On this Thanksgiving weekend just past, I was aware of two Americas. Interspersed among the segments of Macy’s parade and the Disney Holiday celebration was a reminder that in our country not all the pleasures of life are simple or…
Observations on adult versus childish reactions to disappointment
During the 53 years since I graduated from Mississippi College, there have been occasional opportunities in my international work with others to apply some of the information I was taught in the 16 credit hours of classes from my psychology minor. Especially during…
Cain and Abel: A metaphor for the sin of casteism
In his 2016 landmark book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, Jim Wallis reveals: “The most controversial sentence I ever wrote was not about abortion, gay marriage, the wars in Vietnam or Iraq, elections, or…
Listen more, speak less, dispel anger with love
Our country is politically torn apart. This is the reality that greets us every day in the national media, regardless of which network, website or newspaper we follow. Our states are labeled by their Republican or Democratic governors, eliciting opinions…
What I’ve learned about agreeing to disagree in contentious times
As a teacher for most of my adult life, I knew not everyone would — or should — blindly agree with my perspective. For at least two decades, I chose to teach my seminary graduate courses around conference tables rather…
Donald Trump and the 10 Commandments
Recently, watching an old movie about a trial in a small American town, I noted the wooden panel displaying the Ten Commandments placed on the back wall of the courtroom. Visible, just for the moment when the protagonist walked across…