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It’s been a while since my last “retreat” at the monastery. The last time I was here, I was on deadline to finish the manuscript for my first book Grace Sticks. So I holed myself up in one of these rooms with a cheap bottle of red wine I had snuck in, and over the…

I struggle to know how to greet you after such a long hiatus from posting here—and in light of how much has happened in the world since Christmas, the most obvious development being last week’s horrifying events in Paris and a growing public incantation against religious violence and threats to freedom of speech in the…

Once again, humor and satire are coming to my aid this morning, this time in response to the twisted and evil extensions of religion that seeks to coerce and control with violence and worldly forms of power (best embodied these days in the form of ISIS and its affiliates). The Palestinian television satire show “Watan…

Here at this intersection between God and life, I’m always interested in news pertaining to those who call themselves “spiritual but not religious”—hence this article from The New York Times featuring the work of three other authors who, like me, are responding to the epithet that now describes one in five Americans (according to a…

This week’s mental health break comes from Iran, where 6 young Iranians were arrested last month for dancing to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” in a Youtube video that went viral.  The men and women appearing in the video said they wanted to show the world that despite their hardships Iranians still find joy.  Apparently Tehran’s police…

The older I get the more I’m convinced wandering is essential to rest.  A soul that has come to rest has known what it means to wander.  And, God forbid that our souls should ever only rest and never wander in this life!  This would make us less than human. Our souls can wander in…

Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith was one of my traveling companions in Tuscany. Here Krakauer, who has developed a reputation for writing about the extremes of physical adventure (Into Thin Air, Into the Wild), turns his attention to extremes in religious belief, in this case Mormon fundamentalism. The…

If you’re “spiritual but not religious” be prepared for more affliction- or, at least this seems to be the take-home of a recent study by British researchers, according to a report by WORLD News Service summarized by Religion Today. Religion Professor Michael King of University College London surveyed more than 7,400 people: 35 percent described themselves as religious,…

My son’s request to be a “zombie batman” tonight qualifies as most creative Halloween aspiration thus far- not to mention a tough act to carry off.  Somehow the two identities seem galaxies apart.  I mean, an animated corpse in a Batman costume?  Doesn’t that interfere with special Batman powers?  Isn’t it kind of hard to be…

As an aspiring author I’ve been getting better acquainted with my audience, and it’s an audience I find it easy to self-identify with (Christian ministerial credentials aside).  A poll recently released by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has been helpful. People without a religious affiliation- the so-called “nones” who represent a large…
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