The Weapons of Peace: How the Christian Lawyer Practices on Holy Ground

If legal conflict is holy ground, then the next question for the Christian lawyer is unavoidable: How then should we practice? In Where Chaos Meets Holy Ground, I argued that the rooms in which lawyers do their work – courtroom, mediation table, deposition, boardroom, late‑night conference call – are not vacant of God’s presence simply … Read more

An Historian’s History

Saint Augustine, Peter Brown, and I gathered at a cozy coffee shop on Princeton’s Nassau Street most evenings in the spring of 1999. While I had a coffee in hand and comfortably nestled in a leather chair, St. Augustine shared wisdom on shaping my loves for God. Peter’s warm voice and thoughtful tone drew me … Read more

How to Navigate 2025

Will this be the year wars in Gaza and Ukraine find resolution? Will inflation stabilize, and will AI and cryptocurrency move from buzzwords to tangible influences in the daily lives of everyday people? Most importantly, will 2025 be the year journalists finally drop the phrase “formerly known as Twitter” when citing a quote from X … Read more

Disney’s Onward: A Parable of Hope in our Secular Age

I’ve always loved stories that explore magical worlds, so when I saw Disney’s 2020 animated film Onward, something stirred in me.  There was something about Onward that seemed both to transport me to another world and tell me more about my own. Onward characters include mythical creatures from any good fairytale—centaurs, elves, fairies, wizards, unicorns, … Read more

When Helping Hurts

When Helping Hurts When the network system for Southwest Airlines failed last year, sending scores of holiday travelers into endless frustration and fatigue, a business analyst described the catastrophe as happening “gradually, and then all at once.” In other words, cracks and fissures emerged in the system over time, weakening the structure to the extent … Read more

Summer Reads!

SUMMER READS! Last week with the arrival of above 90 temperatures and high humidity was an ugly introduction to summer for Central Florida.  As we all know, life works differently during these months, which certainly presents opportunities to sneak in some reading. The Collaborative wants to encourage reading widely, and so annually our small contribution … Read more

Religious Freedom in Florida: Let’s Be #1!

Religious Freedom in Florida: Let’s Be #1! Florida ranks number one in so many ways.   One hopes we would rank number one when it comes to religious liberty. Florida currently ranks fourth in the nation in religious liberty behind Mississippi, Illinois, and New Mexico, according to the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy.   … Read more

IRL: A Secret Ingredient Toward Personal Holiness

A new year often ushers in resolutions but also new patterns and pathways for activities. For many of us, the start of 2023 meant ushering in new pathways in the form of standing calendar appointments with other people. Project planning meetings, weekly conference calls or new classes, – all established with some stated goal in … Read more