Life of Faith
A theology of ghosts
My sister talks to our dead mother. I am happy they both stand in the presence of love.
Can dead things live again?
When the widow in Luke 7 sees her son revived, she isn’t thinking about biology.
Horror movie mom
When I watch a mother slay a monster and hustle her kids to safety, it never fails to satisfy.
Resisting as a way of life
For Kaitlin Curtice, resistance is no mere buzzword—it’s a mighty calling.
How we can and can’t help
When my household took in some Ukrainian refugees, we had no idea how their story would end.
Migration through a child’s eyes
Javier Zamora’s memoir chronicles the harrowing solo journey he made from El Salvador to the US at age nine.
Listening to—and translating—the voices of asylum seekers
In Alejandra Oliva’s new memoir, she describes how her body becomes an archive of migrants’ stories.
An unlettered theologian
Nancy Koester’s biography captures the remarkable ministry of Sojourner Truth, who could not read or write.
Episode 32: Robert P. Jones, author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy
A conversation with Robert P. Jones about the Doctrine of Discovery, the 1920 lynching of three Black men, the entitlement behind European chosenness, and more
Soul-altering substances
What implications does the psychedelic renaissance have for faith and spirituality?
Catharsis at church
The book of Ezra helped me realize how bad most congregations are at handling big emotions.
The brine of Christianity
I don’t go to church anymore, but the faith I was pickled in still shapes me.
Anorexia in the communion line
As I stealthily slipped the body of Christ into my pocket, I prayed that no one was watching.
As a pastor, it’s my job to pay attention
In the Mennonite tradition, we are all priests. But I still have a particular role to play.
Prayers rising past the immanent frame
Charles Taylor helps me understand my church’s architecture—and my own struggles with faith.
My retirement to-do list
Several times a day I need to tell myself: I am not busy. I am not in a hurry.
Earth martyrs
Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo makes readers question the depth of their own commitment to righteousness.
A poet’s truth at the graveside
At the interment, the holy words I needed to hear weren’t from the Bible.
September 3, Ordinary 22A (Exodus 3:1–15)
We see what we focus on—and what we focus on determines what we do not see.