Many of us feel paralyzed at the toll of human suffering we witness each day in Gaza and on our own southern border. My community has two centers each in a different part of Texas trying to provide assistance to the desperately poor they work with each day. We are, perhaps, more attentive to the... Continue Reading →
Joy: A Few More Thoughts
Several months ago, I treated the subject of joy from the perspective of Bono, the Irish rock star. More than a few of you commented on how surprised you were to learn that Bono has developed a spirituality of joy that he tries to insert as part of his music and his relationship with audiences... Continue Reading →
Spirituality and Earth Day, April 22
Is there a spirituality of Earth Day? Let me ask it this way: Do you love your children, your family? Do you love your home and property? Do you love your pets, your friends, your church and social groups? If you love any or all of the above, you are driven by a spirituality of... Continue Reading →
The Mysterious Blessings of the Eclipse
The total eclipse experienced here in northeast Ohio last Monday still has people talking. In the dentist’s waiting room today, a woman joined me after she announced herself to the receptionist, plopped herself across from me and immediately began: “How about that eclipse?” We rattled on about it until I was called to that ominous... Continue Reading →
More Meanings of the Path to Totality This Week
Clevelanders can hardly breathe with all the excitement of baseball’s opening day and the total solar eclipse occurring at the same time, April 8, 3:13 p.m. And, in between, the Womens’ NCAA Final Four taking place at our own Rocket Mortgage Field House from April 5 through 7. We are awash with anticipation and excitement!... Continue Reading →
Two Guys Named Flacco and How They Inspired Us
(Well, one of the names is spelled with one ‘c’ and the other with two.) Photo credits: Getty Images / The New York Times If you follow the NFL, you are aware that the Cleveland Browns did not renew the contract with Joe Flacco, the quarterback they signed from the Jets last season to replace... Continue Reading →
Two Friends in the Garden on That Special Morning
Adobe Stock This Easter we will hear John’s account of discovering that Jesus has risen. The main character in all four of the Evangelists’ accounts is Mary Magdalene who leads a cadre of other faithful women to the burial site where they hope to anoint the body of Jesus. Let’s picture this scene. We are... Continue Reading →
A Royal Leader: His Entry and His Crown
Photo Credits: Adobe Stock Palm Sunday begins next week’s harrowing account of our Redemption. Over centuries legends have magnified the event to set our dispositions toward a meaningful appreciation of what happened on the coming important days. For instance, we have adopted palm branches as the “leafy branches” one of the evangelists describes in his... Continue Reading →
The Holy of the Now
Photo Credit: Pixabay.com We humans are a competitive lot, aren’t we? This isn’t bad either. Being competitive makes us strive higher, work harder, uncover competencies we never knew we had. There is a joy in achievement and a contribution in making the world a little better because of our competitive achievement, even in sports! I... Continue Reading →
“God So Loved the World.” Then Why Did Jesus Suffer?
Photo credit: Pixabay.com In the Gospel for this coming Sunday, March 10, we have what many writers tell us is one of the most poetic and beautiful lines in the Christian Scriptures: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might... Continue Reading →