Category Archives: Current Events
About Rob Portman
I have had time to digest Rob Portman’s announcement last week that he supports same sex marriage. He is a conservative Republican senator from Ohio. He and his wife Jane have a son Will who came out as gay two … Continue reading
Fierce Generosity
On B16 stepping down: The pope’s decision to step aside to make way for a new and almost surely younger pope was seen Monday as another manifestation of his fierce generosity and goodwill. “As a Christian and as a Catholic, … Continue reading
A Culture Informed By Kingdom Values
Edward Gilbreath reflecting on MLK’s legacy: Today, as in King’s era, we are experts at depersonalizing our ideological opponents, viewing them more as oppositional labels than neighbors whom we are commanded to love. In our contemporary clash of values, perhaps … Continue reading
A Good and Necessary Question
I came across this marker while walking in the St Joseph Catholic Cemetery, one of four cemeteries clustered along Oakwood Road. I seldom talk about this, but I agree with the convictions written here. I do not condone all their … Continue reading
A Shadow Side of Freedom
Silence is a good response to the mass shooting in Connecticut. Silence and contrition. But writing about it can be useful too. I have been writing. I have also been reading responses to the shooting and the renewed urge people … Continue reading
Silence
Amid the commentary on the Connecticut shooting yesterday, I found someone who has said exactly what I have been thinking and feeling about it: Silence may well be a better response to grief and tragedy in this noisy world than … Continue reading
Middlesex
I drove to Toledo Hospital this afternoon to visit a parishioner. I went straight down M-52 and came in on Central Avenue. Nearing the hospital, I caught a street name in my peripheral eye: Middlesex Drive. What a curious word, … Continue reading
Evanescing Things
Ann Althouse finally ended her landline: I finally did it, ended non-mobile phone service. I’d been thinking about doing it for quite a while, because we make all our calls and talk to everyone we care about from our cell … Continue reading
Precinct 1
Voting took 20 minutes this afternoon. Everyone in the city votes at the fairgrounds. We are Precinct 1.
Five Reasons Not to Vote
In what is becoming a ritual for me, before a national election I pull Electing Not to Vote from the shelf and read one of the essays. This year the essay is by John Roth, a Mennonite history professor, who … Continue reading
Death Is a Small Thing
I was out visiting today amid lovely fall colors. One of my stops was with a woman in an assisted living facility in Tecumseh. She enjoys the colors too. She has memory loss. She doesn’t know how many children she … Continue reading
Two Links
Robert Samuelson writes about reasons for a slow economic recovery: To these daunting uncertainties must be added at least one other that, though less recognized, is perhaps more powerful. It is an intellectual breakdown. There is a loss of faith … Continue reading
The Problem With Justice
I’m enjoying a stay-at-home vacation this week. Activities have included house cleaning, lawn care, and a 12-mile bike ride. For reading, I’m finishing Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. A key theme in the novel is the conflict between love and social convention, … Continue reading
Pro-Life and Pro-Gay
Religion writer David Van Biema on how Psalm 139 is used by both pro-life groups who oppose abortion and pro-gay groups who want to support gays and lesbians: For decades, Psalm 139 has been a byword of the anti-abortion movement, … Continue reading
Spiritual and Religious
Diana Butler Bass on a significant change in statistics: What is new? In my research, it’s the “ands.” Those who say they are “spiritual and religious.” In 1999, 54 percent of Americans said they were “religious but not spiritual,” while … Continue reading
The Line That Separates You From Homelessness
This is the stairwell at the homeless shelter at 4:30 this morning. Outside it was still dark on West Church St. I finished my overnight shift with SC, a nurse in our congregation. We passed the time in the volunteer … Continue reading
An Officeless Voice
The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin on Sarah Palin: Politico reports on the latest from Sarah Palin: “ ‘Not only do I love my freedom of not having a title and being a declared candidate — that is liberating — I know … Continue reading
The Scale Has Tipped
The Presbyterian Church USA has removed language from its constitution that prevented gay ordination. Gays and lesbians may now be ordained as ministers, elders and deacons. Amendment 10-A removes the “fidelity and chastity” language from the PC(USA) constitution. Presbyteries and … Continue reading
April Envelopes
We collect tax documents in a brown manila envelope on the back of the closet door. The second week of April I gather our materials together and run the numbers through the computer. (Praise God for tax preparation software.) Then … Continue reading
