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France is a complicated country. Often credited with making the bikini swimsuit a norm for the world’s beaches, France is now clamping down on Muslim women who show up on French beaches wearing burkinis, full-body swimsuits designed to accommodate Is…
When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait for school to start each August. One year, my twin sister and I rehearsed our morning routine for several days before our first day back. We got up early, ate breakfast, packed our lunches, and stood in our front yar…
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you’ve likely heard at least a bit about the Olympic Games currently taking place in Brazil. Or, like me, perhaps you’ve stayed up late each evening, fascinated by the incredible skill and ath…
Race is in the news, and not for the first time in human history. All of us wrestle with, or should at least contemplate, what it means to be clothed in a skin color we did not choose for ourselves. The reason to wrestle is for the sake of gaining de…
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There’s this photograph that I can’t stop thinking about. Photographer Emad Nassar took the picture last summer in Gaza, Palestine. In it, we see Salem Saoody playing with his daughter and niece in all that remains of their war-damaged house – their…
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Europe and America are experiencing a high level of tumult and anxiety in the last 24 months, thanks to a number of deranged people and terrorists who have a killing impulse. Amateur and professional analysts alike wonder if this ugly turn of events…
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In my time in the Quad Cities, I have been trying to keep my eyes peeled for what unites us as residents of this town. What is a common experience we all share, regardless of race or age or class, or education level? I have come to the conclusion it…
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If you ask just about anyone who’s ever tried to learn French, they will tell you: the subjunctive is hard. The subjunctive is not a verb tense – like past, present, or future – it is a mood. Other moods, which we use without thinking, are the indic…
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Goodbyes are always hard. As I near the end of my time at St. Paul, I wasn’t expecting to say goodbye just a year into my residency. I had plans; plans to be here for two years. I had plans; plans to really live into parish ministry and fall in love…
When I joined the St. Paul staff eleven months ago as director of faith formation, I got a lot of quizzical looks. I often had to answer the question, what’s that? The shortest way to answer is to say my job is about learning or Christian education….
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If you were to head south out of Minneapolis along Highway 169 for about an hour, you’d eventually arrive at the quaint little town of St. Peter, Minnesota. It’s not much of a tourist destination. There’s no more than a handful of stop lights before…
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Last week during Vacation Bible School, we repeatedly sang one of the top five favorite songs among the children and youth of St. Paul. It is a ridiculous and beautiful song called “The Hippo Song.” It tells the story of creation and has some fun act…