A Welcome Reformation: In Praise of Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life”

Through my journey, I have come to believe that the same empire of fear that drives millions of football players to unnecessarily run the risk of traumatic brain injury also drives innumerable religious devotees into a wall of shame.

Kenneth Lucas Dodd | Cal Poly Aletheia | Winter 2019

Strength in Weakness: A Call to Authentic Vulnerability

We learn early on that we should always appear as if everything is fine all the time. The demand to be effortlessly perfect leaves no room for openness about our struggles or imperfections.

Sarah Proctor | Duke Crux | Fall 2018

The Strange Persistence of Guilt: A Q&A with Wilfred McClay

"Guilt is a key aspect of what might be called our moral nervous system. It alerts us to our failures, and pushes us to make them right in some way."

Lynette Long | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2017

Friend of Sinners

Jesus was known to be a friend of sinners, and his life has encouraged me to do the same in my work within the criminal justice system–to befriend them, encourage them, and find them worthy of healing, rehabilitation, and forgiveness.

Brittany Krippner | CalPoly Aletheia | Spring 2018

The Ones Who Walk Away: Social Justice, Shame, and the Church

Le Guin’s story, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," won the 1974 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, with many readers interpreting it as an allegory about societal injustices that are seen but remain unaddressed.

Miles Woodhull | | Spring 2018

On the Dignity of Sex

I myself have felt resentment and bitterness towards notions of “purity” and “chastity,” and rejected them as highly antiquated concepts that only objectified people.

A. S. Bethel | UC Berkeley TAUG | Spring 2017

A Non-Concealing Confession

This repentance must come from confession of sins and asking for forgiveness from God through prayer, but I also have come to believe that confession to others is at least a helpful, if not absolutely necessary part of this process.

Nate Lamb | Swarthmore Peripateo | Fall 2016

Impetus

I see a nation inundated with injustice, yet a Church that is silent.

Nia Campinha-Bacote | The Yale Logos | Spring 2016

Escaping the Prison of Guilt

It is important to acknowledge the harm that our sins cause, but the depth of one’s guilt should not be a standard for one’s moral worth.

Marcos Martinez | | The Columbia Cross & Cross

Hands and Feet

In medical school, we are taught to strive to be “humanistic”. We have an honor society dedicated to humanism in medicine, but we are never told exactly what it means.

David D. Chen | Princeton Revisions | Spring 2012

The Healing of Intimacy

Thus when Adam and Eve hid from each other in shame, they were in effect proclaiming, “I do not acknowledge you as my own, I do not trust you with my body. I do not trust you with myself. There is something to fear from you.”

Shana Dorsey | The Williams Telos | Fall 2013

‘Here We May Love Truly’

On CS Lewis' The Great Divorce: Apart from the fixed reality of Christ, we cannot help but live in our self-constructed unrealities. Yet to find Christ is to find heaven itself.

Shirley Li | The Williams Telos | Spring 2013

Depression, Despair, and Hope at Harvard

Harvard’s Editor-in-Chief Reflects on Depression, Despair, and Hope

During my four years at Harvard, I contemplated committing suicide no less than three times. It wasn’t until I almost failed a class during my senior year that I realized that I struggle with depression.

Jordan Monge | The Harvard Ichthus Fish Tank |

May 2019