Dn. Martin Watt's Page

At the beginning of Lent, I gave a fellow seminarian some advice.  Now, that advice is kicking my butt.

The advice was simple – to survive seminary, as a time of formation, you had to allow yourself to be assimilated, and not try to understand so much.  Sure, you had to think about things, but the more important aspect was not to anticipate, and not to try to understand everything.  To be patient, and simply experience everything in the moment, reflecting on it later.  Seminary is…

In a prior State of Formation post, Chris Hughes's experience of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent resonated with me. As a former Southern Baptist, his experience was much like my own. The Orthodox Christian tradition approaches Lent with a bit different…

Is it reasonable for the faithful of any religious orientation to seek government protection?

I don't imagine anyone in the United States would answer in the affirmative; however, that is what the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, and their allies, seek in the exemption from requiring coverage for contraceptives and other reproductive health services. Allowing this exemption is not compelling any practicing believer who opposes contraception to prevent pregnancy. In a society…

I was having a conversation over the holidays with one of my very best friends, and the subject of Facebook came up. He said, “You like to be provocative with your status, don’t you?” I had to agree. After all, I am a curmudgeon.

But that did get me to thinking about how difficult it is to be provocative without offending. Perhaps that isn’t possible. But I never set out to offend.

I think what I find difficult is not the beliefs of different political groups, but the methods…