I still can't believe it . . .

But can I recover?

Something shocking happened to me at work the other day. I still can’t believe it. I’m not even sure if I can talk about it. It might help me if I can put it into words. Let me try.

I was having a conversation with a colleague. It was an insightful discussion about how the semester had treated both of us. We both shared new things we had developed for our classes and advances we made in our research. And then it happened . . .

As we came to the end of our conversation, I said to him, “I hope you have a good winter break.” And do you know what he said? “Merry Christmas, Owen.” I was stunned. He is an ASU professor. Doesn’t he know better?

Of course, I am being silly. He was right to wish me a Merry Christmas. I wished him the same. While the two of us are some of the very few ASU professors who speak up to defend intellectual freedom, I know there are many others who do not feel safe speaking up but are thankful someone is. I know this because you contact me. Thank you for reading my substack and sharing it widely.

And I hope you have a very Merry Christmas as you remember Christ our Lord at this time of year.