Unemployed Theologian

'My pastor, Veronica, one Sunday told the story of a sparrow lying in the street with its legs straight up in the air, sweating a little under its feathery arms. A warhorse walks up to the bird and asks, "What on earth are you doing?" The sparrow replies, "I heard the sky was falling, and I wanted to help." The horse laughs a big, loud, sneering horse laugh, and says, "Do you really think you're going to hold back the sky, with those scrawny little legs?" And the sparrow says, "One does what one can."' ~ Anne Lamott, Stitches Hope is a funny thing. You don't realize you need it until you suddenly find yourself without it. It's intangible, almost metaphysical, yet quantifiably necessary for survival. Scripture implores us to abide in it, reminds us of its utter importance (second only to love and tied with faith), yet counterintuitively does not seem to provide much definition for it. And in a season when life seems inte...

Last year I spent a lot of time writing about Advent, and the experience turned out to be deeply meaningful, so this year I decided to take a crack at Lent. Another season of the year devoted to austere reflection in anticipation of a coming hope. Lent, like Advent, is one of those traditions mostly foreign to my people (white Evangelical Protestants). As I mentioned when reflecting on Advent, we Evangelicals largely tend to ignore the Church Calendar because it seems ritualistic, archaic, perhaps a bit spooky. We get weirded out by it. But that's on us, not on our brothers and sisters who remember and retain the beautiful, historic practices of the Calendar, who recognize that ritual can engage the head, hands and heart in service of God. Granted, mere ritual cannot replace personal communion with God via prayer or devotional reading, but I see no reason to throw the baby out with the holy water. Just as Advent commemorates the Jews' period of waiting for their Messiah, Le...