The interesting thing about Elvis is that he crossed borders. With the Oscars approaching – “Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis has eight nominations – it’s something to think about. Not those sorts of borders. And not that I was really around. I was 12 when Elvis died. My mother-in-law
What matters about Elvis’s legacy Read More »
There are 60 stairs to Tante Eva’s third-floor apartment on Friedrichsruher. I reach them after walking from my hotel for 5 km, walking to see this city of my birth, flowers in hand. Earlier, Eva, 91 and living on her own, navigated these stairs, boarded, by herself, a bus, travelled to a
Language lessons (of the heart) in Berlin Read More »
My eldest, a busy university student, mentioned balance before I flew away. “For balance,” she said to me, after I’d asked how I could pray for her in my absence. It’s a good request, like asking for a compass. Modern western life isn’t known for its tremendous balance.
Finding balance in an African sunrise Read More »
I’m taking my New Year’s resolutions very seriously right now. Very seriously. This far into January. This is remarkable because I’ve usually broken them by lunch on New Year’s Day. This year is different, people. My resolutions are realistic. They’re attainable. Doable. Within grasp.
This time I’m keeping my New Year’s resolutions Read More »
We get things wrong. This is to be expected. Because the problem with the church, the global body of Jesus followers, is that, like the larger world, it’s filled with people. We’re not always our brother’s, or sister’s, keeper. We don’t
Light of Christmas still shines even when you’re alone Read More »
Today is a good day to talk about peace, starting with Alfred Nobel. As the story goes, when Alfred’s rich brother Ludvig died, Europe’s newspapers mistakenly thought it was Alfred. So the Swedish scientist who’d invented, among other things, dynamite, awoke one day in 1888
Looking for peace in the world, and ourselves Read More »
“Don’t have children. For God’s sake. Don’t.” This is from the mother in Raymond Carver’s story “A Small Good Thing.” Her boy, hit by a car, is dying in the hospital. Who can blame her? Or anyone else?Years ago some friends of mine, not long married, said the same. “We’re not
Don’t take any child for granted Read More »
It’s a fall day in rural Illinois, near Chicago, and, as I often do, I’m reading aloud to my bride. We’re across the border briefly. It’s just the papers with us. USA Today is in-hand. The Detroit Free Press and Kalamazoo Gazette, in the car’s back seat. I’m looking for a Chicago Tribune.
Taking the long view on democracy, and life Read More »
