Thomas Jefferson promoted a rather surprising idea: the need for a healthy society to make generous room for ongoing dissatisfaction. A nation’s Founding...
Testaments
As a story loses its history, it gains its meaning. This is never truer than in stories shared among families about their common memories. Over the years, the...
It’s Lent again. The anniversary of pandemic. It was this time last year that Petey came into my life unbidden. She left the same way. Coming and going, this...
The heart is the boss of us. This is certainly true when we fall in love. It’s equally obvious when we’re consumed by rage or sorrow. Joy puts a dance in every...
In late 2002 one of my publishers called me on the phone in a panic: “The pope is killing me!” he moaned. Publishers rarely phone. This was serious. The...
This whole blighted year I’ve waited for Isaiah with the agonized impatience children suffer for the arrival of Santa. Not that Isaiah is as rare a...
Last fall in the month of All Saints, I rode the Amtrak from Providence, Rhode Island to Baltimore, Maryland. I was heading to a celebration of the life of...
Truth is truth, no matter who says it. This is an idea I’ve heard and agreed with, repeated and utilized many times. Yet for some who find this message...
So here’s the story of my friend, Wes, from Kentucky. We’ve never met, but I’ve known Wes for years. He reads the reflections I write in this or that magazine...
Most folks wouldn’t name the Books of Kings among their go-to reads. Why not? The Books of Kings are cool! Not because of the kings, necessarily, but because...
