Today’s post is my monthly column for the Episcopal News Service: A number of years ago, my family and I came back to the United States after a semester in England. As we were going through customs, an official picked up my son’s backpack, felt its heft, and exclaimed, “Whew! What’s in here? A bunch of rocks?” “Yes, sir,” answered my son, for his backpack was indeed full of rocks that we had picked up on our travels through the... Read more
“Nature is, above all, profligate. Don’t believe them when they tell you how economical and thrifty nature is, whose leaves return to the soil. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to leave them on the tree in the first place? This deciduous business alone is a radical scheme, the brainchild of a deranged manic-depressive with limitless capital. Extravagance! Nature will try anything once…No form is too gruesome, no behavior too grotesque. If you’re dealing with organic compounds, then let them combine. If... Read more
For the past few weeks I’ve been slowly reading my way through T.M. Luhrmann’s When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. Critics have compared it to William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience, the classic work on the psychology of religion published in 1902. I agree that this is an important, groundbreaking book. It’s also the clearest description I’ve ever read of what faith looks like from the inside. I found it intriguing, challenging and at times mystifying,... Read more
Seeing the picture at left, you’re probably thinking that I’ve been traveling to some exotic destination again. Well, if you consider central Iowa exotic, yes, I have. Two weeks ago my husband and I were driving on a country road north of Des Moines when lo and behold, this building appeared. It wasn’t a mirage, but rather the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Iowa. The door was open and as we peeked inside, the smell of incense wafted our way,... Read more
Thanks to Carolyn for telling me about this lovely song by Peter Mayer: Read more
Not long ago, Holy Rover readers had a lively discussion about the various items they’ve purchased on their travels. I thought of those stories recently when I visited the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa. The grotto shows what can happen when someone’s collection of souvenirs gets put on steroids. The grotto is the life work of Father Paul Dobberstein (1872-1954), a Roman Catholic priest who served Sts. Peter and Paul Church in this small town in north... Read more
Saturday’s New York Times had a lovely essay about what seems like a trivial topic: the buying of souvenirs while traveling. In They’re Souvenirs, Not Stuff! Dominiqe Browning writes: After struggling for years with my untoward attachments to my things, after resisting exotic bazaars and stands selling trinkets, I am declaring that I love my stuff…And why shouldn’t I? Shopping, after all, is an essential travel experience — a profoundly interesting way to understand a culture. (And that’s as far as I’m... Read more
Today’s post is my monthly column for the Episcopal News Service: On a recent trip to upstate New York, my family and I visited the Abbey of the Genesee, a Trappist monastery overlooking the green, rolling countryside south of Rochester. In its gift store, loaves of bread made by the monks were prominently displayed. “Monks selling bread?” my son asked. “Why do they do that?” One answer, of course, is that monks, like everybody else, need to make a living.... Read more
Back at work after a trip to upstate New York to drop Son #1 off to school, I find myself contemplating something that may seem odd: the business secrets of monks. The reason is that while in New York we visited the Abbey of the Genesee, a Cistercian monastery in the rolling countryside south of Rochester. A question posed by Son #2,”Why do the monks bake bread for sale?” led to a column I’m currently writing. I’ll share that essay... Read more
It’s movie day on The Holy Rover. I assume many of you have seen what I think is the best film of the year, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Everyone I know who has seen it has raved about it. Today I want to recommend a movie that didn’t generate as much buzz, but which is also well worth watching. The Way tells the story of an American doctor who goes to France to deal with the tragic loss of... Read more
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