Approx. read time: 1:00 min. “Wake up!” Jesus says repeatedly, of the socially and politically fraught times he lived in. “Be constantly on the watch!” he urges. “Stay awake!” If we’re paying attention, these words are the cue for this Advent season. But in our times, we resist being woke. There’s always a reason… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:30 min In the midst of my senior year of college my father dies, a man shriveled from thirteen years of multiple surgeries to relieve the pressure of a slow-growing inoperable brain tumor. Being away at school, separated from family, I don’t really know how to grieve my way beyond his… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:45 min. The question rises with each new war, each new armoring up, each new political twist of fate: Which side am I on? The question is unhelpful and, frankly, exhausting. Taking sides has never solved anything. It only leads to entrenched warfare—verbal, emotional, ideological, or in devastating displays of power… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:40 min. After my Saturday morning talk, my hosts take me to lunch at a local breakfast spot. It has the vibe of “locally owned.” It turns out, it’s a franchise. The young waiter is thoughtful, courteous. Afterward, they drop me off at a restaurant a block from the transit platform… Read more »
Read time: approx. 1:45 min. I am beginning to share publicly a commitment I have made privately. It’s this: In every dimension of my life I choose to live nonviolently. Why? Because violence and trauma saturate every dimension of life on this planet. Twenty-two years ago this month, people in my town responded to… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:30 min. The late afternoon bus rumbles west on Hwy. 126 through the center of the little town of McKenzie Bridge. I look to the north, beyond the two roads that intersect with the highway. Residents have been evacuated from their homes. The backdrop just beyond is Lookout Mountain that eases down… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:45 min. As a writer I understand the literary function of Jesus’ often spoken words: “Amen, I say to you,” or “Truly, I say to you,” or the quaint “Verily, verily, I say to you.” I’ll be honest with you: Never in my life have I used this word verily in a… Read more »
Approx. read time: 0:45 min If I lived a life free of vulnerability, I’d never experience … the kindness of strangers the skill of attentiveness the art of the possible the craft of imagination the invitation of trust the hope of grace the blessing of aloneness the sense of discovery the thrill of not knowing… Read more »
Read time: 1:20 min. My first book, Touching the Reign of God (2019) opens with words of the now sainted John Paul II at his inaugural papal Mass in 1978. “Throw open the door of your heart!” he says. I continue: “One person familiar with the Italian language … in which the Holy Father spoke,… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:30 min. In the early quiet of a recent morning, a thought comes to me. More than a thought: an assignment, really, with a subtle force of urgency: Write these words. On a postcard. Today. And these are the words that arrive: Dear Secretary Blinken: The madness of the Russia/Ukraine situation is… Read more »
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