Christopher Closeup Podcast – Guest: Rita Cosby In yesterday’s post, I started to share the story of Emmy Award-winning journalist Rita Cosby who wrote a best-selling book called “Quiet Hero” about her father’s World War II past in Poland and the emotional wounds that allowed him to abandon their family years later without showing a shred of remorse.  Because Rita’s mother had always encouraged her to forgive him, she found the strength to do so and hear his side of... Read more

Christopher Closeup Podcast – Guest: Rita Cosby Anyone who thinks they’ve got a family relationship that is beyond repair needs to consider the story Rita Cosby shares in her best-selling book, “Quiet Hero.” It was Christmas Eve, 1983, when the future Emmy Award-winning journalist and best-selling author heard her mother, Adda, and father, Richard, having an argument. Richard told them he was unhappy and was leaving the family. The devastating news came out of nowhere for 19-year-old Rita, her brother... Read more

In honor of the March for Life in Washington, DC, I’d like to highlight two pro-life women who give witness to the rights of the unborn. The first is actress Patricia Heaton, who you may know from her roles on the TV series “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Middle.”  Heaton learned to articulate her position on abortion when she moved to New York at the start of her career and had to start defending it because she was in the... Read more

Popular singer/songwriter Audrey Assad (who could definitely play the lead in “The Tina Fey Story” if they ever make a movie about the actress’s life) just released the “official lyric video” for the song “Sparrow” which will be on her soon-to-be-released album, “Heart.” “Sparrow” is inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew’s gospel, “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.” There is, of course, also an... Read more

Today’s entry is a column penned by The Christophers’ Jerry Costello about a local story that caught his eye and moved his heart: One of the cornerstones of Christopher life is the old Chinese saying that became our motto: “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” It not only makes sense; it’s something you can do in a hundred different ways. One of them is to take an interest in someone else, and that’s exactly what... Read more

Last night’s “American Idol” premiere went behind-the-scenes with contestant Lauren Mink who works with people who have intellectual disabilities like Down syndrome and autism. And Lauren’s voice gave judge Jennifer Lopez “the goosies” (translation: goosebumps). Look and listen: Read more

2011 brought to the forefront a clash between the 1% and the 99%, between those who earn a high income and those on the lower end of the spectrum. As tends to happen when we define human beings by labels, things got acrimonious with each side accusing the other of being motivated either by greed or socialism. With all the media coverage and ongoing rancor, it was hard not to take sides in this debate. That’s why it was a... Read more

After two years of freelance writing for Patheos, today marks the launch of the new “Christopher Closeup” blog here. It’s an honor to officially move into a ‘hood with such talented writers (though I hope they don’t play loud music at night).  In the past, when I’ve mentioned I work for The Christophers, some people have thought we’re a family like The Flintstones or a religious order like the Franciscans.  We’re actually neither. The name was chosen because the word in... Read more