Category: Uncategorized
From the Box Seats, Darkly (Knowledge Part 3)
It is mid-July 2016. You are Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs. You took the job after a similar position with the Boston Red Sox, who, under your leadership, broke an 86-year championship drought known as “The Curse of the Bambino.”[1] Now you have been hired to break an even longer drought, the 108-year old “Curse of the Billy Goat.”[2] … Read More From the Box Seats, Darkly (Knowledge Part 3)
Hermeneutics Part 2
How do we know what we know? Last week I was in the waiting room of my cardiologist’s office, for my annual checkup. Sitting across from me was an elderly (i.e. my age) gentleman, in shorts and trainers, listening to some sort of radio or tv show on his phone, without earbuds. Immediately, I sorted him out: he’s here for a stress test, because … Read More Hermeneutics Part 2
Funny, You Don’t Look Scottish
Anne and I returned last week from a week in Scotland. We spent 3 days in Glasgow and then 5 in St Andrews (the “magic village,” one of my colleagues calls it). Every time we go, I wonder whether this is the last time, and hope it isn’t. I took Graham Greene’s Travels with My Aunt with me, finishing it in Glasgow. Travels with My … Read More Funny, You Don’t Look Scottish
A Faust for the 21st Century
Jeffrey Epstein died in his jail cell yesterday. It was apparently a suicide, although there are already internet speculations of something more sinister, involving powerful people that wanted Epstein and his story buried. Certainly it was not a peaceful death. Epstein’s sorry history will be researched, rehashed, and reenacted for years, in continued criminal investigations into his associates, in civil suits seeking compensation for … Read More A Faust for the 21st Century
Suffer the Little Children
In September 2015 Anne and I were in St. Andrews for my biannual residential study week, when the story of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi, drowned while fleeing Isis-ravaged Syria with his family for the safety of Greece, appeared on the front page of papers across Europe and the UK. Most horrifying was the picture of Alan’s body washed ashore on the beach near Bodrum, Turkey. … Read More Suffer the Little Children
Happy Father’s Day
Today, by coincidence, is both Trinity Sunday and Father’s Day. That is a happy coincidence for preachers, who can preach about how God the Father models excellence in parenthood, rather than preaching about the doctrine of the Trinity, which (we’re told every year) is every pastor’s least favorite topic. (My own parish, on the other hand, got a lovely sermon from the Rev. Mike … Read More Happy Father’s Day
(Un)common Sense
Feast of the Ascension National Public Radio last weekend told a refreshing story of remarkable common sense in the midst of the national disgrace that pretends to be an immigration policy. Candelaria Texas and San Antonio del Bravo, Mexico are two tiny villages – perhaps 150 residents total – straddling the Rio Grande River in far West Texas. The best way to describe Candelaria’s … Read More (Un)common Sense
What’s Love Got to Do with It?
Google News, in addition to the preloaded topics such as “Top Stories,” “Science,” “Politics” and so forth, allows you to create and save your own topics, and then goes out to the web to retrieve stories fitting in with that topic. I have three saved searches: “Chicago Cubs,” “Law,” and “Theological Ethics.” The first, I have to admit, gives me the most pleasure these … Read More What’s Love Got to Do with It?
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez
The Gospel of Luke quotes Jesus, in the “sermon on the plain” as saying “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”[1] Matthew, in the “sermon on the mount” has it “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven.”[2] And, a few verses later, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs … Read More Oyez, Oyez, Oyez
The Law of Nations
Last Sunday I was on an airplane to Chicago for a quick visit with my son and his family, which by pure happenstance coincided with the Cubs’ home opener. At the gate, waiting to board, I ran into an old acquaintance with a handful of boarding passes, and a gaggle of teenagers (or tweeners). Softball team, I asked my friend? No, she said, they’re … Read More The Law of Nations
The Return of the Prodigals
I apologize for the absence. Having extended twice the deadline for finishing my manuscript, I couldn’t justify imposing on the kind folks at Wipf and Stock any longer. So, manuscript delivered, I am back. In this last month, two strikingly similar cases have occupied the news. Hoda Muthana and Shamina Begum, each having travelled to Syria and married ISIS fighters, now want to return … Read More The Return of the Prodigals
Kill All the Lawyers?
When I was an undergraduate, in the early 1970s, one of the most popular dorm room posters, along with Jimi Hendrix and Farrah Fawcett, was a quote from Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 2: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” The line showed up on t-shirts and bumper stickers also. I’m not sure why these posters were so popular — I … Read More Kill All the Lawyers?
justice and mercy 