I am sometimes a little despondent that I will unlikely ever be able to do certain things, achieve certain dreams, or accomplish any number of secret wishes or desires. Most things, at least the things I dream about, are not really outside of my grasp but are simply unlikely due…
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What Is Love And Who Is My Neighbor?
IN A COUNTRY THAT CLAIMS TO FEAR GOD, what sort of society have we created that allows someone to freeze to death outside, because there is no room for them at the inn In the 1990s, an SNL skit loosely titled “The Roxbury Guys” featured Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan,…
Your God Is Too Small
How conspiracy theories became bigger than God and ultimately hijacked the Republican Party Thursday, February 11, 2021 Let’s be honest about this: that’s why your church and your way of life are dying. You talk as if you had a big God, but you don’t act like it. If you…
Fingerpainting
We lose our nerve as we age, there is no getting around it. Not you, you say. Maybe so. Momentum is a wonderful thing and if you’re already moving, it’s not so hard to keep it going. If you’re a hardcore traveler and you just keep traveling, it’s probably easier…
The Not So Great Outdoors
When I think of my favorite writers, I don’t spend a lot of time imagining them outside. Some of my favorite writers, and comedians, seem to be more of what Jim Gaffigan calls “indoorsy.” I think of David Sedaris, Calvin Trillin, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Bryson, Malcolm Gladwell, and Anne Lamott…
The Magic Of Failure
The dictionary defines magic as “an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source.” I think of writing as a kind of magic. A collection of charms, spells, incantations and rites that I’ve been developing since I discovered the power of language and realized it could used as a…
Love Is The Answer
In the movie A Beautiful Mind, John Nash gives his Noble Prize speech and explains that despite all his mathematical searching, and throughout his struggle mental illness, it was love that made life worth living. Love was the answer to the question. “I’ve always believed in numbers,” he says,…
Teach Your Children Well
The problem I have with the elf on your shelf is that it is a blatant attempt to teach children to be good, when I think the central message of Christianity, and therefore presumably the message of Christmas, is to be kind. Be kind. That’s the message of love that…
New Year’s Allocutions
I have never been all that enthusiastic on traditional New Year’s resolutions, by which I mean I have never once in my life resolved to do anything particularly new or different just because the calendar flipped from one year to the next. I do not like being told what to…
I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Culture War
As America remains hopelessly polarized in its endless culture war, it has become abundantly clear that there is little personal advantage in taking sides, as there is nothing to win here. There was a time when mankind believed wars could be won. Two armies would meet on a battlefield, and…