Lenten Notes on Notre-Dame’s Destruction
The empty husk of European Christendom has finally gone up in flames. Have you heard? Tell it on every social media platform: Notre-Dame, the glamorous gothic ‘lady’ and icon of […]
Tag Archives: suffering
Waiting in the Dark
Happy New Year! Advent is upon us again. In preparation for the season, I had the opportunity to sit down with Pastor Jason Miller of South Bend City Church to talk at length about the history and practices […]
Is Life Worth It?
“But don’t you think life is worth all the suffering we go through?” I was surprised by my own question, wondering myself if life was indeed worthy, compared to the […]
Why it is not wrong to kill chickens
Is it ever right to kill a chicken? Or a dog, or a human being? If not, who says so? God, or our conscience, or plain reason, or utilitarian consequences? […]
Screenwriting and the struggles of life
In the past year one of my greatest joys has been to write a movie screenplay. It had never crossed my mind that I would ever write one. But doing […]
Imagining
I was standing in a line at the hospital reception desk recently when I decided to start imagining. It started innocently enough. As I was standing there watching the receptionist mechanically dispensing […]
God Has a Plan for Your Life—And It Might Be Horrible!
I hate it when well-meaning people tell me that God has a plan for my life. Why do I hate it, you might ask? Because it is exactly what I’m […]
The School of Greatness
One of my favorite stories of all time is that of a young man who dreams big. And his dreams come true. But about 13 years of suffering and humiliation […]
What Are We Asking For?
A clergy friend and I were talking over coffee recently about how being in this line of work is something of a magnet for human pain. As soon as people […]
An Atheis… oops, Religious Response
Among the toughest questions I have been asked as a pastor is some variation of the following: Why is God allowing this to happen to me? The life situations that prompt […]
Wondering Fair 