Faith

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Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy . . .

BONHOEFFER: PASTOR, SPY . . .

For my biography of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, please click here. This movie centers on a famous pastor who lived in Germany’s golden age known as the Third Reich (or Realm.) The previous two Reich’s, according to the Nazis, were the Holy Roman Empire and the half century or so of the German Empire ending with the conclusion of World War I. Acting was good, and most of the film was shot in Ireland. Period effects were as expected. It was over...

Finding living water on a dying planet

FINDING LIVING WATER ON A DYING PLANET

Imagine living a few centuries ago in some part of the world that was absolutely isolated from greater civilization. And this was a part of the world that was also dry and barren. Maybe the area was the Sahara, or the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, or perhaps the Patagonian Desert in Argentina, or the Great Arabian, Australian or American Desert.  And these remote areas exist even until today. All that heat and sand! A third of our planet is desert, and...

The unforgiving servant

THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT

A migrant or refugee from another country who enters the U.S. illegally for the first time commits a misdemeanor under 8 U.S.C. § 1325 (cited below for the readers convenience.)  Repeated illegal entries are felonies, however. This is an important area of law to the point I want to make in the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.” Findlaw explains the difference: “A misdemeanor offense is a less serious crime than a felony offense. A felony offense is the most serious crime you can...

Our Lady of Paris Reopens

OUR LADY OF PARIS REOPENS

On December 7, 2024, Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich knocked loudly three times on the door to Notre Dame cathedral with his staff, referred to as a crozier1.  Once the doors were opened according to the “Rite of the Open Door,” the organ played, the bell rang and the reopening ceremony began as the cathedral once again roared to life following the catastrophic fire of April 25, 2019. Our Lady of Paris stirred from her slumber. The cornerstone for Notre Dame cathedral was...

Preach the gospel to every creature

PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE

In Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark is speaking to his friend Horatio about his father’s ghost which Hamlet has seen with his very eyes. Horatio is skeptical, of course, while Hamlet appears to be as crazy as a loon throughout most of the play. We know it’s a ruse intended to discover the facts behind his father’s mysterious death. But Hamlet sobers up for a moment to say to his companion “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,...

WHERE DID GOD GO?

In these dark days many people are asking “Where is God?” They wonder “Where did God go?” This is the question I’d like to address in this post. It is a most timely question as we welcome, or dread, a new year. No, God’s probably not under the bed. In some sense He’s everywhere, but that would not be the first place I would look. However, if He chose to, He could reveal Himself in the most unusual of all...

Prevailing in prayer

PREVAILING IN PRAYER

I have had a particularly difficult time with my prayer life the past few years.  I’m a Boomer in my mid-seventies with issues such as Parkinsonism from Agent Orange and PTSD from Vietnam.   I have been fighting stress (and cancer) along with all that has happened this past year, and I have my share of aches and pains which usually wait until I retire for the evening before they make themselves known.  Thank God for His love and mercy.  I’ve asked God for more...

The way things are

THE WAY THINGS ARE

This is a post on the human condition (conditio humana), something that philosophers and theologians such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche and (in our time) Hannah Arendt among others have wondered about and wrestled with themselves. By “others” I mean author John Steinbeck who likewise wondered about the way things are. And, once again, I’d like to anchor this essay to a passage in author John Steinbeck’s book “The Log From the Sea of Cortez.” This is an...

Invisible hands

INVISIBLE HANDS

I had the good fortune, or perhaps, misfortune to teach macro and microeconomics for several sections many years ago. Whether you’ve ever taken it or not, the name “Adam Smith” should ring a bell. Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish economist and is often referred to as the “Father of Economics” or the “Father of Capitalism.” He was such a bedrock in economics, particularly because of his premier work “The Wealth of Nations” that it is impossible to not mention...

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