Exploring the intersection of sacred and secular. One reason my faith has become so politically outspoken owes to the attention the hardline conservatives get from the media, which leads people to believe that this is the most active form of Christianity in the nation. It’s popularity isn’t because this movement represents Jesus as much as…

Exploring the intersection of sacred and secular. [This is adapted from a larger article by the same name, which you can find here.] A Voice from Beyond I still hear his voice in my head when I think of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Clem. It was deep, rich, and welcoming. Clem graduated from Lutheran…

Exploring the intersection of sacred and secular. What a Drag In a moment of tension at the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1985, Freddie Mercury wrote the anthemic I Want to Break Free about his determination to live as his own complicated self.  Nah, I’m kidding. That’s what I thought too,…

Exploring the intersection of sacred and secular. The past year has been brutal. From the loss of my father to professional reinvention, the joys and perils of parenting, and all of it going on while it feels like the world is on fire and everything is fire, just brutal. This past year has been…

Exploring the intersection of sacred and secular. I worked  for my parents’ electrical service company in college. That knowledge has proved most valuable over the years, but not always how I expected.  My brother’s friend from high school, Brian, also worked for my parents, in the office as tech support and as a general…

Seeking Shelter is a column that invites deeper thoughts about the meaning of it all by exploring the nexus of life and faith. In honor of a habemusing a papam, I want to take us back — back to an iconic moment in 1999, when New Jersey’s Cardinal Glick introduced the Catholicism WOW! campaign.…