Category Archives: Life in the Fifth Act

“The Story We Carry in Our Bones”

Posted on January 2, 2019 by

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 →

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“We Want to Play the Music”

Posted on December 30, 2018 by

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 →

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The Question of Religious Language

Posted on December 29, 2018 by

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 →

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Reflecting on John

Posted on December 27, 2018 by

Today many Christians around the world spent time reflecting on the life of John the Evangelist, the apostle who penned a gospel and three letters found in the New Testament.  John is a fascinating figure on multiple levels, particularly with … Continue reading →

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A Turn of the Calendar Page

Posted on May 21, 2018 by

Yesterday marked the end of the Easter season.  A week and a half after marking the ascension of Jesus, the church celebrates the day of Pentecost, a commemoration of the birth of the church through the presence of the Holy … Continue reading →

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The Good Friday “Therefore”

Posted on April 14, 2017 by

Today’s lectionary reading from the New Testament was one I should’ve seen coming.  Beyond the account of Abraham and Isaac and the suffering servant of Isaiah and the crucifixion scene from John we are given a chuck from the New … Continue reading →

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Not Perfect Apart from Us

Posted on January 4, 2017 by

When it’s time to start talking about “life in the fifth act” with my students, I often use Hebrews 11-12 as my starting point (which is why it’s neat that the passage is the New Testament epistle reading for the … Continue reading →

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