Blessed Be the Bond
My earlier book on marriage and family entitled Blessed Be the Bond is now available free on this website. First published in 1985, this is its third edition, thanks to …
Fairhope Community
We just spent three days in Fairhope, Alabama, a remarkable town on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay founded a little over a century ago by disciples of the “single …
The Father and the People
Out of nowhere, it seems, “the People” in Egypt have risen up against their long-time dictator, successor to a lineage of autocrats stretching back to the ancient pharoaohs. Appeal to …
The Tucson Atrocity
Like you I have been trying to get hold of my emotions and order my thoughts in the wake of the atrocity last week in Tucson. Indeed, it was not …
Class Conflict and the Common Good
In the midst of the inanities of our present political discourse two terms continually return as my filters for the vapid media verbiage: “class conflict” and “common good.” First, “class …
Getting to the Table
The past few months in American politics brings this reflection to the fore for your reflection and response. In 2008 a majority of Americans expressed, through their votes, a longing …
Two Fundamentalisms
I have been reading Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God during the Senate hearings for Elena Kagan, Obama’s latest nominee for the Supreme Court. In both cases I was absorbed …
Cosmic Wonder and Parochial Idols
On our recent trip to Florida we spent a day and a half at the Kennedy Space Center and Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Some might think it ironic that this …
Peacejam Memories
This week I made some presentations on South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to 8th graders at the nearby Waynesville Middle School. Most of them are heavily involved …
Obama’s Parliament
In discussing our country’s Constitutional crisis last week I focused on the tension between our ideal of deliberative argument and conversation over against the realities of factional partisanship fueled by …
Our Constitutional Crisis
The widely recognized dysfunction and paralysis of the US Senate is creating a Constitutional crisis in our country analogous to the fault-line that has created the devastating earthquake in Haiti. …
Tiger Woods, Publicity, and the Earth
Tiger Woods captured my loyalty when he emerged as a Wunderkind on the collegiate golf circuit. His steely concentration, discipline, and even-tempered calm soon vaulted him to the top of …
Obama’s Just War Nobel Speech
President Obama’s address to the Nobel Peace Prize Assembly has been justly praised for reintroducing the tradition of “just war” thinking into discussions of peace-building. His carefully reasoned exploration of …
The Junaluska Conferences
Last week Sylvia and I were heavily involved in two conferences at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center a few miles from our home. Both occurred in pouring rain …
Connecting with Health Care
I often return to Lanier Johnson’s comment in Red Clay, Blood River that “Connection is the name of the ecological game.” (p. 32) The angry debates over reforming our health …
Rupert Ross’s Returning to the Teachings
For some time my friend Tom Porter has urged me to read Rupert Ross’s, Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice (Penguin, 1996, 2006). I just finished it with the …