Podcast: What do Cats Have to do with Interfaith Work?
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
Crossroads
I was in a meeting with my supervisor last week, moving steadily through a list of agenda items. Reflect on five year celebration. Check. Discuss plans for upcoming program review. Check. Share dismay... 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
An Atheist and Obama’s Speeches
President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech prompted many journalists and academics to examine what perspective(s) the President holds on the ethics of war. Put simply: people won... 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
Miscarriage and Support
Dealing with death and grief is part of becoming a cleric. But dealing with miscarriages and the accompanying grief is too little discussed in many religious circles. Fortunately, that's beginning to ... Read More