“Blessed to be a blessing.” I’ve heard it a million times. You have, too, if you go to the kind of church that recycles catchy slogans (which is most churches). Sure, it’s a cliche. But I like it. Because it…
Two burgers and a shake
David is in the mood to talk. Me, too. I haven’t seen him for a while. We spend at least half an hour bantering about life, God and the devil. “He’s after me,” David tells me, referring to Old Scratch….
Sometimes hanging on is all you can do, and it’s enough
“And let us not be weary in well doing,” the Apostle Paul advised in his letter to the Galatians, “for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Sometimes, well doing may mean just hanging on. Even Paul,…
India at 75: The world’s largest democracy is dying of toxic nationalism
Think white Christian nationalism is the most dangerous form of identity politics in the democratic world? Meet Hindu nationalism, which is systematically destroying secular democracy — and civil society — in India. I sincerely regret raining on the parade of…
Note to self: Get rid of resting jerkface
I stopped by the bank the other day to cash a few checks for pocket money. The teller already was having a bad day, I surmised, as she completed a tense conversation with a co-worker while I approached her window….
Roe v. Wade, the great divider
It’s perversely fitting, I suppose, that Roe v. Wade, the most divisive Supreme Court ruling of the past 50 years, will likely be overturned at the most divisive national moment since it was issued, promising even deeper division. Justice Samuel…
The good news of the Resurrection transcends the social agendas of any Christian faction
Christ is risen! This the greatest story ever told, the most important event in human history, the central truth of the last 2,000 years. It’s also a breaking story and an ongoing revolution, because Jesus is still alive and still…
The post-Cold War ‘peace’ is dead; long live the struggle for liberal democracy
The matter-of-fact finality of these words startled me: “The post-Cold War order, which began in 1989, ended in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine and said it had no right to exist as an independent nation.” The declaration came from Charles…
Change is good — except when it isn’t
My son and firstborn — the crying bundle I held in my arms in the delivery room, the little kid who seldom won at hide-and-seek because he couldn’t stop giggling, the boy who couldn’t beat me at wrestling because I…