Unbinding Isaac: Musings on the Eve of My 55th Birthday
Everyday I kill Isaac — my beautiful dream about a silent, solitary, well-ordered life of perfect contemplation and perfect monastic observation with …
“Strange Fruit”: The True Visage of Lynching
Dear Hope Sings readers, thank you for your patience during my long hiatus from writing for this blog, mainly due to technical …
Amazing Grace: Can Redemption Come Too Late for a White Supremacist?
Note: In March, I spoke at the University of Portland on the life and legacy of John Newton, composer of the beloved …
“I Am the Darker Brother”: On Parenting Black Children in America (On Parenting Henry)
I, Too by Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in …
The Artist Alive: Explorations in Music, Art and Theology (May 2019)
I’ve just been reviewing the final proofs of a new book manuscript that has been many (many!) years in the making. The …
Speaking
Forthcoming International Thomas Merton Society, Presidential Address, St. Mary’s College, June 2023 Recent and Archived Nazareth College, Rochester, NY, William H. Shannon …
The Road Ahead: Merton, U2, and the Language of Desire
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot …
Living Courageously in Apocalyptic Times: Advent 1968/2018
Fifty years ago, on December 10, 1968, Catholic monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton died in Asia, the victim of an accidental …
Christianity and Totalitarianism: A Marginal Monk Goes Mainstream
Last week an extraordinary thing happened. An excerpt from a 1960 essay by Thomas Merton, a marginal monk from an obscure Trappist …
A National Reckoning: The Interment of Matthew Shepard
“There are three things I’d say to Matt: ‘Gently rest in this place. You are safe now. And Matt, welcome home.’ Amen.” …
