GODSTUFF MAKING PEACE BY ACTING WITH COMPASSION: THE GRACE AGENDA FOR A NEW PRESIDENT Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”— Jesus, according to the Gospel of St. Matthew “If you want peace, work for justice.”— H.L. Mencken and/or Pope Paul VI (depending on whom you ask) The setting was perfect for the task at hand — the pristine, alpine grounds of the Aspen Institute, freshly dusted with a coating of snow, in the offseason... Read more

GODSTUFF PRAYERS FOR OUR NEW PRESIDENT: KEEP HIM SAFE, STRONG, GRACE-FILLED Just after the clock struck 10 p.m. Tuesday in Grant Park, and Wolf Blitzer’s voice boomed across the Obama election night rally announcing that the junior senator from Illinois would, indeed, become the 44th president of the United States, almost everyone (including many members of the press corps) cheered. Then a lot of people cried. Many hugged strangers. More than a few danced. And then . . . a... Read more

All I can say is Praise the Lord O happy happy day. A new hope. A new beginning. May the Spirit of God move mightily through our new president. Rule with mercy. Rule with wisdom. Walk in love. Walk with grace. Please Lord, keep him safe. Read more

GODSTUFF THIS VOTE’S FOR YOU, STUDS. Rarely are we able to glimpse the big picture from our vantage point, mired in the details of the here-and-now. But now, on the cusp of the 2008 presidential election, I can’t help but feel I’m witnessing history in the making. I’ve had that feeling only a few times before, rare opportunities afforded me as someone who stands on the edge of history, at the corner of religion and politics, people-watching for a living.... Read more

Studs. One of the greatest human beans I ever knew. I loved this man and I can’t imagine the world without him. Rest well, my dear friend. Now you know. You are my friend,though words will fail me here again.The sacraments will lift us.And we set out in the day again.Oh, you’ll never lose that light,oh, you’ll never lose that lightThough so much is gone.— Innocence Mission, “Song for Tom” Love you.GG Read more

  A few hours before the bodies of Jennifer Hudson’s murdered mother and brother were discovered on Chicago’s South Side last Friday, across town one of the world’s greatest peacemakers began his remarks at the Hotel Intercontinental by addressing head-on the city’s daunting problem with violent crime. “I want to give a special message to a group of people sitting in that corner — it is families who have lost sons to the gun violence that is so rampant,” Archbishop... Read more

Yes. So it’s a dark, chilly Saturday afternoon and I’m listening to a 1999 recording of Annie Lamott called “Word by Word,” a 2-ish-hour lecture/talk about writing she gave in Austin, Texas after Bird by Bird came out. In the beginning, she talks about a poem by Mary Oliver called “Wild Geese.” It’s long a favorite of mine, but for whatever reason, struck a particularly resonant chord with me today. Here it is: Wild GeeseBy Mary Oliver You do not... Read more

GODSTUFF HOLY HULA: SWAYING THROUGH THE CHAOS Until last week, most of what I knew about hula dancing came from the three-part “Brady Bunch” episodes from 1972, when Mike and Carol brought their blended family to Hawaii for a vacation, and a memorable late-night dinner I once shared with Don Ho and his Polynesian entourage at Smith & Wollensky’s steakhouse a decade ago after his gig at the House of Blues. I had little sense of the spirituality attached to... Read more