Today we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day and the lives of millions of people with Down syndrome around the globe. (It’s March 21, 3/21, and Down syndrome is the genetic condition in which people have three copies of the 21st chromosome. Someone pointed out that A Good and Perfect Gift, my book about what it […]
Digging Up Old Wounds
It often seems like talking about the wounds of our past—whether our family’s past or our nation’s past—is an exercise in self-flagellation. Why revisit pain and suffering? Why draw attention away from what might be a pleasant and peaceful present moment? But I’ve come to believe that acknowledging the wounds of the past is the […]
The Call of Lent (And the Temptation)
You know that empty container inside the back door where you throw your keys? And maybe also your sunglasses and earbuds and a hair-tie and some loose change and whatever else is in your hands or your pockets when you walk in the door? Chewing gum, Chapstick, an occasional stray dose of Dayquil—they all end […]
4 Books About Our Common Humanity
Societies have drawn dividing lines throughout all of human history that demonstrate who is “in” and who is “out.” In Western culture, we’ve seen those lines through the history of racial categorization, beginning with what was then a new concept in the 1600s of “black” and “white” people. We’ve also seen those lines drawn when […]
The Problem with “Noblesse Oblige”
After George H.W. Bush died, we heard a lot about how he modeled the idea of “noblesse oblige.” It’s a French term that translates as “nobility obligates.” In other words, anyone born into the upper economic class should feel a sense of obligation toward his or her fellow humans, and particularly to those less fortunate. […]
Love That Never Fails
On Valentine’s Day, it’s easy to think of love as a weak and meaningless force symbolized by pink candy hearts and carnations. But for people of faith, it’s worth remembering that the Biblical picture of love is very different than the romanticized versions of love that we see in our culture. Love is one of […]
