SAR Snapshot: Upcoming Speaking Engagements and Soliciting Your Questions

Some in-person and virtual opportunities to connect—and a blueberry update

Photo by Matt Kile for the Legal Vocation Fellowship

Today’s post looks a bit different, but I wanted to take a moment to: (1) let you know of some of my upcoming speaking engagements in case you’re nearby and want to attend; (2) invite you to ask questions that I will answer in a future post; and (3) follow-up on an earlier post.

Upcoming Speaking

As a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, I spend most of my time teaching and researching. I also occasionally speak about my work to various campuses and communities. This spring my speaking schedule is unusually heavy since I am on a teaching leave and preparing for the April release of my new book, Learning to Disagree.

Here’s where you can find me over the next few months:

• Daystar University (Nairobi) (March 1)

• Roanoke College (March 19) (event info)

• University of Texas (April 3) (event info)

• Washington University (April 8) (event info)

• Bethel University (IN) (April 9)

• University of Notre Dame (April 10)

• Church of the Savior CRC (South Bend) (April 10)

• University of Illinois (April 11) (event info)

• Berry College (April 14) (event info)

• University of Florida (April 17)

• Christ Presbyterian Church (Edina) (April 21)

• University of Minnesota (April 22)

• University of St. Thomas (MN) (April 22) (event info)

• John Burroughs School (St. Louis) (April 25)

• Covenant Seminary (St. Louis) (April 26)

• University of Chicago (April 30)

• Cliff Temple Baptist Church (Dallas) (May 6) (event info)

• Trinity Forum (Nashville) (May 8)

• Restoration Anglican (Arlington, VA) (May 15)

• Bonds of Affection Summit (Washington, DC) (May 16)

• Redeemer Center for Faith & Work (New York City) (May 21)

• Virtues and Vocations (June 4) (event info)

• Blacknall Presbyterian Church (Durham) (July 9)

• Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit (July 10)

If you are in the area for any of these, I’d love for you to join! If you can’t find event information closer to the date, you can reach out to me via Substack and I’ll happily pass along the details.

Your Questions

One of the privileges of writing this weekly Substack over the past two years has been receiving feedback and comments from many of you—some in comments left on Substack and others over email or through other channels. While I haven’t been able to respond to every comment, I have been grateful for your engagement.

In an upcoming post, I’d like to address some of your ongoing or unanswered questions. Please email me your questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them in an upcoming post. I will include your question and your name (first name and last initial) in my response.

For those who are newer to this newsletter, you can find past posts on my Substack homepage.

A Brief Epilogue to an Earlier Post

Last year, I shared about my unfortunate experience of slipping on a blueberry in the Austin airport. This was no garden variety slip—I went sprawling all over the airport walkway, narrowly averting bodily injury, if not injury to my pride and dignity. As a lawyer, I immediately wondered who might be at fault for this blueberry negligence. On reflection, I realized there was more to the story, and I used the mishap as part of a post about forgiveness—specifically, how one forgives an unknown perpetrator.

This past week, I found myself back in the Austin airport for the first time since the blueberry incident. This time, my flight arrived on the opposite side of the terminal, which meant that I walked toward the location of my earlier slip-and-fall from a new vantage point:

Author Photo (Plaintiff’s Exhibit A)

There he was, that snide little blueberry in shades, taunting me as I walked past him.

Forgiveness, as I noted in my earlier post, is only one half of reconciliation, which also depends on repentance. Sometimes, especially in institutional contexts, repentance can take the form of apology or recompense. In this case, I would gladly accept a lifetime supply of Berry Austin smoothies as a small token of institutional repentance.

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I am looking forward to your questions and seeing some of you in person over the next few months!