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Some Other Beginning’s End
The end is near. Almost. After four installments and over 8,000 words, my quest to pull back the curtain on my faith evolution is finally approaching its end. I’ve tried my best to distill a years-long process into a few key turning points. Despite leaving out plenty of details and glossing over numerous issues that…
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Closing Day
Faith evolution is like selling a house. It begins with a series of small detachments: planting a sign in the yard, letting strangers wander through your rooms, packing possessions into boxes, entertaining offers, negotiating terms. These are the initial, necessary steps toward no longer living where you used to. They’re partial little goodbyes. But the…
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Truck Shopping
If I had to catalogue all the dates that have been noteworthy in my journey of spiritual evolution, December 10, 2017 would definitely be on the list. At the time, I was the preaching pastor of a church I had served for over seven years, and I was in the middle of a holiday sermon…
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Sleeper Agents
Here’s a plot idea for an action-packed summer blockbuster: A quiet suburban housewife lives on a tree-lined street with her clean-cut husband and a pair of well-groomed kids. She drives a station wagon, attends the school PTA meetings, and occasionally bakes casseroles for her elderly neighbors. Anyone who drives past her house while she’s outside…
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Back to the Start
The spiritual road I’ve traveled hasn’t always been the one I’ve expected. I’ve taken turns I didn’t plan to take and ended up on roads I didn’t know existed. There have been dead ends, detours, and more than a few flat tires. If you trace my steps (Family Circus style!), the resulting path would look…
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When Will We Ever Use This?
It’s only a matter of time. Maybe it will happen in the middle of another futile attempt to explain the difference between direct and indirect objects. Maybe it will happen while pointing out that no, alliterations are not the same as allusions, neither of which are related to allegories or analogies, oh and by the…
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Selective Memory
Never forget. After 20 years, it’s fitting that we once again remind ourselves to remember. The significance of that awful Tuesday—of its destructive terror and its heroic bravery—demands an enduring place in our collective consciousness. The only thing more tragic than the events themselves would be the mistake of letting them slip into the oblivion…
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Reflections from the Winding Road
How did you get here? What glitch in the GPS accounts for this increasingly twisted route that once seemed so direct and predictable? You’re not quite sure where you are, but wherever it is, it’s nowhere on the map. At least not on the map you were given back when the journey began. Back when…
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Promised Land
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you … and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. Make no covenant with them and show…
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A Public Apology
Spiritual leaders are given access to the areas of life that people hold most sacred, the parts of themselves that most intimately define who they are. They aren’t just institutional decision-makers; they’re teachers, guides, counselors, examples. And nobody can do that sort of work without leaving a deep and lasting impact on other people. Sometimes…
Drew Thomas Humphrey
[ faith + culture + ideas ]
Drew Thomas Humphrey 