This has been a tough week for self-concept. We’ve begun to understand how thoroughly self-idolatry creeps into so many nooks and crannies of our identity. And perhaps most difficult is the...

This scripture offers some answers to a nagging question: How can self-idolatry ever end? Paul’s rhapsodic exultation about Christ’s love opens the window to a satisfying, lasting remedy: Replace your self-adulation...

Today’s reading is part of a longer narrative that stretches over two days of Jesus’ ministry. Right in the middle of the action we note a significant event—the people want to...

Since this psalm is attributed to David, we may wonder if he composed these lines before he ruined his and others’ lives with adultery and murder. Or did this psalm come...

Raw atheism—“there is no god”—can be an easy target for theists like us. How nice it can be to mow down opponents with verse 1’s wonderful insult! After all, who wants...

In the rite of confession—Confiteor—the admission of guilt is followed by the phrases, “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.” In these words—mea culpa in Latin—the repentant...

David’s sexual dalliance or his murderous plot? There were good reasons to justify himself just like any other self-made person: “I’m in charge here, and I deserve to do what I...

Choosing teams on the playground was the most stressful part of my school day. Read aloud for the class—got it. Recite the “times table” for twelves—got it. Color the picture of...

From tent to Temple: This oft-used cliché captures what is lost and what is gained in moving from provisional to permanent, from flexible to rigid. There is much to gain from...

Binary thinking defines most of our cultural world: black and white, boys and girls, Democrats and Republicans. We fall into believing only two ways of thinking exist and that we must...