The Easter Paradox: We give away all so that we can have all we desire and need
The difficulty with Jesus is that he turns everything upside down. You become rich by being poor. In your humility you are powerful. You become who you were meant to be by not thinking of yourself. What next? You die in order to live? Yes, and that is precisely what Jesus did, submitting himself to [...]
San Miguel de Allende helps dispel myth that travel to Mexico is so dangerous
In trying to figure out what kind of people end up falling in love with San Miguel, I find that a sense of adventure is probably is an essential ingredient, and, yes, a certain toughness, mental and physical.
The Pope resigns, the dissidents mobilize, things change, but they stay the same
Sorry to disappoint you, folks, but it ain’t gonna happen. I speak of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the hope that a “forward thinking” (translate that “liberal”) leader will take the reins of the Roman Catholic Church. At last the Church will allow women priests, homosexual marriages, abortion, and artificial birth control. For [...]
Downton Abbey: Brits, the Nobility, and the great Battle of New Orleans
Anglophile that I am, I loved the first episode of this season’s Downton Abbey series on PBS. Lady Barbara and I were late comers, missing the first year. Upon realizing our mistake, we rented that year’s episodes on DVDs and did binge viewing of them, staying up some nights to 1 a.m. I have always [...]
Young women skaters warm a soul chilled by “real” life
KALAMAZOO—Sometimes you slip unexpectedly into such an experience of beauty and grace that you are overwhelmed, and for a few glorious hours you are oblivious to the coarseness of our culture and the harshness of the world we live in. I am immersed in such an interlude as I write this in an ice arena [...]
Why do media, candidates give us debates designed for fools and nitwits?
Oh, sure, I’ll watch the rest of the debates, but I can’t help but be insulted by how the politicians and media treat us as fools and idiots. Is it too much to expect that we have a halfway intelligent format for the presidential debates? Answer a complex question in two minutes? Can you imagine [...]
Paris is definitely not America—Vive la Difference
Paris, June 18 — Oh the myths about the City of Light. We all know that the French are rude, especially the waiters in the restaurants. And, of course, the French do not like Americans. Then there is the matter of how to dress when you arrive as a tourist in France. Jeans definitely are [...]
Of boys and the wilds of Canada: Learning about nature and reality
Wawa, Ontario, May 28 2012—In the modern world , I fear, kids who grow up in big cities like Chicago come to believe that pork chops grow on trees and walleye filets come frozen and packaged by Mother Nature. So it is a special pleasure for a granddad to go fishing in the wilds of [...]
