Some of my most intense religious formation came during my chaplain residency at a large teaching hospital north of Chicago. One day a week I would bring my guitar onto my assigned unit. I would do what I called “corridor concerts:” singing in the hallway rather like a wandering minstrel. I kept the volume low […]
Chelsea Manning: Obama Did the Right Thing
Human beings are called to feel, to reason things out, and to practice compassion. Because without those higher inclinations, our own weakness, desire, fear, and the ways of the mob, trample all human potential. The shadow side of human nature is strongest when we make war. As I’ve said many times, to go to war […]
Of Lava Floes and Religious Insight
Camping at Idaho’s Craters of the Moon National Monument, can be a real source of religious insight. Looking down from a weather satellite, those black lava fields stand out like a sore thumb. The eruptions began through a 75-mile crack in the earth’s crust more than 10,000 years ago. The lava only stopped pouring forth […]
Educated by a Rumpy Cat
He’s the cutest kitten you ever saw, at least until he stands up. Then you see something’s not right. He doesn’t quite look like a kitten. Maybe like a gerbil. Or like his name, “Little Bear.” About every six months, my better half, Kate, fosters a litter of kittens from the local animal shelter. It’s […]
A Neil deGrasse Tyson “Religion” Blooper
I love Neil deGrasse Tyson. I love his wit and enthusiasm, particularly because he usually combines them with impeccable logic and factual accuracy. I say “usually” because if you watch carefully, you can catch even Neil deGrasse Tyson in a blooper now and then. Case in point is an otherwise excellent lecture he delivered in […]