Part of what comes with moving across the world is the acquiring of new traditions. For instance, just as the language is slightly different, so are the holidays. There is certainly no Independence Day on 4th of July, but England does have its own “Bonfire Night” or “Guy Fawkes day” which conversely memorializes the failure…
I’m not sure about you, but I’m not a fan of holiday shopping. I either do it early in-person or do it all online. When I do give gifts, I can tell the recipients that I’ve been planning all year! In all honesty, it’s somewhat true because in my mind, a snapshot of previous year’s…
Let the one who has ears to hear, hear; and the one who has the power to act, act. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say ‘thoughts and prayers’ but do not have works? Can ‘thoughts and prayers’ save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of…
Three years ago today, I envisioned that 2018 would consist of finishing a Master’s degree and beginning a Ph.D. program in Theology and Christian Ethics en route to becoming a professor of Christian Ethics at a prestigious university’s divinity school. Two months ago, I envisioned that 2018 and the few years following would consist of a…
FREDRIKSEN, Paula. Paul: The Pagan’s Apostle. Yale: Yale University Press, 2017. pp. 336. $44.27 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-0300225884. “Something is going on in Pauline studies.” So writes Paula Fredriksen in the closing pages of her recently published Paul: The Pagan’s Apostle. By “something” (italics hers), she refers predominantly to the emerging “Paul Within Judaism” school that renders “another…
My Valentine’s day was slightly out of the ordinary. My girlfriend scheduled an oil change by accident and we ended up spending Valentine’s day at the Toyota dealership and Dunkin’ Donuts. Afterwards, we went to our evening classes. My Professor threw confetti at me and gave me candy when I read ἀγάπη. It was a…
A few days ago, I was watching the fascinating sport of curling during the Winter Olympics. I’ve never really watched curling before, and it is still a strange sport for me to try to understand. One person takes the stone and throws it across the ice, and then others use brooms (?) to sweep the…
Lent always seems to sneak up on me. As someone who really tries to intentionally observe the Lenten season, I hate feeling rushed to come up with “what I’m doing for Lent.” Furthermore, it has been my general observation that those hurried Lenten commitments made without prayer or much reflection tend to be a bit…
We all know at least one perfectionist. They might reside in your home, at your workplace, or in your school. They might be the friend who plans things far in advance (how can they schedule a coffee date 3 months away?). The devil, or the salvation of the world, is in the details over which…
In my quest to explore the background of Philo of Alexandria’s thoughts on education, I came across one of the most influential individuals to every write on the subject, Plato. Philo was a notorious propagator of Platonic thought. In fact, many scholars consider the Jewish theologian one of the most essential voices of what has been referred…