priest
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Japan, Christianity, and Prayer
For the past two weeks, I’ve been traveling with my wife. We left the kids with my mother-in-law, hopped on the plane in Newark, NJ at 8:00 in the morning, and were in Japan the afternoon of the following day.… Continue reading
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Children, prayer, and song
Today marks the second day of summer break for my kids, and so for two months they will be much more a part of my daily work- and prayer-life. Yesterday, I met a few parishioners at a coffee shop to… Continue reading
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Beginning to Pray (again)
I’ve come to a place in daily prayer where I feel like I’m only just getting started. In a way, this isn’t a surprising feeling. As we go deeper and deeper into a practice (into any kind of practice), we… Continue reading
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The Psalms, anxiety, and spiritual enemies
I’ve never been that good with keeping to Morning Prayer every morning, but I’d like to be. Getting my children ready for school most mornings, however, doesn’t usually lead to a stable schedule of daily prayer. And so, like most… Continue reading
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Giving voice to every creature under heaven
Children live in an enchanted world. I don’t mean this in a sentimental way, though. I don’t mean that children live as if magic were real and that everything shimmers and shines with unicorns and fairies. Children can be realists,… Continue reading
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Sitting in silence with my daughters
Most of my backyard is a steep hill. Outside the back door, there is a short, flat space of maybe twenty or thirty feet, then the land climbs suddenly at a sharp angle. The hillside is covered in trees with… Continue reading
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Creating a literary journal
I’m going to use this week’s post to advertise a project I’ve been working on. Part of me wants to apologize, but I think this project is really cool and I really want to share it with as many people… Continue reading
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How do you write your sermons?
Every now and again, someone asks me about my process for writing sermons. This question usually gets me pretty excited. I studied the creative process in graduate school and seminary, I like thinking about the theology of creativity, and like most… Continue reading
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Holding as prayer
Just before my first daughter was born, a friend gave me a small book called “Holding your baby.” It was a book of prayer and devotions to be read by a parent in the first days of their lives. It… Continue reading
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Writing fiction with the Holy Spirit
This afternoon I came home to find something very exciting waiting for me at my front door: a print copy of my second fiction book. The book is still in draft form and needs a heavy edit, and so I… Continue reading
Incense and Crayons 