Have you reached for your smartphone in the last six and a half minutes? In my last post on Isaac the Qatari, I wrote that according to one study, people are checking their phones over 150 times a day! I ended the post reaching for my own phone once again. Much of the earth is… Read More The Antidote to 24/7 Connectivity: Isaac the Qatari, Part 2
Ever been to Qatar? It is a small nation state that sits on the southwestern side of the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. Shaped like an oversized thumb, it is becoming a crossroads of global finance and trade in competition with places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the nearby United Arab Emirates. Qatar… Read More What Can a 7th Century Qatari Mystic Teach a World of Constant Noise?
Last week I got to be the former Bishop of Constantinople, Nestorius, who died in 450 A.D. Really. Yes, it was only for a little while, as part of a “friends of the past” presentation at a Masters program I’m helping with in Switzerland. To play the part of this man, condemned as a heretic… Read More Being Nestorius
Imagine being present at a dinner party, where around the table were people who had lived at different periods over two hundred years. People who considered each other “heretics” and would have eliminated the other viewpoints if given a chance. What kind of dinner party would this be? Last week while visiting Geneva I went… Read More A Dinner Party for “Heretics”
Have you ever had your writings burned? Probably not, but many have been silenced, ignored or patronized by those in power positions. I have seen seven of my articles and three chapters for books published, and am presently working on my first book on the Church of the East. I can’t imagine the pain of… Read More Have You Ever Had Your Writings Burned?
Welcome to 2016! For some of you reading this, it has already started. For others, including me, it is still a few hours away. I want to thank you for reading my blog posts in the last six months. In the new year I will continue to post on Asian history, Christian-Muslim relations and contemporary… Read More Musings on the Year Ahead
What does the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and 7th century Chinese Christianity have in common? Not much. Except the fact that there is a world beyond Trump, beyond the bombastic rhetoric and the chasms of fear and racism some of his comments have opened. For many people living in the USA (Republicans… Read More A World Beyond Trump: Hidden in Plain Sight for 1400 Years, Part 2
It was hidden in plain sight. For almost 1400 years, a leaning, frail looking tower-like structure had existed on a wind-swept hill. Fifty miles outside the Chinese city of Xian, the Da Qin pagoda is another living testament to the existence of Christianity in China in the 7th century. (For more on Xian and the… Read More Hidden in Plain Sight For Almost 1400 Years, Part 1
A small community called Gig Harbor, Washington in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA. A young boy at a Christian school there. A British Anglican peacemaker called “The Vicar of Baghdad”. It all came together last week to provide an inspiring story of one gift given from the heart that multiplies to touch many… Read More A One Dollar Gift in Gig Harbor leads to Multiplication in Iraq and Syria
It takes your breath away. It is stunning. For one man who has visited five times, he never fails to weep. Buried for 780 years, it is hard to imagine that it would ever see the light of day again. What is it? A 12 foot tall stone monument, called simply the Nestorian Stele. Housed in… Read More Buried For 780 Years
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