I’ve moved to Chicago… but I’m still writing, taking pictures, and reflecting on the place where I live. If you’d like to follow me via my new blog, here is the link: Diary of a Downtown Priest You can sign up to receive the new blog posts by email by clicking “Follow this blog” at […]
Farewell to Bolingbrook 
May 23, 2016 by
In a week, the moving truck will come and a crew of Chicago bruisers will load all our earthly belongings into a truck or two and haul it into the city. We’ll leave behind a bed of ripening strawberries, a renovated bathroom that still flutters my heart, a wheelbarrow, four kinds of iris, rampant mint, […]
The Suburbs: What I’ll Miss
May 5, 2016 by
There are many things I will love about living in Chicago again. But as I am preparing to leave Bolingbrook, I’m focusing on saying goodbye to the things I’ve loved about this place. What will I miss? Plenty of things. Wide open spaces – cornfields, soccer fields, parking lots, no buildings over 3 stories, vistas across […]
Leaving Bolingbrook
April 8, 2016 by
Last fall, I became “Rector” instead of “Vicar” of St. Benedict, but I left this blog title in place for artistic reasons. This spring, I am bidding a fond farewell to The Church of St. Benedict and Bolingbrook, but now I’ll really need to change the title. And the whole focus, really. I wasn’t looking for a new position, but […]
Mildew and Mystery
April 7, 2016 by
This is the view from a third story window in the church where I grew up. I went to a funeral there a few weeks ago. It was the first time I’d been back in years. I got there early and decided to walk around a bit, up and down the stairs and halls. It was like walking around […]
Holy Week: Dog Walk
March 23, 2016 by
Early spring is tough. A parishioner once said to me that it is an ugly time of year because it’s about “shaking off death.” Holy Week falls into this space, easily. Bare. Ugly. Broken. Bleak. For all that subdivisions were designed to be ideal places to live, there is a haunting, lonely look about them. They match the spareness of […]
Calling God “Mother”
March 8, 2016 by
In college, I learned to call God, “Mother.” I didn’t stop using “Father,” “Spirit,” “Christ,” or one of my favorites from St. Francis, “Brother Jesus.” A few times, I tried to call God “Sophia,” which is the Greek for “wisdom” and can be seen vividly in Proverbs 1, 3, and 8. But “Mother” felt more natural for me. The two predominant names for God in […]
On “Aloha”
March 6, 2016 by
Adam and I just got back from 9 days in Hawaii. It was… amazing. We stayed on the remote side of Maui in a rustic little cottage with an outdoor shower, propane fridge and cooktop, cold water sink, and just three tiny LED lights. A compost toilet was down the path, with separate seats for #1 and […]
Book Review: Two Manuals for Dying
February 16, 2016 by
I wrote a review for The Christian Century of two companion books on dying by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, a professor of medical humanities at UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. Her two books are both beautiful and uncomfortably practical guides to facing an approaching death – your own, or that of someone you love. Here’s an excerpt from […]
Ashes To Go: In The Joliet Herald-News
February 11, 2016 by
St. Benedict and I were in the Joliet Herald-News for offering “Ashes to Go” for the fourth year yesterday, Ash Wednesday. I was glad to work with the reporter and photographer – they “got” what we were doing and did a wonderful job capturing the day. Donna Ialongo, our Priest Associate, and I got to […]
