I always find it strange when I hear people say that their earliest memory is something like their first Christmas as a baby. Or any sort of insanely early memory from those first few years of life. I was not blessed with that kind of brain. In fact, the very first vivid memory I can […]
From the Morning
I’ve grown to love the morning. Maybe it’s because I stay up all night, so the sunrise to me is sort of like everyone else’s sunset (yeah, still haven’t changed that sleep schedule). Or maybe it’s because it’s the one part of my day where everything still feels fresh. The dew on the grass has […]
What I Believe
I spent most of my life calling myself a Christian. I worked at Christian camps and in a church setting. I earned a Master’s degree from a well-respected seminary. I came close to being an ordained elder and full-fledged member of the Christian clergy. Today, I’m not sure I could consider myself “Christian” in any […]
Wind Chimes
the wind chimes never stop dancing, not even when the wind grows still and the sun beats down its command to the earth that all must obey in reverence to the humid sigh: that’s when they dance defiant and one swift clang will resonate cutting through the bright murk as if to sing, I am […]
Making Kin, or why every family must adopt
If you were to ask folks how you go about creating a family, the most common answer would almost certainly have something to do with marriage and sex. Sure, there are other ways to start a family, like adoption, but given that adoptions only account for between 2-4% of American families today, it’s no surprise […]
Science Vs. Religion
It seems like everywhere in our culture today, people more and more believe that science and religion are in some eternal struggle. If it’s not the Christian touting a 6,000 year-old earth and denying evolution as the devil’s work, then it’s the anti-theist screaming that there’s no such thing as talking snakes, that the Bible […]
Challenging Assumptions About the Modern Arab Myth: an Exploration of Moroccan Cultures and Traditions
Earlier this month, I gave a lecture to a group of United Methodist Men (and later to a local Rotary Club) about my experience with the Peace Corps. I am publishing that lecture here with only a few edits. I have also spliced in Wikipedia links every here and there. Please don’t regard those links […]
How the Gay Marriage Debate Reveals Negative Attitudes toward the Adopted
There’s an article on the front page of CNN today, an opinion piece, that defends traditional marriage. Because it would violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause to do so, the argument – like the one that will be heard before the Supreme Court soon – is void of any religious language. Even if conservative Christianity […]
Some Thoughts on Reverse Culture Shock after Being Gone for Two Years
So, I know you’re all wondering what it’s like being back. I’ll do my best to explain it briefly. In a nutshell, it’s this strange sensation that makes you feel like you never actually left. But there’s this huge gap in your head and, to a lesser degree, your body that makes you feel like […]
Home.
I have so much crap. Like, seriously, why do I have so many t-shirts? So, yeah, my parents and sister picked me up yesterday in Nashville. Our first stop? The Bi-Centennial Mall, where I bought some Chinese Gun Powder tea so I can make Moroccan tea (cause yeah, they just buy the Chinese stuff). Then, […]
