Lent invites us into a season of self-denial — not for denial’s sake, but for renewal. Through prayer, confession, and the practice of fasting, we clear space in our hearts and habits to see more clearly the God who sustains us. Fasting, in particular, does more than discipline the body; it illuminates the soul. It teaches us something profound not only about ourselves, but about time itself — our past, our present, and our future. As the days of hunger stretch on, they sharpen our spiritual senses. Fasting becomes a teacher. And if we are attentive, it will speak.

(The third article in the Lenten Series on Faith and Politics)In Luke’s account of Christ’s temptation, Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and dares Him to throw Himself down, citing Scripture to suggest that God would surely rescue Him. The enemy’s challenge is clear: prove your identity, force God’s hand, and put Him to the test. Jesus responds with a rebuke, quoting Deuteronomy: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Luke 4:12, Deuteronomy 6:16).Satan’s final taunt i...

(Second Article in the Lenten Series on Faith and Politics)The Wilderness CallingThe wilderness is desperate. It’s not just a barren landscape; it is a state of being. It is loneliness, exposure, and the absence of comfort. It is the place where all illusions of control slip away, where the things we depend on for security are stripped from us, where we are left to face ourselves, our fears, and our faith.No one chooses the wilderness. It is where we are driven, where we find ourselves when exil...

(First Article in the Lenten Series on Faith and Politics)I did not expect my faith to be tested in this way.Over the past ten years, since Donald Trump emerged on the political stage, I have struggled to reconcile the Christianity I was raised with and the Christianity I now see being lived out in public. The values I was taught — humility, integrity, faithfulness, care for the least of these — seem increasingly absent in the political movement that now dominates American evangelicalism.I can s...

If the right no longer believes in the wisdom of the people, then what exactly is it conserving?William F. Buckley Jr. famously quipped that he would rather be governed by the first two thousand names in the Manhattan phone book than by the faculty of Harvard. His reasoning was simple: expertise alone does not confer wisdom, nor does it guarantee good governance. But how far have we fallen that today’s right-wing populists — who once championed the virtue of common sense over technocratic elitis...

Trump and Musk’s attack on USAID is a victory for small government — but at what cost?In 280 BC, King Pyrrhus of Epirus, a highly regarded military commander and hired mercenary, led his forces into Italy at the behest of the Greek city of Tarentum. His campaign was meant to check Rome’s expansion, but it quickly became an exercise in self-destruction. At the Battle of Heraclea, Pyrrhus achieved a narrow victory against the Romans, inflicting heavy losses. However, his own forces — especially hi...

On January 21, 2025, during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington stood at the pulpit and delivered a sermon that would soon ignite a firestorm. Directly addressing President Donald Trump, she called upon him to govern with mercy, to remember the vulnerable, and to show compassion to the marginalized — immigrants, the poor, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those who feared his administration’s policies. Her words we...

So there is a direct correlation between how we as Christians handle the news from the world with how we handle the Good News for the world.

When one turns on the TV, goes online, or logs onto social media, there is little doubt about the presence of hate within our culture. Increasingly, our politics and our discourse are filled with invective and vitriol that used to be reserved for times of war, or maybe Thanksgiving dinners. We have blocked our neighbors and ostracized our families, all because of their politics. Ironically, what we often condemn in others we would be well-advised to avoid in ourselves. As Hermann Hesse, the Nob

I believe that we are not passively watching the redefinition of conservatism, rather we are in an active fight over the definition itself. Political parties maybe soulless, but their underlying ideologies can not afford to be.

The world is once again gripped in apprehension and fear as a new and previously unknown virus has emerged from China. Much like SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, the coronavirus seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Unlike SARS, however, the coronavirus is spreading with greater speed and lethality. China was much criticized in 2003 for failing to react in time and failing to take SARS seriously; 17 years later, they appear determined not to repeat those same mistakes with the coro

Recently, there have been a string of violent attacks against the Jewish community in America. 2019 saw an almost unprecedented increase in hostility toward American Jewry; from a vandalized synagogue in Beverly Hills and a desecrated cemetery in Nebraska, to a series of knife attacks and shootings in New York and New Jersey. In New York alone, in one week, there were nine acts of violence against Jewish people. Long known as one of the few places where it is OK to be a Jew, America is becoming