Guns, Violence, and Human Life

Guns, Violence, and Human Life

Christians consider the Easter season to be a celebration of new life.  In the northern hemisphere, it comes in springtime, as the Earth itself is reborn: plants, animals, even the weather comes anew to brightness out of the dark of winter. In this time when the...
Amateurism (It’s for Lovers)

Amateurism (It’s for Lovers)

I have news for you. We’re amateurs. We’re making this up as we go along. With few exceptions we are not professionally trained to do what we’re doing. I for one feel my amateur status pretty acutely. Sometimes the fact of my amateurism fills me with the voice of a...
An Australian in Boston: My First American Easter

An Australian in Boston: My First American Easter

In the three months or so since my arrival in this land of the free, I have been boring the locals silly with observations that inevitably begin “in Australia, we…” The cultural divide is much greater than I originally supposed, but in a good way. I am particularly...
A Euro-Vision for the New Pope

A Euro-Vision for the New Pope

What a list of firsts: first Latin American, first Jesuit, first to use the name Francis, first…Vatican entry for next month’s Eurovision Song Contest! You read that right! This is an exciting time in the Vatican. A sense of “newness” fills the Roman air.  You’d...
Weeks in Review — March 24-April 6, 2012

Weeks in Review — March 24-April 6, 2012

As we continue the Easter celebrations, it’s time for a quick look back at the last two weeks of TJP, covering everything from science and technology (parasites, evolution, and internet attacks) to nostalgia (baseball, The Velveteen Rabbit, and 50 years...
#tbt – Play Ball!

#tbt – Play Ball!

On Opening Day, hope springs eternal. (Unless you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, in which case, 100 losses goes well with a Chicago Dog). By mid-May, most of our pennant dreams are dashed and we’ll be content with the belief that maybe, hopefully our teams will be in wild...
Dr. King’s Unfinished Struggle

Dr. King’s Unfinished Struggle

On April 4, 1968, 45 years ago today, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed. This I remember. What I often forget is that King was assassinated while preparing for a march in support of striking sanitation workers. Dr. King was moved by the deaths of...
On Suicide

On Suicide

January 2. Dr. Peter J. N. Linnerooth, 43, an army psychologist who spent time with troops in Iraq helping them cope with PTSD, shot himself at Reno, VA, after being denied the help to which he thought he was entitled. January 5. Rapper Freddy E., 22, shot himself...
The Abyss Called “God”

The Abyss Called “God”

Christian Wiman does not suck as a spiritual writer. In fact, he’s damn good – one of the best I have read in a very long time. My joy at writing those lines is immense, because my relationship with “spiritual writing” (and with “spiritual reading”) can be summed up...