Some of the wisest advice I’ve heard came from comedienne Gracie Allen. Toward the end of her life, in her final love letter to her husband, George Burns, she wrote, “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” After every mountaintop experience, there’s a comma and the hard return to the ordinary. And […]
I’m not sure the resurrection appearances of Jesus are all that helpful. It’s not that they’re unimportant; on the contrary, they’re central to Christian faith. But sometimes they pull us into such a rarefied frame of mind that we risk losing touch with what the resurrection is about. The mythical giant Antaeus was invincible as […]
For several years, for the Sunday after Easter Day, I’ve written a letter to the disciple Thomas. Some of them I’ve made public. This is one of them. Dear Thomas — For more than forty years I’ve been trying to say something intelligible about the Resurrection, and while I always start with the risen Christ, […]
The story is told among preachers, about one pastor and his daughter who were on their way to an Easter service when the young girl asked, “Dad, are you going to try to explain Easter again this year, or will you just let people enjoy it?” St. Paul tried to explain it (cf. 1 Cor. […]
With just four words, the CEO of the Boeing aircraft company taught corporate executives everywhere a powerful lesson about leadership. And he taught all of us a powerful lesson about our faith, one that’s especially appropriate for Maundy Thursday. Recent years have not been good for Boeing, so Dave Calhoun was hired four years ago […]
Palm Sunday worship services traditionally begin with a reading from Mark’s gospel. It’s the description of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of his final week, the reading in which the crowd shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 1:9-10). Because the scriptures are a living […]
If you want to identify me, to know who I am, don’t bother to read my résumé. The best way to identify me is to “ask me what I’m living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for” (Thomas Merton, […]
One of the good jokes I like to tell is memorable for two reasons: it tells a story, and it’s about sudden and unexpected change. Few things are as painful as great and sudden change, so a good way to cope is to tell a joke about it. And the more painful the change, the […]
The Sauntering Pilgrim 