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Author Archives: awtraughber
In the Backpack
Frederick Buechner starts The Alphabet of Grace, his theological “slice of life” book, with this wonderfully true assertion: At its heart most theology, like most fiction, is essentially autobiographical. Aquinas, Calvin, Barth, Tillich, working out their systems in their own … Continue reading
To the Funny Pages!
The folks over at gocomics.com recently posted one of my all-time favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips. A little bit of optimism, a little but of realism. And speaking of realism, here’s a recent reprint Peanuts strip with Peppermint Patty’s take … Continue reading
Posted in Comics
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AI, Two Birds, One Stone
It’s unfortunate how deeply and how quickly AI has changed the landscape of teaching. It’s easier to use and necessary to look for when interacting with student work. And it’s something that we’re all still learning about but with hard … Continue reading
Anselm on Teaching, Seeking, Desiring
We introduce Anselm and his version of the ontological argument for God’s existence relatively early in our junior Bible class. Sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn’t; we consider it as much because it was the first of its kind as … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Commonplace Book, Faith, Teaching
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“The True Thing About Restaurants”
Hulu just dropped the fourth-season trailer for The Bear, the show that makes your blood pressure sky-rocket just by mentioning it. As good as it was, I felt like the show’s third season was holding back a little bit, so … Continue reading
Posted in Television
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Sunday’s Best: Asking, Seeking, Knocking
This morning’s Gospel reading includes one of those “tricky”passages from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount about prayer. From biblegateway.com: 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. … Continue reading
Posted in Scripture
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The Good Shepherd (and a quick word on 49)
This past Sunday, many churches celebrated Mother’s Day. Other churches also commemorated “Good Shepherd Sunday,” which is celebrated every fourth Sunday of Easter. The key text for the day is John 10, where Jesus says: 11 “I am the good shepherd. … Continue reading
Posted in Church, Faith, Holidays, Scripture, The Long Story
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“Eyes Up Here”
So far, summer movie season has been something of a slow burn for me. Thunderbolts* really was an enjoyable movie, was a perfect picture of an underdog story, really. The tone and scope were right, the humor was well-balanced thanks … Continue reading
“Where There’s a Will . . .”
We’re just over three months into the “Desert Fathers in a Year” series. So far, my favorite saying comes from the section on hesychia, which relates to the idea of deep peace. The saying comes from Abba Arsenius: Abba Mark … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Friendship, Scripture, Teaching
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Closer to Home
We’re getting closer to the July release of the new Superman movie. The team behind the movie released an extended look at the movie that adds more to the Krypto “take me home” scene. Krypto is definitely a dog . … Continue reading
Space Enough, and Time 