Category Archives: Final Book

We were watching Star Trek, The Next Generation, Season 6, Episode 9, “The Quality of Life” in which Data asked Beverly Crusher, the doctor, “How do we know something is alive?” He was referring to a small AI machine that … Continue reading →

“The Greeks had a word for the feeling one has when one is happy: makarios. It is a feeling of contentment, when one knows one’s place in the world and is satisfied with that place. If your life has been … Continue reading →

I might not be the best person to raise this issue but isn’t it far time to challenge the use of the term “racist” when we are really talking about a prejudice, NOT based on skin color, but, ethnic differences? … Continue reading →

Can there be an “up” without a “down”? A mountain peak without a valley? Do we recognize good only because it is not the evil we had known? Does happiness override sadness? Is love requited a sign that our loneliness … Continue reading →

Dietrich Bonhoeffer tells us in his work, “The Cost of Discipleship” that “…grace and discipleship are inseparable,” [Bonhoeffer, page 46]. In a phrase: Grace is costly, not only because it cost God His Son’s life on Calvary [1 Corinthians 7:23] … Continue reading →

We take comfort in calling this life a “pilgrimage” in which our real home is in heaven (John 14:2-3) along with our true citizenship as believers (Philippians 3:20). Yet before we get there, it’s all about …“the journey.” The Scripture … Continue reading →

The Church does not depend on its theology for its existence. The Church depends on the faithfulness of its parishioners, their devotion to God. I can say this confidently because most church-goers do not know what their church believes. Newcomers, … Continue reading →

In Proverbs 17:7 we understand Solomon to say, “Lies do not become a nobleman.” Perhaps, a more literal translation might read: “too much talking is not attractive for a fool, as it is equally so that the nobleman will not … Continue reading →

A few days ago, our Lord called home a fellow college classmate of Joyce and mine, Dan Fratto. He was from Joyce’s hometown in those earlier days and on a few occasions drove Joyce and me back to school after … Continue reading →

Let us call for a day of forgiveness patterned in part after the Ancient Jewish notion of a Year of Jubilee in which all debt was “forgiven” although this will be one day every four years (paralleling the USA election … Continue reading →