Before applying to graduate school at the age of 30, I had spent almost eight years playing a lot of (relatively) high stakes poker. (I hesitate to publish this post—it reveals my youthful immaturity and recklessness. But at the urging of my son-in-law, I’ll publish it nonetheless.) Here is the story of my youthful playing poker. Continue reading Playing Poker →

British calendar, 1851, Metropolitan Museum of Art

There are many thoughts that pass through my mind in the course of a day or week.  Many necessitate a book-length analysis to do justice to them, but that I won’t do! Instead, let me briefly mention a few of the things that I have recently pondered. Continue reading Personal Reflections at the end of 2019 →

The above provides an allegory for throwing off religious crutches.

My last post reviewed Lewis Vaughn’s autobiographical, Star Map: A Journey of Faith, Doubt, and Meaning. Vaughn’s book describes his severe Southern Baptist upbringing, the doubts about religion that subsequently set in, Continue reading Outgrowing Religion →

My Biography

CHILDHOOD AND PARENTS

My earliest memories are vivid and illicit nostalgia: the aroma of baked goods from my mother’s kitchen, a large cottonwood tree in our backyard, the smell of burning leaves in the fall, the glow of a real fireplace, sledding down the hills at the golf course up the street in the winter, and spring … when one could play baseball again. Continue reading My Biography →

Thirty-four years ago today my wife and I welcomed a beautiful, first-born, child into the world. Continue reading Children →