Why Is It Easier to Remember the Pain?
In my editing, I recently came across a requoted passage from Richard Rohr about the fact that it’s easier to remember the pain than the joy in our lives.[1] What popped into my head is that, back when we were the hunted as well as the hunter, it was genetically...
If Necessary, Use Words
Words are my stock in trade. They are a necessary and integral part of how I make my living as a writer and editor. But, sometimes, I also intentionally don’t use words. Words are definitely not my central method of communication when we visit our friend at the Eloy...
The Best Criticism of the Bad Is the Practice of the Better
Over the past week, I’ve been reflecting further on the state of Christianity in America. In last week’s post, I shared some pretty blunt thoughts—honestly, criticism —about Christianity’s cooptation by the powerful. It’s not a new story, of course. It’s been...
Celebrate Anyway
Yesterday we went to visit our Venezuelan friend at the Eloy Detention Center. She celebrated her birthday last week. We sent her a card and spoke to her on the phone, but it’s always better to see someone in person, and I can imagine it’s tough to be in a mood to...
Not Giving in to Despair
Easter occurs very late this year, so Lent is also beginning later—certainly later than it did last year, when it fell on Valentine’s Day—and what a paradox that was! This start to Lent also feels rather paradoxical, because yesterday the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona...
Millions of Years and Counting
The Grand Canyon celebrated one hundred years as a national park last week. As I mentioned in my prior post, we visited recently—two weeks before all the centennial festivities. While it might have been fun to be there for the celebration, somehow that century seems...
One Human Flock at the Grand Canyon
This past week was spring break back east, and our younger son and his family visited for their annual winter migration south. They expected warmth, but Arizona greeted them with rain and snow! We had planned a trip to the Grand Canyon and were very fortunate that our...
Flock Together and Seek Abundance
Last week, in my post on the state of our various unions, I included an image of a flock of snow geese. It seemed an appropriate image to illustrate the color and nature of the conformity I saw in one portion of the congressional audience at the State of the Union...
The State of Our Imperfect Unions
I broke my television-news fast to watch the State of the Union speech last week. (I’ve been choosing to ingest news in less emotional, more balanced written form, mostly through The Week.) Early the next morning, I lay awake, processing what I’d witnessed. It wasn’t...
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