Category Archives: Spiritual life
Hard Hearts, Closed Minds, and Blind Eyes
If a pastor wants to start a row, he needn’t preach heresy. All he needs to do is change the color of the carpet in the church nursery or bring a drum set onto the platform. People might not notice … Continue reading
The Spiritual Myopia Pandemic
There are about 97 million myopic people in the U.S., according to the American Optometric Association. I’m one of them. I was fitted for my first pair of corrective lenses in second grade. Because my vision continued to deteriorate (and … Continue reading
The Banality of Evil and the Creativity of Good
One of the remarkable moments in the history of the twentieth century occurred near its close: the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. South Africa had been embroiled in decades of horrific racial violence. The Commission’s mandate … Continue reading
The Number One Rule in Great Story-Writing
A great storyteller can bring a character to life, metaphorically speaking. There’s no one who does it better than the novelist and poet Wendell Berry. His Port William “membership” is replete with memorable characters, and his Burley Coulter is one … Continue reading
The Virtue We Wish We Could Do Without
When the Tribune Chronicle stopped carrying Sydney Harris’s column, I abruptly cancelled my subscription. It was my habit to turn first to “Strictly Personal,” and only after that to check out the rest of the paper. Harris’s famous aphorisms and … Continue reading
Acquire Inward Peace, Change the World
Before “Wayne’s World” was a movie with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, it was a Saturday Night Live comedy staple. The sketches were frequently based on some daydream fantasy of the stars – things that did not, and perhaps could … Continue reading
