The lead-up to our wedding day felt appropriately chaotic. Two days before we were slated to tie the knot, a "once-in-a-century" storm blew in and flooded the quaint forest wedding venue we had chosen to get married at before we were even engaged. The rain fell in thick torrents all day, submerging streets and burying…
Continue reading ➞ Reflections On Sex, Vulnerability, and Spirituality After Five Years of Marriage
A few weeks into the new year, I found out I was being let go from my job. This wasn't the way I thought the year was supposed to go. Our third year of marriage was primed to be "The One Where They Buy a House." In fact, Shannon and I were set to meet…
Here it goes again. You're at home, or work, or out with friends. And then someone, a family member, co-worker, an acquaintance, makes a comment about a current event or a particular social issue. Maybe it's intolerant, ill-informed, hopelessly biased, or downright degrading, but nonetheless, you can't let it go. So, you open your mouth…
Continue reading ➞ How To Have Hard Conversations (and Maybe Save the World)
We tend to fight when we travel. Which is unfortunate, because we really like to travel. I don't know if it's the accumulated stresses of hurtling through the sky in an aluminum tube at 28,000 feet, navigating the wonders of baggage claim, driving in an unfamiliar city, or simply finding a place where my gluten and…
Continue reading ➞ More Thoughts on Sex, Vulnerability, and Spirituality After Two Years of Marriage
The religious landscape of the United States is undergoing a massive cultural shift. In September 2017, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released the "single largest survey of American religious and denominational identity ever conducted." According to the study, in America: 43% self-identify as "white and Christian," compared to 81% in 1976. 24% self-identify as…
Continue reading ➞ The Future of Religion, or Why Church Needs to Change
Trigger Warning: The following article contains graphic sexual content and intense depictions of sexual abuse. Reader discretion is strongly advised. However, none of the hyperlinked text links out to pornographic websites. In January 2017, PornHub - one of the largest online porn sites - released its annual Year In Review statistics. In 2016, PornHub used…
Continue reading ➞ Skin in the Game: The Feminist Case Against Pornography
It's been a year since I've become one flesh with my wife. We married in a muggy parlor room in a historic home surrounded by friends and family after our wedding venue was flooded by a torrential downpour the day before our wedding. "And the two became one flesh" is one of the Bible's favorite…
Continue reading ➞ Thoughts on Sex, Vulnerability, and Spirituality After a Year of Marriage
Despite near-limitless opportunities for connectivity, millennials are finding themselves in a world of increasingly dire social isolation. Popular television shows like Friends, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and New Girl depict modern urban life as an endless parade of zany misadventures, unannounced visitors, and group hangouts. No one is ever bored. No…
Continue reading ➞ Love at the Table: The Gift of Hospitality in an Era of Isolation
In a bare, windowless room, you are told to sit down in a chair hooked up to a strange device. Moments before entering the room, one of the researchers confiscated your phone and handed you a remote control. You are given a simple instruction: Stay seated for fifteen minutes and think. However, at any time,…
One of the greatest crises facing my generation today is our aversion to authenticity. Which is odd considering how much time we spend talking about ourselves. At no point in history do we have as much control over the image we present to the world than we do now. But more often than not, that…
Instrument of Mercy 