Category: Featured
New Beginnings: Fear and Hope
This post (the first of two) reflects on the fears and hopes that mark new beginnings. What is there to fear for a Christian on Easter morning? What is there to fear for a parent of a newborn child? W... Read More
Demonstration Denied in Dearborn; Dawud Declares Doubts
Anti-Islam pastor Terry Jones takes his show to Michigan…or at least attempts to. In a bid to become to Muslims what Fred Phelps has been to gays and the military, Jones announced that he and hi... Read More
On the Process of Becoming – A Passover Reflection
In his commentary on Passover the 19th century Hasidic rebbe the Sefat Emet comments on verse from Numbers 15:41 traditionally read as “I took you out of the land of Egypt to be for you a Gd.” Tra... Read More
My “Calling” Came from Outside My Religious Community
Everyone tells me that you can find “your calling” — the guiding force and vocation that will define your life — when you sit quietly and really figure out what makes you passi... Read More
Toward a Dharmic Model of Chaplaincy in Semitic Settings II: Diversifying the Traditions of a Religious Campus
Open a map or walk through downtown New Haven and observe the roads that crisscross Yale University: Church Street, Chapel Street, Temple Street. These names undoubtedly refer to the Christian spiri... Read More
My First Sermon: When Miracles Happen to Good People
What is a “miracle” really? Colloquially speaking we tend to associate the word “miracle” with a specific event that is not explainable in natural terms, and the outcome of that event seems to... Read More
Why A Crucifix Cannot Be A Secular Symbol
Is a menorah no more than an ornate candelabra? Are Tibetan prayer beads little more than a bohemian bracelet? Is a crucifix just a symbol of secular Western values? Shockingly, in a recent decision, ... Read More
The hardest thing in life
I’ve been thinking about the topic of death a lot more than usual lately. Not from a pastoral care role. Not from presiding over funerals. But very personally. Two weeks ago, we put my son Olive... Read More