Building Hedges: What the Rabbis Taught Me About Managing ADHD
For the vast majority of my improvement since being diagnosed with ADHD, I have to credit drugs and therapy. However, learning Rabbinic texts has helped me understand the way my brain works–and the ways to manage that–much better.
The Gift of Interaction
I am working in downtown Boston again. My workplace is great and I really love that I walk through the oldest park in America every morning. What I don’t love seeing are the homeless men and women who make Boston Common their home. I find it difficult to understand why there are homeless people in [...]
an unexpected joy
At one time in my life, I thought that it would be physically impossible for me to study Hebrew. I am now working to help others to find the joy that I have found in biblical lanugage study.
The Samaritan and the Nittany Lions
The tragic events at Penn State have captured the nation’s attention. The question that is at the center of it all seems to be: “Did they do enough?” Did the then graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, do enough by bringing the incident of abuse he witnessed to the attention of his coach? Did Coach Joe Paterno [...]
The Anxiety of Inerrancy
As a recent Baylor University study shows, it is one thing to say the Bible is inspired; it is quite another actually to read it.
The Inclusion Imparative or, How I Came to Love Text
Inclusion of individuals with disabilities into the very fabric of our religious communities and congregations has been a passion of mine for many years. This stems in large part from the fact that I just happen to be someone who is blind, but it also stems from my deeply held belief that all of us, [...]
Education Under Fire
Article first published as Education Under Fire on Blogcritics. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to education…Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit…It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all [...]
Choosing My Religion
There’s that metaphor of God as a mountain, and different religious traditions are just different paths up the mountain. For most of my life, I stood at the foot of this mountain, telling passersby (and myself) how great it was that there are so many paths to God: “Isn’t is amazing? The light of God shines in all religious paths!” Yes. But the thing is, to get anywhere on God’s mountain, you have to start walking one of the paths.
Defining God: the World, the Knowledge, and the Light. Part I.
“Who am I? What is this body I am in? Where do my thoughts come from? What is the mind? Why do I feel something in my heart? What attracts me to things and creates emotions of like and dislike? What is the very essence of my existence?”
Disability, Christian Theology, and the Proper Place of “Limit-ness”
Deborah Creamer proposes a theology of disability based on the concept that all people are “limited.” When is this concept of “limit-ness” harmful to people with disabilities?
Contributing Scholars
Susan ButterworthSusan Butterworth has BA degrees in French and Political Science from Tufts University and a MA in English from Salem State University. She is a visiting lecturer in English composition and literature at Salem State University and a professional nonfiction writer. She has just completed her first year in the MDiv program at Episcopal Divinity School. Susan is fascinated by the intersection of literature and theology studies and is working on a special competency in Anglican, Global, Ecumenical and Interfaith Studies at Episcopal Divinity School.
Jacob KohlhaasI am a PhD student in Systematic Theology at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA); my BA is from Wartburg College (Waverly, IA), and MA is from Catholic Theological Union (Chicago, IL). A Roman Catholic who spent several years employed by Lutherans, my interests are in Ecumenism, Theological Anthropology, and Environmentalism.
Stephanie Varnon-HughesStephanie Varnon-Hughes is a Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue™ and a graduate of Union Theological Seminary, where she earned her Master's in Church History in 2008 and her STM in 2009. A schoolteacher, Stephanie received the Most Promising New Teacher of the Year Award of 2005 in St. Louis, Missouri and has taught English and Performing Arts in public schools in St. Louis and the Bronx. She is a PhD student at Claremont Lincoln University, focusing on building and piloting a multi-religious curriculum for public secondary school students. Follow her on Twitter @SVarnonHughes.