The state of our union

...is stronger than you think

“The state of our union is stronger than it appears.” Last week, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign religion professor Jonathan Ebel began his introduction of my talk with these words. Jon is the author of several books on religion in US history, including From Jeremiad to Jihad: Religion, Violence, and America. It just so happened that I was up against the president’s State of the Union speech that night, and frankly, I think all of us were happy to have an excuse not to tune in.

Ebel’s words struck me as profoundly true that evening. If you follow the news or spend any time on social media, things look bleak. And sure, things are pretty bleak. The corruption, the cruelty, the dehumanization, the wars that aren’t really wars except when our Secretary of War likes to call them wars, but they totally aren’t wars how dare you call them that?

And yet…

Here we were, a room packed with students and faculty and members of the community on a Tuesday evening in February. Some had driven two hours to listen to an academic talk. I’d spent the day meeting with fabulous students, learning of their research, touring the campus (and their incredible library), and hearing of the university’s community-based work and service. It made this Midwesterner proud—and grateful to see a public institution of higher education flourishing despite obvious headwinds. (Side note: the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Religion Department offers fully-funded master’s degrees—a rare thing these days.)

After the talk, as always, I stayed around to meet with members of the audience. At every single event, I am moved by the stories I hear—personal testimonies, really. I love seeing people’s well-thumbed copies of Jesus and John Wayne and hearing how the book has become part of people’s faith and life journeys in remarkable ways. This never gets old, and I always stay until the last person is through the line. (I’d like to give a special shoutout to the caterer who noticed that I wasn’t partaking of the lavish reception spread, slipped me a glass of ice water, and then a glass of wine, and then handed me a takeout box of the delicious treats for a late-night snack. I never go hungry on these trips, but it really was the kindest gesture.)

My lovely to-go box.

Then, I drove on to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, taking special care not to be diverted by signs pointing the other way to Bloomington, Illinois. There, too, I spent two days participating in another wonderful academic community. Every conversation was engrossing (and so much fun). I learned about Liza Black’s forthcoming book, How Settlers Get Away with Murder (Beacon, 2026), on violence against indigenous women, and we compared notes on the rigors of legal review. I also learned about John Nieto-Phillips’ new Substack that I think will be of interest to many of you. John writes on Spanish, Hispanic, and transnational fascism, past and present.

Not to be outdone, faculty at Indiana University brought me to a wonderful local restaurant where I ordered the locally-sourced rabbit pie. (I’m not in the habit of taking pictures of my food, but this one was for my son, who likes to hunt and stew rabbit himself…)

Very randomly, this is one of favorite fortunes.

Then, I drove back home, did a load of laundry, proved to my ecstatic dog that I hadn’t died (he sinks into depression when I’m gone and cannot contain his excitement when I return), and flew out the next morning for Providence, Rhode Island. I’d never been to Providence before, and it is such a gorgeous city. My hotel was conveniently situated on the waterfront right next to a local brewery, and that evening, I spoke at Central Congregational Church—a thriving faith community on the edge of Brown’s campus. Once again, it was inspiring to meet people from the church, from Brown, and those who had driven in from hours away. Late that night, I had an opportunity to hang out with about a dozen people with Calvin and Christian Reformed connections. I love that at every talk I give now, there is a small contingent of CRC or former CRC members—even when I speak outside the Dutch CRC enclaves. With the denomination splintering, it’s a special joy to stay connected with members of my tradition. The next morning, I attended church and heard a beautiful sermon from Rev. Patrick Faulhaber. The mainline hasn’t gotten a lot of respect in recent decades, I think it’s fair to say, but mainline churches and clergy members are shining in this moment. (Many have been quietly doing good work in their communities for decades, often with little fanfare, but it shows.)

I’m providing this little travelogue to share with you a glimpse of the good things that persist in the midst of everything else. Everywhere I go—every church, university, or community organization—I meet genuinely good people doing all sorts of beautiful things. What troubles me is that we don’t have more effective ways to connect with each other—to know that we’re not alone, to encourage each other—to quite literally draw courage from one another. I keep trying to figure out what it might look like to find ways to connect more deeply.

In the meantime, I wanted to point you to two upcoming events. The first: this afternoon, at 5pm ET, The Convocation Unscripted will be holding our monthly live podcast. You can register here:

If you haven’t joined us live before, check us out—we leave the chat on and it’s a wonderful way our listeners connect with each other as well as with us. We take your questions in real time—it’s even more unscripted than our usual unscripted shows are.

Finally, for any UK-based friends, next week I’ll be heading to Scotland where I’ll be giving the Smith Lecture at the University of St Andrews. I’ll be speaking on Wednesday, March 11, from 4-6pm. I’ll also be meeting with students, faculty, and community members while in town. Here’s all the information you need if you’re looking for an excuse to visit the gorgeous St Andrews. (Here are a couple photos from my last visit there, if you need any convincing.)

Then, keep me in your prayers as I return to the US for two days of meetings in Washington, DC, before heading back home to start teaching again. The turnaround is a bit daunting, but it will be good to be back in the classroom again.