This time next week I’ll be on my way to my brother’s memorial service. In the back of the car—provided that the U.S. border folks approve—will be some precious family items. Precious, in that my ancestors cared for these things, and handed them on; and precious, in that they will be gifts for my brother’s …
This article was written for The Contemplative Society June 2026 Newsletter Western medicine has recently “discovered” the interstitium, the interconnected connective tissue in human bodies; in fact, they now believe that our interstitial tissue actually acts as a third circulation system. “Discovered” is a joke: these tissues have always been there. But westerners considered them …
In her short and remarkable life, the musician Eva Cassidy recorded some rollicking versions of old standards. In my favorite, “How Can I Keep From Singing?,” she positively belts out the chorus: “No storm can shake my inmost calm while to this rock I’m clinging; if Love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can …
Several years ago, a young and lusty robin showed up outside our bedroom windows. It made its presence known by flying at the windows, hard. It did this over and over and over, starting about 5 am. It was, we assume, attacking the young and lusty robin it saw in the mirrored window so as …
I am writing this just ten days before Good Friday, a dozen days before Easter. I feel compelled to speak of these central feasts of the church in relationship with the world around us. It feels odd to call Good Friday a central feast, doesn’t it? Most of us feel like the resurrection is the …
My great-nieces introduced me to the phrase “cheese tax.” I thought they were referring to the duty paid when importing dairy products, but it quickly became clear that they were talking about dogs. “Cheese tax” is that variable percentage of human food offered as canine appeasement. Faced with the doleful, bottomless stare of a dog, …
When I was a kid, we lived within blocks of two different libraries. The city library was an imposing edifice of stone and stained glass and silence; the county library a big, well-lit room in the redbrick county office building. While its architecture was uninspiring, that county library was a treasure trove, a warren of …
Many years ago, I had an old Volvo named Goldy who had an unfortunate tendency to stop dead in her tracks for no discernible reason. We had just moved to a new city. I needed a desk, and had found one for sale, way out in the sticks. On my way there, traveling along a …
Her daughter had terminal cancer. “I’m grieving,” she said. Then she said, “I’m also savoring.” There are a lot of conversations about grief and loss lately. The child losing her struggle with mental illness; the limp suddenly revealed as bone cancer; the partner just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. These are personal places of powerlessness and sorrow: …
I’ve been recently reading Moral Ambition, by Rutger Bregman. Bregman writes about history, economics, philosophy, and goodness in public life. He’s so passionate about the last that he has formed a foundation to train and support those who wish to have social impact. Bregman highlights one surprising research finding about altruistic behavior: empathy does not cause …
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