I have sometimes ruined Christmas. And I did so mostly by having very high expectations ... of myself, of others, and of "the moment." I had a vision of how I wanted things to go, a very unrealistic vision, but a vision nonethless. And that unrealism  was what ruined the real. It is only when […]

So many people I know are taking care of others right now. Helping grown children launch, caring for hurting neighbors, walking alongside those suffering deeply, watching parents age, listening to people carrying the heavy weight of depression, or anxiety, or grief. It is beautiful to me how God uses people to help other people have […]

Jesus said that above all else ... above ALL ELSE, people will know we are his followers by the way we love. How are we doing with that these days? I love how Fyodor Dostoyevsky puts it in his book The Brothers Karamazov: "Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love […]

I have been thinking a lot about the refugees ... Syrian ... Afghani ... Eritrean ... Iraqui ... Moms, Dads, babies, little boys washed up on the shore Desperate. Frightened. Traumatized. Sometimes dead ... I cannot even imagine what life would be like if I had to leave my home, my country, my comfort simply […]

I know many friends who live in much angst over someone they love who seems to be making a complete disaster of their lives. This is a little gift for you from Pope Francis: "God is in every person’s life ... Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it […]

"The greatest single antidote to violence is conversation." (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)