A Miracle in Sonoma?
Sometimes, when we talk less, it’s amazing what we hear. One highlight of my trip to San Francisco last month (to promote the book) was the chance to take part in “5 White Guys Talk [...]
Dialogue, the Internet, the Decline of Religion, and the Bony Fish
Very few articles linger in my memory for longer than a few days. Valerie Tarico’s article on religion and the Internet is one of them. I’ve rarely read anything about which I feel more ambivalent. [...]
Singing the Lord’s Song to the “Other Side”
“How shall we sing the Lord’s song on alien soil?” —Psalm 137:4 This haunting question—asked by the psalmist after the people of Israel had been swept into captivity, hundreds of miles from home—formed the theme [...]
Reading the Media That Tell Me I’m Right
How many conservatives read Mother Jones? How many progressives ever tune into FOX News? If Michael Kitchens’ research is any indication, the answer to both questions is: not many. An assistant professor of psychology at [...]
Dialogue and Language Makeovers, or, What Does “Died for Our Sins” Mean?
How do we know when our language needs a makeover? One great thing about writing for the web is that it starts conversations with extraordinary people. Two months ago, Kathleen Turcic commented on an article [...]
Dialogue and the Prayers We Don’t Like
On Tuesday evenings, several of us in the local chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society get together for prayer, including the ancient monastic rite of Compline. Because of the liturgy we use for Compline, [...]
The More Things Change…
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before—and who was one of the Pharisees—asked, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” The [...]