If you’ve been perusing this blog awhile, you might not expect what you’re about to read. Like every national tragedy, the horrific shootings in Arizona last weekend have led to instant analysis of the broader [...]
“Post-election time for us to come together,” intoned the headline for Wednesday’s Ironton Tribune editorial. Please forgive me a bit of cynicism here. It just all sounds so familiar. Maybe you’ve noticed the cycle. After [...]
We now return you to our regularly scheduled program, more or less in progress. For the past 10 days, I have been writing an article for a denominational publication. Wrestling is more like it: sometimes [...]
Marianne Williamson’s letter to Sarah Palin didn’t exactly make front-page news when it first came out. But it’s required reading for anyone who cares about dialogue. Williamson, a spiritual teacher who, by her own admission, [...]
Bertie Simmons opened her remarks by saying, “If we can’t imagine what civility looks like, we can’t do civility.” She then showed us what it looks like. Simmons was a panelist at last week’s Citizens’ [...]
So what will it take to make us civil? And what is civility, anyway? Monday’s Citizens’ Civility Symposium, sponsored by the Institute for Civility in Government, addressed a whole range of issues, including these. The [...]
Do you have “channel markers” in your life? I’m referring to those people whose deep insights and good example command your attention. Wherever you are in life, you keep half an eye on them (as [...]
Years ago, before I had a better hold on my temper, I screamed at a star player during a kids’ softball game. It was stupid and reprehensible. The game was emotionally charged, and I lost [...]