There is a haunting passage in Marilynne Robinson’s novel, Jack (2020), the fourth in her quartet of novels revolving around two mid-20th-century families from the

On 9/11 last year I was living in the Hague, Netherlands and serving a congregation founded several decades ago by Reformed Church in America pastors.

One of the great joys of my work at Western Theological Seminary is meeting with students to talk about their writing. Students can send me

Navigating the Complexities and Compassion of Abortion in Hannah Matthews’ You or Someone You Love To say my views on abortion have evolved over the

If people recognize Harriet Beecher Stowe, it is as the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the antislavery classic and the best-selling novel of the 19th

I got Covid last week, and it knocked me right out. Which meant I spent a lot of time on my couch in front of

The late 1950’s were dry years in Lyon County, Iowa where we lived. The summer winds from the south were unusually hot and blustery. The

The title of today’s RJ blog is borrowed from a chapter title in a book of essays by the late Frederick Buechner.  I was reminded

One of my first tastes of freedom was driving a car, alone, with sole control of the radio. It was a manual 1986 Nissan Sentra,