Sometimes we need a sledgehammer to break up our hard or fallow ground. Throughout my life, since I first picked up the small book Knowledge of the Holy when I was a high school student, a virtually unknown Chicago pastor named A.W. Tozer has been that for me. Tozer did not travel far from his… Read More Prayer is no substitute for obedience
Life on the margins has its own power, but it also has its own special pain. After all, it is easier to live in the center where power is, where you feel you can have an impact on events and people that the margin doesn’t provide. But throughout history many of the key social, political… Read More Living on the margins away from the centers of power
Cynicism can start as a perhaps justifiable response to disappointment in our lives, but then often grows to something deadly to a life of hope and faith. All of us face disappointment, whether with ourselves or with the way life has turned out or with the groups we work among or with. For me disappointment… Read More The Deadly Danger of Cynicism
I am hesitant to write on political matters, whether about my birth nation of the United States or my adopted land of India. But there are times when I find it hard to remain silent. In the last couple of days, the US President uttered these words to four congresswomen, ‘Go back to where you… Read More ‘Go back to where you came from’? Very sad words from President Trump
Ever been in a gathering (or one on one) when someone starts sharing pain from their story, whether personal or group related? Or has that person ever been you? What usually happens? Well, quite often one or more people listening will feel compelled to share their own story of pain, however dissimilar, hoping somehow that… Read More Why do we have to ‘identify’ when someone is sharing their pain?
I love to read. For the past 20 years plus, I’ve read on average 150 books a year. I even keep a list in my journal of all those books, so could prove it to you if you wanted! Books on history always figure prominently on that list, but not only non-fiction. I also love… Read More The Power of Historical Fiction
In the art of blogging, (which I’m still learning!), the pros say that having a provocative headline question can gain readers. Did it work? Does this headline cause you to feel a degree of pushback, especially if you are from the USA? Some may immediately disagree, wanting to say how friendly and polite the nation… Read More Is the United States a Cruel Nation?
I’ve been thinking lately about kindness. Actually about how unkind we are in our public and political discourse. I’m writing this post in the USA, but it is certainly true in other nations as well. Yesterday, with the graves of the Normandy D-Day invasion in the background, the US President in an interview savaged his… Read More How low will our public discourse go? The importance of kindness.
You may have seen the photo by now. Taken by Nirmal Purja, and now circulating all over the world, it shows this week a whole string of climbers waiting to summit the tallest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest. For some reason, this photo stopped me in my tracks. Here was one of the most… Read More It’s crowded at the top of Mt. Everest
I must confess my struggle with the constant question “how are you?” It comes at us every day, many times a day. It happens at really any place humans gather. It also comes with a certain felt obligation to respond in kind, even when you don’t want to. At least it does for me. But… Read More How long does it take to get over severe trauma?
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