On super-additivity and science (sort of ) — In her essay entitled The Physics of Communion, Barbara Brown Taylor makes the connection between Newtonian physics and our zeitgeistigy hyperfocus on the individual as the basic unit of society. We’re like atoms, we think, and when we combine together, we form molecules of families*, communities, countries, and cultures. It’s…

Forgive me for sounding like an *actual* sandwich board — There was an avocado commercial during the Super Bowl. Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, and Eve took a bite of the apple; they noticed they were naked, so a gopher gave them an avocado. The commercial cuts to a scene of modern-day New York. The radio…

Know your audience, but don’t coddle them — Last week, I gave a talk about the ins and outs of self-publishing. Most of it was a screed about how Amazon is necessary and evil, and dealing with them is distasteful but a cost of doing business, like paying bribes to corrupt government officials…. …

Christianity is weird… I always forget that — I had just finished talking impassionedly about Hell and Heaven and Life After Death. I had used a modern, clean, inspiring presentation on Canva, full of subtle sunrise scenery, and had even shown a Bible Project video about Heaven & Earth. I had aced this Zoom Youth Group meeting. These…

Calling God out for being cranky — People in the Old Testament used to call God out when He was being cranky. In Numbers 14, God was ready to plague and disinherit all of Israel, but Moses interceded. He appealed to God’s ego, telling him that, if He did, the Egyptians would think He couldn’t handle His…

On fasting, fatness, and figs — My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips Psalm 63:5 NRSV The King James Version translates ‘a rich feast’ as ‘marrow and fatness’, and what I wouldn’t give for some marrow right now. I just broke a 40ish-hour fast, on a…

The first will be last and the last will be first. Should I be worried? — Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. (Luke 13:30, NRSV) This line is up there with John 3:16 in terms of lines that most people could quote from the Bible even if they’ve never set foot in a church. …

Why do we define ourselves by our tribe? — Why do we have such a need for affiliation? Why do we define ourselves by our tribe, whatever that may be? This isn’t a lament, at least not entirely… it’s a legitimate question. There’s something in our DNA that makes us do it, I think, because we’ve been doing it…

Can we all agree to stop saying “Expect the Unexpected”? It’s dumb. — Luke 21:34–36 34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole…