A book review is at the end of the current post.
At dinner the other night an elderly friend I’ll call Lucy told us a touching story. A few years ago on her 65th wedding anniversary, she was sorely missing her deceased husband. She lived alone, and there was no one to share her sadness and console her. She figured that her children would not remember […]
Many people worldwide are gripped by fear. Maybe you fear something right now: a doctor visit, an impending hurricane, a performance or talk you must give, or the loss of a loved one. This strong emotion can be an asset when it protects us from danger. “Don’t go near the fire,” moms say. “You might […]
In Stephen Hawking’s last book, which will be published posthumously, he answers questions that he was asked most frequently. Among these is “Do you think God exists?” Hawking’s answer was essentially no, it is impossible that there is a god. This opinion of a renowned scientist contradicts what people of different cultures have believed down […]
In the excitement of creating elaborate Halloween displays, designing costumes, carving pumpkins, and buying enough candy to last the night, the original meaning of Halloween might be forgotten or overlooked—except at schools where children dress up as saints! Halloween is the eve before the feast of All Saints. Hallowed means holy, as in the Our […]
The following prayer is entitled “17th Century Nun’s Prayer” and its source is unknown. Although it seems intended for nuns, the sound advice it gives in the form of a prayer is applicable to anyone on the face of the earth. See what gems you can cull from it for your own life: Lord, Thou […]
I don’t know about you, but during these past weeks several of my friends have been undergoing severe trials: cancer, car accidents, death of loved ones. Such ordeals shake our faith and we wonder, Why do we suffer? and even, Is there a good God? At our chicken barbecue last month, during a random reading […]
This summer I edited a unique and fascinating book, Thunder in the Cell by John Ballentine. John has been a prisoner for almost thirty years in the Virginia Correctional System because of drugs. During that time, a provocative dream about his mother prompted him to search for God. He began with the World Almanac and […]
I’ve always been fascinated by words—a useful trait for a writer. A friend emailed the following roots of common sayings that you might enjoy knowing as I did. Next week I plan to write about sayings that originated in Scripture. There is an old hotel/pub in Marble Arch, London, which used to have a gallows […]
The Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio, belong to an international congregation of more than two thousand apostolic women religious. We are one in mind and one in heart for the transformation of the world in Christ. 