Shade Tree Theology

My toddler son and wife were playing baseball, and my son hit a ball that subsequently hit my 6 year old daughter in the eye. The ball was soft and plastic, but it hurt my daughter and she immediately began crying. My daughter went to my wife to be comforted and when she did she passed out.  I was getting ready for work and heard my wife screaming for me. When I made it to the living room my daughter was crying in my wife’s arms. My wife explained to me what had happened and then told me she felt like my daughter had a seizure. My daughter was scared and crying but didn’t seem critical.  I made some phone calls to some medical resources and my wife made my daughter an appointment with our pediatrician that morning. While we did all of this my daughter seemed ok, so reluctantly, I went on to work. I was incredibly worried and anxious at work. I alternated between praying, worrying, and making feeble attempts to get anything done at work. I was tracking my wife’s cell phone loca...

From time to time, I'll come across sports like curling or cricket; sports I consider "off-the-wall". I find myself watching for a bit trying to figure out exactly what the goals and components of the game are. I often find these games mildly amusing, but I've never gone beyond novel interest and pursued deeper understanding. Specifically speaking of cricket, I truly have no idea what any of the terminology means, how points are scored, or even remote knowledge of the rules. I basically know there is a guy that rolls a ball to a guy who is holding a fraternity-paddle-looking thing. The frat guy then tries to hit the ball. The other thing that can happen is the ball rolling guy (I think he is called the bowler) can knock over some wooden sticks that sit behind the frat paddler. In retrospect, I think the frat guy may be protecting the sticks, but that is just a shot in the dark.  If I developed a true interest, I'd want to understand the rules of the game, the hist...

When Jesus came to earth, he came as a baby. He could have came as a grown man, as a spirit, or something impossible to understand, but he came as a tiny baby.  Because Jesus was fully God and fully man, he navigated through the entire human experience. He was hungry, he was tired, he was sad, and he made mistakes. Yes, he made mistakes. When Jesus was training to become a carpenter, he undoubtedly made mistakes. Cut things too short, mismeasured angles, made arithmetic errors, and worst of all, he definitely smashed his finger with a hammer.  Though Jesus was without sin, he was not without error. Jesus lived a sinless life, which is the model for our Christian walk. I also contend that because he was born a baby and learned a trade and was taught worldly things that we can make a clear distinction between earthly perfection and holiness. Our successes and failures on earth can fall into spiritual positives or negatives. If we make a bad choice and end up losing money, if we ...

Recently, the Roman Catholic Church laicized Frank Pavone . This basically means Frank Pavone was previously a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, but is no longer. Without getting into who is right or wrong, because I really don't know, I think this case illustrates an important idea. Father Frank Pavone was the director of the pro-life organization Priests for Life. From the outside Father Pavone seemed to be everything the Catholic Church would want in a Priest, but according the Vatican,  Pavone continually bucked the Catholic hierarchical structure and took some of his pro-life positions to the extreme.  In C.S. Lewis' novel "The Great Divorce" a character called Pam, is so stricken by the death of her son Michael, that she puts her grief and misguided love of her son above her love for God. Lewis asserts something as pure as a mother's love for her son can be twisted in such a way it pulls us away from God. In Father Pavone's case, the Roman Catholic Ch...

There are approximately 600 million blogs in the world. There are 31 million active bloggers in the United States alone, and against those staggering numbers you are reading this blog. If you have come here by random chance, welcome. If you have been directed here, welcome as well. What's the purpose of this blog? Chiefly, I wanted somewhere to collect and process my thoughts. I believe writing helps develop more concise, accessible, and critical thought. Writing an introduction to any incomplete work is often a tricky proposition. Generally, a blog is a reflection of the current environment and the current mindset of the blogger (which are both dynamic). The very natures of a dynamic system, such as a blog, should evolve over time to reflect the environmental and personal evolution of the individual.  With an eyes open approach to the possibility of changing scope and direction as needed, I see this blog as a tool to work through my theology, distill my theology, apply my theology...