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While in the West Bank I had the incredible opportunity to meet up with one of my dear friends who I made while studying at The Ecumenical Institute for the World Council of Churches at Bossey in Switzerland. Ashraf Tannous is now a Lutheran pastor and headmaster of sorts at the Evangelical Lutheran Church and…

As a former Episcopalian with great affection for Anglicanism, I’m taking a little break from our regular Tuesday and Thursday series on holy space with photojournalist Katie Archibald-Woodward to get on my soap box and give thanks for yesterday’s overwhelming support shown yesterday by the Church of England’s General Synod in favor of the ordination…

I can’t connect here. The “site” of your birth is just a shrine to me. It’s hard for me to come and give thanks to you here. I find I just come to consume, to get my picture and go. It makes me feel terrible. For more reflection, see Katie’s blog.

The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is in Baltimore this year: at this time last year I was courting publishers for Grace Sticks; this time I’ll be working on a publicity plan for the book. In the meantime, here is a short interview with yours truly that publicist Caitlin Mackenzie (Wipf and Stock) helped put…

Today’s musical mental health break is the official video for “Reflektor,” this thanks to fellow saint and sinner Paul (a.k.a. “hubby”). In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, lead singer Win Butler shared that the nineteenth century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard was actually the inspiration for the song; and, if you listen closely to the…

Today is a unique day in Jerusalem, especially around the Western Wall.  It’s a Thursday, and, as Andre our guide explains to us, on Monday’s and Thursday’s bar mitzvahs are celebrated.  As we walk to the wall we witness parade after parade heading in the same direction. Families and friends stroll with a slight skip…

[Note to readers: if you have trouble with potty humor, you probably won’t want to read this.] So there we are at the “Blue Heron Nature Preserve” on a crisp fall afternoon, my kids and I taking in the best of the rustic outdoors that downtown Buckhead Atlanta has to offer. No blue herons in…

Today is known as “Bicycle Day”, at least around Jerusalem.  You may be familiar with it too, but under its more familiar name, Yom Kippur—the Jewish holy day of Atonement. For more reflections on the Via Dolorosa, see Katie’s blog. Got a holy moment or space to share from your own story? Send it along…

To many Jericho may appear to be just another bustling Arab town. However, a few words into its history and one becomes aware of a rich gem.  Though a well-established city today, it was only about 50 acres during the time of the Old Testament leader, Joshua, when he and the Israelites came in and…

The Jordan River, like many of the sites I’ve visited in the Holy Land and have yet to visit, is hard to connect with.  We don’t know where exactly along the Jordan River Jesus was baptized and the churches and monuments rarely help me imagine and make a connection with “this” site being “the” site.…
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