Archive
The Making of a Cynic: When Experiences Wound
A complete idealist, this child’s heart was as open and wide as the sky above. In her 11 years she had tried to harden, wise up, become cynical and tough.
Calvary
If we think of Father James’ life as a metaphor for the church, we are offered a wise reflection on how the entire church might wrestle with its own faithfulness to Jesus in the 21st century, a time when the church is often viewed as an enemy to society.
Ala hadi al-ard (On this earth)
For two weeks this summer, when you approached Lajee Center, Mennonite Central Committee’s partner in Aida Refugee Camp, the sounds of children laughing and clapping to music as they learned dabke —a traditional Palestinian dance—for a moment drowned out the sounds of oppression. Aida is a United Nations refugee camp north of Bethlehem in the West Bank, one of many camps established for the more than 750,000 Palestinians displaced from their homes in 1948 by the founding of the state of Israel and still not allowed to return. By most accounts, this summer has been one of the worst there […]
Why They Want to Keep You in Vegas – Or Buying Lottery Tickets
“Compulsive gambling is one of the purest forms of psychological addiction known—gamblers are stimulated by gambling and actually get high on it.”;—Dr. Robert Custer;;
Look Again to the Wind
The album, though mostly ignored at the time, clearly positions Cash in the tradition of the folk singer. This revisit doesn’t seem nostalgic, nor does it seem old, but uncannily still important.
Passages: From Kindergarten to College
Sometimes the transitions to school are unpredictably hard: leaving a child at college who has slept under your roof for 18 years.
Boyhood
Boyhood doesn’t do anything fancy. In fact, it’s the movie’s simplicity and understated nature that makes it so unique.
Praying the Neighborhood
Instead of praying for peace or good health, I decided to focus on praying for harmony in each of their families and lives. It has become a new way of praying the neighborhood.;;
The Winding Road from Camps to Villages
Elie, and others, still hope. “Today you are in a camp,” said Elie with a slow grin. “Tomorrow I would love for it to be a village.”
Friend of homeless?
Why don’t we bring our friend from downtown into our house? Why have I been satisfied with collective responses without being willing to also make a personal sacrifice?
