A Declaration of Political Liberty
My “Prayer for the Republic” (February 8, 2025) is an expression of what we might call a revival of public piety. For too long the symbols, rituals, and writings of …
Pray for the Republic
We pray for the republic where each voice is heard speaking freely from the heart, where each ear is bent upon the task of understanding, where the stranger finds a …
Bishops, Kings, and Tyrants
On January 21, 2025, Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal diocese of Washington DC turned to the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump at the end of her homily during the …
Cosmic Christ and New Creation
On November 24, the last Sunday of the church year, I collaborated with our worship leaders in organizing a service that would move us from the symbolism of “Christ the …
After the Flood
As with the Jewish practice of “sitting shiva,” I have been staying still as I absorb the return to our national presidency of the tyrant our founders feared and tried …
A Death Adorned
Plucked from out the cowering sprigs huddled on the sidewalk at the Walmart, the little redbud shoot had promise, form, a single stalk that might …
Coming to the Table
Three strands of my life have coalesced in the recent publication of two books. First, in 2000 I built my first round communion table, which was followed by several more …
Meeting Roger Williams (again)
I have long known that one of my distant ancestors is Roger Williams, the seventeenth century founder of Rhode Island. (For you genealogists: Roger, Daniel, Peleg, Daniel, Thomas, Mary (Hoag), …
What is Pravda?
When the Communist Party of Russia came to power in 1918, they set up a newspaper that would be their official organ of propaganda until the collapse of the Soviet …
Eyeless in Gaza
Eyeless in Gaza we strike out bringing down the temple of our gods, turning into ashes bodies of our dreams, the tender offspring of our hope. Was not …
Buried at the Keyboard
You haven’t seen any new postings from me for the past month because my fingers have been busy typing up two books that I probably mentioned sometime earlier. This is, …
In the Dark time…a Light
As we move through a season of stark contradiction between the happy music in churches and the violence and horrific death in Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, and Sudan, between the fervent consumption …
Rededication of the Andover Newton Table
I recently got news that the communion table I built for Andover Newton Theological School in 2000 was rededicated for its new use in Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School. …
Baratunde Thurston in Oregon
In the past year Sylvia and I have become fans of Baratunde Thurston’s ”America Outdoors,” which airs on your local PBS stations. Others may know him for his wit and …
Ketoctin Grace
As long-time readers of this blog know, a small brick church in Virginia’s Loudoun County has been a singular presence in my entire life. Ketoctin Baptist Church was founded in …