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Author Archives: awtraughber
How the Mind Matters
The third component of the Old Testament Great Commandment is loving God with all of your mind. As a teacher, I’d like to think that I think about thinking a lot. Hopefully I’ve gotten a little better at it over … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, Scripture
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Virtue is the Signal
One of the interesting things about Kevin Vanhoozer’s “The Drama of Discipleship” essay in his Pictures at a Theological Exhibition collection is in how well it spirals. In this case, spiraling is a good thing: it’s a pedagogical method where … Continue reading
Love and the Story
The big question that goes unasked but is answered all of the time in churches throughout history is this: what do we do with Jesus? I say unasked because our practices have often been “locked in” for some time. That … Continue reading
“Loving the Truth We Speak”
One thing the last 18 months of life and work have shown me is my need for wisdom. Wisdom that is both deeper and wider than general life advice (though it would probably get there eventually). But wisdom, it turns … Continue reading
Res(e)t
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything particularly personal here, including any updates on the “temporary vocational stretch” that I’ve had the opportunity to have over the last 18 months. The stretch continues, of course. I still assert that … Continue reading
A Song from the Painted Desert
The second semester of the year is about to begin, which means that Christmas break is turning into some early January chaos. Lots of things to take care of, for sure. Here’s a recording of Andrew Osenga’s “Give Up” from … Continue reading
Bringing It All Together
I’m giving a “professional development” talk at work tomorrow. Here’s my content: I really hope things blend together well . . .
Posted in Books, Faith, Movies, Teaching
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“The Story We Carry in Our Bones”
One of my “best moments” in 2018 was the opportunity I had in the summer to “hang out” with James K. A. Smith for a while. Not long, mind you, as there were a few dozen other people at Laity … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, Life in the Fifth Act
Tagged Habits, James K A Smith, You Are What You Love
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“We Want to Play the Music”
As the year comes to an end, I find myself with a short stack of articles and essays that I never quite got around to writing about here. One of them was yesterday’s question of religious language through Jonathan Merritt’s … Continue reading
The Question of Religious Language
Let’s start with the classic Peanuts strip that ran at gocomics.com on Christmas day: Most of us, I think, would relate a bit more with Charlie Brown, who understands the Christmas story primarily through the main images of the gospels. … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Friendship, Life in the Fifth Act, Teaching
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Space Enough, and Time 