When Jesus Goes to College
A forum to discuss the spiritual life and practice in the university setting. Topics will be as wide ranging as a university curriculum, but always focused on the way young people confront faith, doubt and life in the church from a university-age perspective.
When God is up to Something New
I could spend a lot of time worrying about the changing demographics at the college and fretting about the low numbers showing up for prayer, but I might not notice when God shows up. Continue reading
A Chaplaincy Parable
The Holy Spirit, it would seem, is up to something ridiculous. I’m beginning to notice a pattern: whenever I have a solid life plan in front of me, I suddenly find myself somewhere else entirely. Continue reading
Older than we think…
I am clearly understood to be middle-aged on campus. Even among staff and faculty, being in my mid-forties means that I am older than most. Yet in the parish, or when I go to church meetings in the diocese or deanery, I am seen as one of the younger generation. Continue reading
Beyond Beyond
We are now in the process of living into the implications of the paradoxes of the Word made flesh. The sacrifice of this heart-strong God who keeps communicating with us from “beyond beyond” and “beneath beneath” is one which transfixes us with its persistent and constant love. Continue reading
‘Soul songs’
She looked at me and said, “It’s a soul song. Most Christmas carols in the malls and stores aren’t. They are all about ‘home’. I never noticed that before this year, but they are all sentimental about going home – and home isn’t always so great, and then the songs about it are depressing.” Continue reading
Christmas BEFORE Advent?!
At the university, Christmas begins before I have even pulled the Advent wreath out of storage! The distance between observing the church year, and the cultural celebration of Christmas is emphasized…And yet, here I am, the Anglican priest on campus, fully participating in all of the Christmas revelry. Continue reading
Messy Grace and Piles of Paper
Spiritual work messes things up. Grace is a messy business that upsets how we see ourselves, how we see the world, and how the world sees us. When grace gets a hold of us, all the usual pieces of the puzzle don’t fit the same way anymore. Continue reading
Free coffee
The student grinned at me and said “They thought this was foolish, giving away free coffee. But it changes the atmosphere of the whole college…” Continue reading
Being angry together
Both individuals broke down, talked with great passion about how hard they were trying to stay faithful, how angry they were when they tried to pray… And so together we talked. We talked about the idea that sometimes keeping the faith means raging at God, how that means we refuse to give up on the idea of a God who loves us, we demand that God pay attention to what is going on. Continue reading
The Office
My office is usually filled with people. In fact, my office usually filled with undergraduates arguing about their assignments, debating political theory, gossiping about their relationships and asking questions about scripture and Jesus. Continue reading
