The Killing Fields. Genocide and mass atrocities. The horror that was Cambodia under Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime. Pol Pot was one of the world’s bloodiest dictators, bent on restoring an agrarian society based upon Marxist principles: An estimated 1.5 million people living in Cambodia were killed during the brutal regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge – History.com Others claim that there were many, many more victims in this tiny country of only 7.3 million people... Read more
Maybe it’s because I’m a New Yorker. Put me on hold for more than 30 seconds and this customer is likely to hang up on you. Get stuck in front of me at a toll booth because your E-ZPass isn’t working and my language is suddenly NSFW. Show up more than ten minutes late to a business meeting and it’s not going to go well. So, yes I’m probably not considered a very patient man. The internet has only made it worse. I... Read more
Thomas Merton’s prayer reminds us that simple desire and trust allow for a closeness that second-guessing often fails to achieve: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please... Read more
Austrian psychotherapist Alfred Adler may have died two years before the film release of The Wizard of Oz, but he probably would have been a fan. Adler famously counseled that in any human endeavor we should follow our hearts – but we must also take our brains along with us. L. Frank Baum’s masterpiece drilled a little bit deeper and found courage, too, a critical element. All three harmoniously work their magic together – the heart leads while the mind counsels and courage finds... Read more
It was barely noticeable. Not much more than an autumn sniffle. At first. Then it grew louder. Yes, she’s definitely crying. I turned my head to the right ever . . . so . . . slowly. She was seated just two rows behind me and she noticed that I had spotted her. Her hands quickly engulfed her face; her eyes, full of tears, cast downward. I had never seen this woman before. Mass was about to start. And I’m used to sitting quietly... Read more
and I walked right through it. Joel and Victoria Osteen have received a lot of well-deserved criticism of late, some from my exceptionally astute and articulate fellow blogger, Kyle Cupp. The Osteens preach a message that doesn’t align with the true gospel of Christ. Theirs is a personal message of deliverance from financial limitation, emotional and physical suffering, and a lack of joy and happiness. It’s more a self-help manual than a gospel proclaiming the Kingdom. Speak the right words and you will heal your own... Read more
This is Sam He’s wicked smart. He teaches. He writes. He explores. He expounds. And now he makes good music. Not just any kind of music. Soul music. Not just any kind of soul music. Augustinian soul music. Say what? You see, my co-blogger at Patheos, Professor Sam Rocha, has written and performed something unique. It’s really a meditation set to music. A meditation utilizing the sum and substance of St. Augustine’s own words, his own life story. Some say that St.... Read more
But not in the way that you might think. We’ve all heard about the recent phone hacking that has caused much celebrity angst. Private photos stolen and disseminated all over the internet. Very private, very personal photos, now all very public thanks to Google and other search engines. Privacy has become an endangered commodity. No method of communication, no financial transaction, no aspect of our lives is snoop-free. We’ve grown accustomed to surrendering the smallest details of our existence for easier and faster access to... Read more
I can’t blog any more until I get this off my chest. It wouldn’t be right. You need to know that I have been harboring a secret. It all started back in high school. Wow – I’m not even good at owning up. Let me start over. It actually started earlier than that, like when I was around 7 or 8. Maybe even earlier. Yes, I was quite precocious. I can’t really remember a time when it didn’t cause at... Read more
It was time. One year after my dad’s passing, the house that my parents had shared for the last 30 years was up at auction. The hand tools, the tons of specialized wood-working equipment, the scores of craftsmen magazines were all gone now. Some sold, some gifted, some junked. For nephews, nieces, children, and grandchildren, gifts too numerous to remember were crafted by hands that each year had become just a little bit stiffer, and eyes that had become just... Read more
Grace Pending
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