Race is in the news, and not for the first time in human history. All of us wrestle with, or should at least contemplate, what it means to be clothed in a skin color we did not choose for ourselves. The reason to wrestle is for the sake of gaining de…
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There’s this photograph that I can’t stop thinking about. Photographer Emad Nassar took the picture last summer in Gaza, Palestine. In it, we see Salem Saoody playing with his daughter and niece in all that remains of their war-damaged house – their…
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Europe and America are experiencing a high level of tumult and anxiety in the last 24 months, thanks to a number of deranged people and terrorists who have a killing impulse. Amateur and professional analysts alike wonder if this ugly turn of events…
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In my time in the Quad Cities, I have been trying to keep my eyes peeled for what unites us as residents of this town. What is a common experience we all share, regardless of race or age or class, or education level? I have come to the conclusion it…
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If you ask just about anyone who’s ever tried to learn French, they will tell you: the subjunctive is hard. The subjunctive is not a verb tense – like past, present, or future – it is a mood. Other moods, which we use without thinking, are the indic…
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Goodbyes are always hard. As I near the end of my time at St. Paul, I wasn’t expecting to say goodbye just a year into my residency. I had plans; plans to be here for two years. I had plans; plans to really live into parish ministry and fall in love…
When I joined the St. Paul staff eleven months ago as director of faith formation, I got a lot of quizzical looks. I often had to answer the question, what’s that? The shortest way to answer is to say my job is about learning or Christian education….
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If you were to head south out of Minneapolis along Highway 169 for about an hour, you’d eventually arrive at the quaint little town of St. Peter, Minnesota. It’s not much of a tourist destination. There’s no more than a handful of stop lights before…
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Last week during Vacation Bible School, we repeatedly sang one of the top five favorite songs among the children and youth of St. Paul. It is a ridiculous and beautiful song called “The Hippo Song.” It tells the story of creation and has some fun act…
As the American public pores over every possible cause for Omar Mateen’s act of evil atrocity at the gay nightclub in Orlando, one label we should not place upon it is, “surprising.” We can debate an ISIS connection, domestic terrorism, or a hate cri…
There is a certain kind of freedom that permeates the air of summer. Maybe it’s because I am able to spend more time outdoors giving my mind the space to wander where it will. To me summer always feels like the perfect time of year to daydream and li…
I’ve watched enough people die over the years to know that nobody can design their own death, even if a few rudely step in to try and engineer it. Yet we all contemplate how our final breath might happen. For me, the most desirous scenario would be t…