Category Archives: Faith

Communion, Community, and the Soul

Posted on July 14, 2025 by awtraughber

I’d like to spend a few posts this week reflecting on Curt Thompson’s The Soul of Desire, a book I mostly read while in Tennessee this summer.  I’d like to start with a few quotes and three points of to … Continue reading →

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Summer Reading: The Soul of Desire (part one)

Posted on July 11, 2025 by awtraughber

One book I was able to finish before starting my summer mainland trip was Curt Thompson’s Anatomy of the Soul.  I did not intend to read his The Soul of Desire this summer, too, but it’s what I found myself … Continue reading →

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Summer Reading: Fountain of Salvation

Posted on July 10, 2025 by awtraughber

One of the books that I finished reading during my summer retreat was Fountain of Salvation by Fred Sanders.  Unlike The Deep Things of God, Sanders’s other recent book on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, Fountain of Salvation is … Continue reading →

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In the Backpack

Posted on June 3, 2025 by awtraughber

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 →

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Anselm on Teaching, Seeking, Desiring

Posted on May 30, 2025 by awtraughber

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 →

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The Good Shepherd (and a quick word on 49)

Posted on May 15, 2025 by awtraughber

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 →

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“Where There’s a Will . . .”

Posted on April 9, 2025 by awtraughber

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 →

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The End of Break (and a turn in the road)

Posted on March 29, 2025 by awtraughber

And just like that, spring break has come to an end.  For all intents and purposes, the turn of the calendar from Saturday to Sunday brings with it a change in disposition, of direction, when conversations and thoughts turn in … Continue reading →

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A Song for the Season

Posted on March 5, 2025 by awtraughber

Marked on the front end with Ash Wednesday, the season of Lent begins today.  Here’s a recent song by Andrew Osenga that captures today (and everyday) wonderfully.

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Loose Ends at Lent

Posted on March 3, 2025 by awtraughber

It won’t be long until Ash Wednesday begins a new Lenten season.  And while deep roots for neither of these moments exist in my own tradition, I am grateful for the opportunity they supply for both reflection and action.  And, … Continue reading →

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