- Our Basic GoodnessI see the trouble in the world and I’m worried on so many levels. We thought war was declining, but we see it is on the rise, causing unnecessary devastation and suffering. Extreme weather and rising sea levels show that we’ve been ignoring the warnings of a changing climate for too long. We thought we …
- Repairing the WorldHorrified by the violence and suffering that is growing in the world, I struggle to keep my balance, to absorb the news without shutting down. Wars in Ukraine, Sudan, Iran, and a dozen other hot spots have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. The numbers are so large they have become a sanitized abstraction, …
- Our Basic Nature is GoodnessI approach life with the assumption that people act with good intent. This is not wishful thinking, it’s an observation. Look at how we proceed through life and through history. It seems each human life repeats the progress of our species. We all have desires, dreams, goals we’re reaching toward. But the focus of what …
- I Long to Fill the GapsLife has always seemed a mixed bag, a loose collection of pieces that form a coherent whole only if I squint. It’s as if the potter dropped the vase and made dubious guesses gluing our brokenness back together. Why else is the collage so disjointed – ecstatic joy laid alongside blistering pain; splashes of beauty …
- The Harder Path of KindnessHuman kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Cruelty tries to mimic strength. But it is a hollow brand of strength, an overreach, a compensation for the fears that eat us from inside. True …
Responding to the Spiritual Impulse