I am thrilled to say that our new book is finally out, Ancient Readers and Their Scriptures: Engaging the Hebrew Bible in Early Judaism and Christianity. The book was published by Brill just a few weeks ago and will be on display just in time for the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature beginning this weekend in Denver, Colorado. The book appears as volume 107 in the Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity series, and we couldn’t be more excited! […]
The time was almost ten years ago precisely. Maybe you remember the shocking video I was watching. On my screen was Sarah Palin (in one of her many regrettable public moments), conducting an outdoor interview about pardoning turkeys, casually sipping her coffee, while two turkeys were being strangled to death behind her. I have neither the heart nor stomach to post the video—it isn’t hard to find on your own if you’re so-inclined. The point […]
This past week, I had a few conversations with people who have recently lost loved ones or communities. Grief is always a difficult thing to talk about. The loss of a person who is dear to someone’s life or a loss of a community due to moving or other circumstances is so deeply painful. Our fast-paced modern-day culture often does not give space for grief as we can so easily distract ourselves from facing these […]
If there’s anything I’ve been habitually bad at, it’s resting. This has always seemed full of irony to me, given that I’m a Biblical Studies student. All over Scripture is talking of rest, not violating the Sabbath, looking forward to the true Sabbath, and basically a whole lot about learning that the world doesn’t depend on us, and that taking a break is necessary. Nonetheless, I’ve always caught myself inside of a catch-22: if I […]
Do I still like Kanye? Sure, maybe, idk. It’s Kanye season once again, and every new interview I watch only makes me more confused. Do I like Kanye or do I hate him? You probably already know your answer. He’s a polarizing figure that makes crowds salivate at any chance of absurd drama or brand new music. He’s a household name for many different reasons, but I didn’t expect for him to become a Whitehouse-hold […]
In a 2009 interview with Rebecca Painter, Marilynne Robinson responded to the question of loneliness in the religious life saying: “I am not sure religion is meant to assuage loneliness. Who was ever lonelier than Jesus? ‘Can you not watch with me one hour?’ I think loneliness is the encounter with oneself—who can be great or terrible company, but who does ask all the essential questions. There is a tendency to think of loneliness as […]
This past Sunday morning I took part in my first organized run; I ran the 10 mile in the Twin Cities Marathon. I had done the Tough Mudder back in 2012, but I hadn’t properly prepared for that and when you’re all covered in mud and queueing up for obstacles it just makes the run easier. I would say that Sunday’s run was really my first proper “run,” and somehow I thoroughly enjoyed it. The […]
As I sat in a hospital’s cafeteria waiting for a ride home, an older person came to talk to me. After the initial chat was out of the way, he proceeded to tell me that I would go to jail for stealing. In jail, all the other women will pull my hair and fight against me. If this wasn’t enough he said that a second neighboring jail full of women, they would come and fight […]
My life is a series of ridiculous, over the top, unlikely stories. I’ve confronted a neighbor on meth whose reply to me was, “The shadow people are coming.” As a kid, I was chased down by a teenager in a car who, in his own words, was hell-bent on killing us. The first time I ever got into college happened because several people decided to donate a total of about $12,000. I have an uncanny […]
Self-mastery, ordered love, and self-examination are key elements to a life of character and virtue. In this post, I will unpack the myths and kernels of truth in each of these elements. Self-Mastery Self-Mastery is not akin to “finding oneself.” I heard a story of a young woman who was headed to medical school but deviated to live in Israel in a commune to “find herself” before she began at the institution. This is ridiculous but […]
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