Christian discipleship is made more difficult when people imbibe the notion that God wants us happy, healthy, and wealthy. As a result, when things go awry, as they inevitably do, people often experience a crisis of faith for which they could have been far better prepared if their expectations had been set properly from the […]
hope
The Last Visit with Dad
My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease on a rainy afternoon in December 2017. Afterward, we went out for lunch to a restaurant downtown. Dad got confused and thought we were in Mexico. “Wow,” I joked, “It’s a lot cheaper to go on vacation when you have Alzheimer’s!” Gallows humor is a dark and welcome […]
Heaven, hope, and my dad’s eightieth birthday
Back in 1980 I purchased my first record: The Who’s “Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy”. Sure, the title is weird (surpassed only by REO Speedwagon’s “You Can Tune a Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish” in sheer badness), but still, I loved that album. Among the many memorable lyrics, one particular phrase stuck in my mind: “I hope […]
Thoughts on universalism and hope (a response to Nate)
Back in early February I wrote a response to Nate — one of our resident academic philosophers — and his critique of greater goods theodicy. (See “Is God a user? A response to Nate’s Principle“.) Nate offered a reply a few days later but with the flurry of activity it was never properly responded to. […]
Will love win in Newtown? Reflections on an unspeakable tragedy
It has been said that we’re all separated by a maximum of six degrees of introduction from every other person on this globe. In the case of the Newtown tragedy, I’m separated by but two steps. My mother knows Rob Charach, the principal of Linden Christian School in Winnipeg, MB. And Linden is the school that was […]
