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An Open Letter to my Students as I Graduate from Teaching
LAYERS OF CLAY As I walked across the parking lot looking down into Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field, a stunning winter sunset of swirling reds lingered in the distance beyond the building in which I’ve spent...
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Lessons for Today from M.L.K.
LAYERS OF CLAY “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. We so often...
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The Joker, Hitler’s Dog and What Makes a Real Monster
The Joker as drawn by Greg Capullo What makes a good villain? The term is oxymoronic – villains are bad, of course. Villains scare us, but why? Why are some bad guys scary and others not so much?...
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What We Can Learn from V-E Day 70 Years Later
LAYERS OF CLAY 70 years ago today was for many folks around the world the most important day of their lives when the official announcement of Germany’s surrender in World War II made its way around...
View ArticleWin a Copy of American Sniper!
Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, the biopic based on the military career of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, was released on video this week [May 19]. Warner Brothers plans to use the proceeds to donate up to $1...
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Drowning In an Ocean of Gratitude: D-Day Remembered
LAYERS OF CLAY Twenty years ago this month, I almost drowned in the ocean. My small graduating class took an epic senior trip to Kiawah, South Carolina and spent a week in a great big house with a...
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My Family & The Horse Farm: Triple Crown Memories
LAYERS OF CLAY Before I was old enough to start school as a child, I spent many of my days at either the bar or the ranch. Those might not seem like the most likely settings for a young boy from an...
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Why the confederate flag needs to come down at the South Carolina Capitol
Symbols matter. It’s why we have flags in the first place. For our countries, our states, even our religions and our sports teams. It’s a way of showing allegiance. We fly the flag to say, “We stand...
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What The Confederate Flag Stands For
In the days following the horrific murder of nine innocent men and women at the Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina, the Confederate or “Rebel” flag continues to stand as a point of...
View ArticleMonica Lewinsky on The Price of Shame
“Anyone who is suffering from shame and public humiliation needs to know one thing: You can survive it.” ~ Monica Lewinsky What happens when the whole world knows you for the most humiliating moment of...
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Exodus 1:1-7
We begin our journey through Exodus by meeting Jacob’s family and watching as the story of God’s people shifts from Patriarchs to Nations. The mission of Exodus is framed in terms of flourishing, and...
View ArticleMatt’s talks from Dallas Seminary 2016
A couple weeks ago I was invited to speak at Dallas Theological Seminary. It was a great experience. They’ve put all four of my main talks online now, and I thought you might enjoy seeing them. Here...
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The Danger of “Never Forget”: Thoughts from the Flight 93 Memorial
I visited the Flight 93 Memorial the other day. The field in which a hijacked plane was brought down by brave, everyday citizens is beautiful once more. The middle of nowhere spot suddenly became a...
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George Washington and the well-fed, well-housed slave
George Washington never chopped down a cherry tree and then said, “I cannot tell a lie” when asked about it. It’s a great story, though, because it gives us an insight into the kind of man he was, and...
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Further reflections on George Washington and slavery
Last week I shared a story about George Washington and Oney Judge, a slave who escaped to freedom. It wasn’t a story I was familiar with… I actually hadn’t heard the story until that day, unlike the...
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Anthropoid matters because of what it gets right
Let’s start with this: Anthropoid is a hard movie, but it is important. [And even though it’s documented history I should also say SPOILER WARNING right off the bat too]. Any film matters if it forces...
View ArticleWhy Donald Trump’s victory terrifies some of your ethnic minority friends
A caveat: There are plenty of people of color who voted for Trump. I have an Asian-American friend who is in full-on celebration mode. We’re talking photos of flags, emojis, Bible verses and fireworks....
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The 4 Presidents Donald Trump Might Most Be Like
[Note: If you love Trump you might just wanna go ahead and skip to Can Donald Trump Be the New Teddy Roosevelt?] ~*~*~ I’ve fantasized about living in the White House since I was a kid. Not that I ever...
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