I’ve spent much of my life thinking about faith, belief, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the world. Growing up in a religious tradition that prized certainty above all else, I …
I call it correction fatigue. It appears in all seasons, but especially during this time of final exams and papers. Correction fatigue strikes when you are in the middle of grading students’ papers and you …
“Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in …
Recently, I had the opportunity to lead a Bible study with a group of college students on Indigenous Peoples Day. That day seemed to be an excellent day to study Joshua 6 – the taking …
The railway forest is changing with the seasons. I recently took a walk through it, now that the bugs have died down enough that I probably won’t get West Nile Virus. Most of the forest …
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot of talk about freedom in the United States. This was especially true when protesters called for the government to lift shelter-at-home orders. In one thread about this …
There are few things as detrimental to a person’s faith as a popular minister “falling from grace.” We enjoy putting our favorite preachers on a pedestal, identifying ourselves with their beliefs, charisma, and conviction. But …
The following is a talk that my departed grandmother invited me to give for her Sunday School class at First United Methodist Shreveport which, due to some confusion, was given in its entirety to the …
When Bill Withers passed away, it was all over Facebook. The top hit of his illustrious career was Lean on Me. It ranked #7 when it was released in 1972, the year I was born. Withers …
Back in the 1990s, the federal government realized that there were dorms and beds for a minimum security prison in one of the most curious of places: the country’s last hospital for persons who had …