  After several papers were presented, discussing various aspects of his long career, Dr. Fredericks stood up to offer a response.  He took a…… Continue reading "Aren’t We Lucky?"

So, I’m up.  I’m up and moving around after one of the worst nights of my adult life.  I finally went to bed at midnight when the writing was on the wall (or, better said, the red was on the map), and then I woke up at 2 in the morning and checked my phone;…… Continue reading Don’t. Give. Up.

I just finished a classic text that I had never read before, Henri Nouwen’s Reaching Out:  The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life.  I really loved it, and I’m going to be using it in an upcoming presentation.  In the meantime, I just wanted to share the movements, and a couple really great quotes.  If…… Continue reading Nouwen’s Three Movements of the Spiritual Life

Well, if a title like that won’t get your attention, I don’t know what will!  Actually, the title isn’t mine; it is from a book chapter by Marie M. Fortune, in a volume titled The Other Side of Sin, edited by Andrew Sung Park and Susan L. Nelson.  I was re-reading this chapter in preparation…… Continue reading Sin, Sex, and Violence

So, it’s an interesting experience, teaching a course on the seven deadly sins while watching the train wreck that is Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.  It’s hard to avoid bringing him up in class (especially since in the Will Willimon book we are reading, Sinning like a Christian, he actually mentions Trump in his chapter on…… Continue reading The Seven Deadly Sins and Donald Trump

Perhaps you missed this article in The New York Times, titled “Japan’s Newest Technology Innovation:  Priest Delivery.” (Read it here: Priest Delivery)  Basically, the story explained how you can now order the services of a Buddhist priest online, from Amazon.com–“Users click on one of several options and add it to a virtual shopping cart, the same…… Continue reading Religion, Relationships and Priest Delivery

In the Vigelandsparken in Oslo, there are many different sculptures of human beings, caught in a variety of poses that suggest different relationships.  In the middle of the main sculpture area, there is a tall tower of human figures.  All of the sculptures are very suggestive and provocative.Seeing them reminded me of the latest poem…… Continue reading "Footprints on your chest"

“Should we be having kids in an age of climate change?”  Since hearing this report on NPR a few days ago, I have been thinking a lot about the question posed in the story, which basically argues that one of the easiest, and most effective ways we can positively reverse the negative impact of climate…… Continue reading Is Having Children a Right? Procreation and Climate Change

It has been a couple week since I last posted something–I’ve been travelling, other things have been happening, and, most importantly, the Olympics kicked off in Rio!  Now, I love the Olympics, especially the Summer Olympics–I always have, and this year there are some great stories.  [Of course, there are great stories every year–that’s a…… Continue reading Theology and the Olympics