On Vocation *

For most who live, hell is never knowing who they are.The Singer knew and knowing was his torment.When he awoke, the song was there.Its melody beckoned and begged him to sing it.It hung upon the windand settled in the meadows where he walked. – Calvin Miller, The Singer  The opening lines to Calvin Miller’s trilogy

Jüngel on the Uniqueness of the Christ Event

This is a good follow up to my Good Friday / Holy Saturday reflections. “God’ being as history can be implied through stories but not totally comprehended by them. As a passion story, it has its own intrinsic perception. And no stories can nor should be permitted to usurp this perception sui generis, which concretely is realized

The “Crown” Virus: An Exercise in Metaphor

Corona is Latin for “crown” and derived from the Greek “korone” denoting “wreath,” the symbol of imperial victory. It’s funny sometimes how suggestive real life events can be; how truth is stranger than fiction. What am I saying? I’m saying that the Spirit of the Creator is always communicating. Not directly. Not in a snake-oil-televangelist

Toilet Paper, Self-Isolation & Confronting Our Shit

What I’m about to say is a stretch. But then again, sometimes a stretch of the imagination is necessary to make connections and draw insights that otherwise remain hidden deep down in the psycho-spiritual shadows. Over the past week we’ve seen thousands of people in N. America hoarding toilet paper in response to the COVID-19

Why the Tomb Must Be Empty: A Girardian Reflection on the Resurrection

The resurrection has always been a scandal. From the moment that news of Jesus being raised from the dead spread across ancient Palestine this Event has become a controversial challenge to everything we know and believe. Whether the challenge is merely intellectual or profoundly spiritual and theological, the resurrection is anything but simple. It confronts

Truth = Movement (Or, Trust Your Instincts)

“Although the scribes could explain where the Messiah should be born, they remained quite unperturbed in Jerusalem. They did not accompany the Wise Men to seek him. Similarly we may be able to explain every article of our faith, yet remain spiritually motionless. The power that moved heaven and earth leaves us completely unmoved. What

The Death of the Church (and the Life of the Spirit)

Many today see the demise of the Christian church in N. America as both inevitable and favourable. Yet I am always reminded of the one who inaugurated the complicated social experiment known as Christianity and I cannot help but wonder if in dying there is new life. It seems that the “death” of the church

Paradox & Tension (Or, How to Become a Beautiful Instrument)

I’m probably the only one still ruminating about a conversation that has all but faded out of our minds and news feeds; but, alas, I aim to write one more short piece in response to my friend Nathan’s post. I’ve written two lengthy responses already (one and two), but in this last post I want

Jesus is the Only Way? Of course, but…

This is the second post in response to my friend Nathan who wrote a post about there being many ways to God other than Jesus. In my first post I attempted to explain that all claims about “ways” to God are extremely complicated and cannot be oversimplified into easy (lazy) conclusions. I also attempted to

More Ways Than Jesus? Of course, but…

My friend Nathan recently wrote a blog post contending that there are more ways to God than Jesus. What follows is a response to that post. I will begin by saying that, overall, I agree with Nathan. I agree with his critique of traditional Evangelicalism’s simplistic theology and exclusivity. When traditional Evangelicalism claims “Jesus is