Faith & Spirituality
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When We Mistake Theology for Politics
The Headline That Says More Than It Appears To Some news headlines appear straightforward until we begin asking what assumptions lie beneath them. Recently, I came across reports that a Protestant organization in Japan had reaffirmed its hope that the emperor system would one day come to an end. The statement attracted attention because it…
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The Ways We Come to Know
A Book We Have Not Read A book called How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read immediately creates a small moral crisis. The title sounds like permission to bluff. It seems to promise a method for surviving literary conversations without doing the necessary work. Perhaps we can learn a few names, memorize several opinions,…
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The Seed That Awaits Us
A Small Image With a Long Future When Jesus wished to speak about the Word of God, He chose the image of a seed. It was an ordinary object, familiar to anyone who lived close to the land. A seed could be carried in the hand, scattered almost without effort, and easily overlooked after it…
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When Criticism Becomes a Crowd
Media, Moral Certainty, and the Recovery of Judgment The Leader Who Said She Would Work When Sanae Takaichi was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party on October 4, 2025, she spoke about the amount of work waiting before her. There were many policies that had to be implemented quickly, she said, and the party…
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A Day’s Work and a Lifetime of Labor
Before Dawn in Kamagasaki When I was a university student in Japan, I once worked as a construction laborer for a day. I did not take the job because I needed the money. It was part of an activity organized by the youth group of the Christian church to which I belonged at the time.…
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The Courage That Comes from Above
The Fathers Who Came Forward My wife and I attended Sunday Mass on Father’s Day. Near the conclusion of the celebration, all the fathers were invited to come forward for a special prayer and blessing. They gathered near the altar and received a card bearing the image of Saint Joseph, together with words of encouragement…
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When the Christian Disappears
The Self That Survives Its Own Surrender A rich man once approached Jesus and asked what he still lacked. He had obeyed the commandments and lived according to the moral expectations of his faith. He was not asking how to begin. He believed that he had already done nearly everything required of him, yet he…
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From Self-Help to Selfless Help
The Ancient Attraction of Numbered Wisdom Modern readers are surrounded by numbered advice. Five habits for happiness, six principles for success, seven ways to become more productive, ten lessons for a better life. The format is so familiar that we rarely stop to ask why it remains effective. A numbered list gives visible form to…
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The Question Behind the Question
Remembering Dr. Lee, Kant, and the Attitude of Philosophizing A Teacher Who Remains in the Question The passing of a teacher often makes us return not only to what we learned, but to how we learned to think. In my case, the recent passing of Dr. Zosimo Lee, my PhD dissertation advisor and lifelong mentor,…
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The View from Trinity Sunday
The Sunday That Changes the View This year’s Trinity Sunday felt different to me. Every year, the Church celebrates the great events of salvation history. Christmas recalls the birth of Christ. Holy Week leads us through his suffering and crucifixion. Easter proclaims the Resurrection. Ascension remembers Christ’s return to the Father. Pentecost celebrates the coming…
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The Sabbath Is Not a Day Off
The Clock Was an Installation The feeling that time controls our lives is recent. It is not part of some eternal human condition. As a felt experience, it is roughly two and a half centuries old, which is barely anything on the scale of human history. Before the Industrial Revolution, most people lived agricultural lives.…
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Why We Take Sides
It happens almost automatically. A topic comes up, perhaps a global conflict, a political event, or a social issue. At first, the exchange seems calm. People share information, refer to articles, and cite what they have seen or read. But within a few moments, something shifts. The conversation is no longer about the issue itself.…
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