I understand what it means to dislike someone, or to treat a person with disfavor. I “get” the idea that it is possible to view another human being as distasteful. But I cannot wrap my hands around a hatred that completely devalues the other. How doe…
These are the weeks when wild-eyed graduates around the country sit in stuffy gymnasiums, or under the great big sun, waiting for the announcement to switch the tassel on their skullcap from one side to the other. Some are surprised. Some are honored…
I don’t know Raul Castro personally. My travel itinerary in the coming months doesn’t appear to be bringing me close to his company either. If given the chance, however, I’d love to tool around Havana in the backseat of one of those ’57 Chevy taxis,…
Last week, on the Pearl Street walking mall in Boulder, Colorado, I sat on a bench enjoying my turkey and provolone Panini. It was a warm day, perfect for people watching. I began to study the movements of that city’s many homeless people. It is pret…
There are countless reasons given for justifying anti-Semitism around the world. I don’t like any of them. Why this minority population deserves to be consistently demonized defies all reason. There isn’t a century in the last 2000 years where people…
I am trying to fathom the experience of a 32-year-old black man highlighted in the Justice Department’s scathing report on Ferguson, Missouri’s corrupt police department. Our 32-year-old friend is cooling off in his car after a basketball game in a F…
One of God’s favorite tricks seems to be the hiding of certain Kingdom of Heaven treasures in unsuspecting places. Insert extraordinary objects into ordinary surroundings and you are bound to create surprise. It’s a play right out of the playbook of…
Green-and-yellow fan you are or not, the Green Bay Packers lost a tough one last weekend. By any reckoning, they had the game in the bag. Complete domination in the first 30-minutes pushed the salty air from Puget Sound right out of the stadium. Fans…
We speak of prisoners “serving time.” I have never been incarcerated, so my words are careful here. But if I were imprisoned, I am guessing that service to the clock would be as awful as the toughness to the lock securing my cell. Time never seems to…