Category: Writing

• Afraid of Ghosts

  I once spent the night alone in a cabinSweet solitudeNo reason to be afraidThe wind softly scraped the branches against the decaying shinglesThe rafters and the floor boards crackled in concertThe bunk bed springs creaked even as I lay perfectly still In the pitch black I could hear scurrying and perhaps heavier footstepsI forced myself […]

  Benjamin Broadbent

  March 17, 2022

  Nature, Poetry, Sonoma County, Writing

  Cabin, FEar, Ghosts

• Adventures in Preaching 2.0

  I’ve blogged before but it’s been awhile. When I was in my doctoral program I created a blog called “Adventures in Preaching.” I created 4 posts: https://adventuresinpreaching.blogspot.com The idea behind “Adventures in Preaching” was to reflect on the process of preaching and sermon preparation. When I returned from my residency to the parish, I did […]

  Benjamin Broadbent

  March 3, 2022

  Christianity, Church, Theology, Writing

  Fred Craddock, Hosea, Jim White, Preaching, Walter Brueggemann, Yahweh

• The Flesh Becomes Word

  10 years ago I was putting the final touches on my dissertation for a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching degree through Chicago Theological Seminary: “The Flesh Becomes Word: Embodied Preaching and Congregational Response.” I’ve attached it below in case you’re interested. In the meantime, here are three stories about the writing process. The first story […]

  Benjamin Broadbent

  March 1, 2022

  Church, Education, Family, Theology, Writing

  Charles Bartow, Chicago, Chicago Theological Seminary, Preaching, T.S. Eliot

• The Best, Most Boring, Book Ever

  That would be Ulysses by James Joyce. A year ago right now I was reading it and finishing it was my major Covid accomplishment. In the fall of 1998, I was living in New York City, in the East Village, with my girlfriend, Brooke, who is now my wife. I had recently graduated from Harvard […]

  Benjamin Broadbent

  February 28, 2022

  Education, Writing

  Beth Blum, Cooper Union, Covid, East Village, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Gazette, James Joyce, Ulysses, Virginia Woolf

• Horrible

  I want to stumble upon a cache of horrible poems by Mary Oliver But before learning that she was in fact the person who wrote them I want to laugh at them, to guffaw and tsk and shake my head “Hey, listen to this!” I will shout at someone across the room, and then I’ll […]

  Benjamin Broadbent

  February 24, 2022

  Nature, Poetry, Writing

  Mary Oliver, Seagull

• This Is Not A Poem

  During sabbatical, I’ve been focusing on writing as a practice. In other words, I’ve been focusing on writing as process and not product. Yes, I’ve created this blog and I’ve been posting here and people have been reading my words and sometimes clicking “like” and sometimes commenting so I suppose these posts are a “product,” […]

  Benjamin Broadbent

  February 21, 2022

  Poetry, Writing

  Natalie Goldberg, Sabbatical Writing