“I believe the light that shines on you will shine on you forever . . . though I can’t guarantee there’s nothing scary hiding under your bed.” -Paul Simon, lyrics in “Father and Daughter” This Advent I feel more like…
The faux fight for Christmas: Backdrop on the annual year-end culture war
“Every company in America should be on its knees thanking Jesus for being born. Without Christmas, most American businesses would be far less profitable.”
Portal of praise: Praise as presage to Advent’s treason
The Manger’s trailhead opens at the portal of praise and genuflecting thanks. Not because heaven arises to piety’s incense. But because Advent’s brush with mortal flesh is a perilous journey, fraught with insurrection’s threat, pregnancy’s scandal, birthed from stabled bed,…
Dad’s ‘Heart Shield’ Bible: A Veterans Day reflection
At right is the image of my Dad’s “Heart Shield” Bible, an edition of the New Testament on to which a metal plate has been attached. The engraved cover, now smudged by corrosion, reads “May this keep you safe from…
In greed we trust
You likely heard recently that former hedge fund manager-turned-entreperneur Martin Shkreli’s company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought the patent to a drug treating toxoplasmosis, a potentially deadly parasite disease, increasing the per pill cost from $13.50 to $750. (Before being sold several…
Bombs and balm
Recently declassified documents confirmed what many had long suspected, that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet ordered the 1976 assassination of former diplomat Orlando Letelier, along with his colleague, Ronni Karpen Moffit, in Washington, DC. This news is of especially personal…
The quotable Thomas Merton
My favorite definition of God is Thomas Merton’s: God is “mercy within mercy within mercy.” -Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB A special issue of ” Signs of the Times ” devoted to Thomas Merton (31 January 1915 – 10 December 1968)…
Reflections on the confluence of Jewish and Islamic holy days
My lectionary imagination jumped the rails, enamored by this month’s confluence of Jewish and Islamic holy days. For Jews the ten “Days of Awe” began with Rosh Hashanah this past Sunday at dusk, stretching through next Wednesday’s Yom Kippur observance.
What if schools enjoyed pork-barrel largesse and the military depended on corporate charity?
One recent slow morning, in late August, the grocery stores’ circulars in the newspaper caught my attention. I began to wonder how things might be different if certain fortunes were reversed. Instead of “back-to-school” it’s “back-to-basic-training” discount offers. Imagine, if…