Say the name “Norman Rockwell,” and immediately iconic images of vintage Americana spring to mind. His paintings for Boy Scouts of America and for the covers of the Saturday Evening Post all portray a vision of American life that we…
Reflections on the rising student debt: A Latina Christian perspective
Recently I was reminded through different conversations about the issue of student debt. The first two conversations were related to ministerial students (bachelor’s and master’s levels) who are acquiring significant debt to obtain an education. The concern relates to the…
Atrocious saints
“A democratic autocrat. An urbane savage. An atrocious saint.” That’s how biographer James Patton described Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States of America. In seeking to write the first scholarly biography of the native Tennessean, Parton felt like…
100K race a reflection of self
We’d listened to everyone gathering at the starting area and we could hear the voices over the announcement speaker giving instructions to all the runners on the cold morning when I stepped out of the camper I had rented for…
Forever Changed #18: the journey home
This is my last writing to you as I will be replaced this week and begin to transition home. I have been trying to figure out what to write on this last report. So here goes… As I reflect on…
The niche word
Current wisdom for many professions is to find a niche market and focus. You can’t just write about travel. You have to write about gay travel or traveling as a handicapped person or travel in the Florida Keys or travel…
Forever Changed #17: How to pray during mortar attacks
As of Monday I took over Patriot Details for the next week. No sooner did I take over responsibility than I was called. After I got back from that Patriot Detail, I was told there will be more coming up…
Forever Changed #16: Religion v. spirituality in the war zone
One thing I have learned in Iraq is maybe another rendition of the age old adage – there are no atheists in foxholes. Or it could just be the way chaplains try to negotiate the pluralistic world we live in….
Mary’s baby bump: a divine scandal?
Every year preachers try to make the Christmas story anew. How do you tell the same story in a different way? One angle that many try to stay away from is on Mary’s “situation”: an unwed mother who is pregnant. …