O words, how I love thee — when I’m not hating thee. What other product of the mind leads us to truth with one hand and deceives us with the other? What other human invention enlightens us and manipulates us,…
Michael Gerson: Voice of hope in an age of darkness
“The whole Christmas story is pregnant with enigma and violated expectations. The Creator pulls on a garment of blood and bone. Almighty God is somehow present in a fragile newborn. The deliverer of mankind is delivered, slimy with vernix, in…
Blessed to be a blessing, globally
“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,…
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…
January 6 truth or consequences
Seeking out the truth has seldom been more urgent for Americans than it is now. We possess more factual information than any generation in human history yet differ over the most basic propositions. The dichotomy threatens our future. Truth makes…
Beauty out of ashes: Something’s stirring in the rubble of Lebanon
You think America has problems? Spend a week or two in Lebanon, and you’ll get a taste of what real — as in existential — problems are. Even Scrooge would sympathize. Imagine scrounging barely enough food to eat once, maybe…
Could Jesus be coming to us again in the guise of an Afghan child?
You know what I’m grateful for this year as Advent comes? A home. Not just a roof over my head or a house with electricity and running water. I’m thankful for a national home, an imperfect but beloved country, a…
Listen for a change
White guys sporting ball caps and goatees, driving loud pickup trucks. You know the type. They’re everywhere, especially in the South. They get on my nerves, bigtime. Lately, I’ve found myself assuming they’re all obnoxious Trumpers — and probably racist…