In David Brooks’ essay “The Nuclear Family Was A Mistake,” he demonstrates that for most of human history, we have existed in intricate entangled webs of extended family. For a majority of our history, society has been built on the…
The Holocaust Musaffecteum: Humbling irritations amidst genuine horror past and present
My family and I had been standing in line for nearly half an hour at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. Despite all that time and with prior experience at another high-security location, I still wasn’t ready…
God’s divine plan for eclipses and ellipses
A few years ago, my teenage son beat me at chess. Because I’m a horrible chess player, I took the defeat with aplomb. Later the same day, though, he beat me at Scrabble. Now, that just plain hurt. I rarely…
The Easter season brings memories joyous and painful of growing up in Palestine
Nothing has changed since a version of this column first appeared in 2020 in another publication under the title “A Lethal Virus Called Israeli Occupation: A Somber Easter in Occupied Palestine.” The original title drew on the spread of COVID in…
Being there
A few years ago, I helped an Afghan refugee find a job. He spoke very little English, but he had some plumbing experience from Afghanistan. I took him to an interview at a plumbing company in my town. I worried…
I’m learning to live with cancer
My cell phone rang as I was working my way through the morning meds and procedures that are part of Day 4 after a mastectomy. I didn’t recognize the Dallas number, but these days there are so many calls from…
SBC agency vows to ‘advocate for the complete end of abortion’ in America
When conservatives gained control of the Southern Baptist Convention and its agencies and seminaries in the late 20th century, a top priority was to convert the Christian Life Commission into an anti-abortion advocacy group. That came true with the first…
How to find your way home: Confessions of a workaholic
My wife clocked out of her state job for the last time recently. She is now officially retired. It’s good timing, as she’s needed to help her mother care for her father, who is in hospice care. Recently, my wife…
The roots of white evangelical desperation
The base of the Republican Party is controlled by white evangelical voters, people who punch above their weight because they have been reduced to utter despair. Animals are particularly dangerous when cornered or wounded, and American white evangelicals are both….