I was reading a seventh grade public school exam from many decades ago and was struck with the level of language, grammar, and difficulty of the exam. It was very sophisticated and I struggled to "pass!"
No one can look at current culture and not witness the coarsening of the language of our day. Between the…
Fr. Barnabas Powell
There's a famous hamburger restaurant out West called In-N-Out Burger. All the natives out that way swore it was the best hamburger joint in the world. Well, I tried it when I was out that way and my verdict: Eeh, it was OK. But the name, great name signifying quick food for inside or take…
You've met them. They are the ones who always seem to have a criticism of how things are going AND they don't jump in to assist, they just want to complain. Truth be told, I've caught myself doing the same thing.
Isn't it amazing how much insight into a problem you can have and feel completely…
Have you ever had to hold a secret until the right time? I remember how frustrating it was for me to keep a secret about a surprise birthday party for a dear friend. It was going to be the "big 4 0" and we had all decided that I was the one who was going…
Here's a long quote from C.S. Lewis' book "The Weight of Glory"
"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to…
I've noticed that some folks appreciate straight talk and some folks don't. In fact, there seem to be whole cultures where plain talk is discouraged because certain cultures consider it rude. I've seen this reality play out with different concepts about honesty as well.
A friend of mine told me about her business dealings with someone…
He was a canny businessman. He actually took real pleasure in knowing he had gotten the better of his business associates in deals, in negotiations, and in life. He seemed to know just when to strike and just the right words to say to get his way and get ahead.
And he was all alone. His…
Faith is something we humans take for granted. We seem to just assume that we "have" faith or we "keep" the faith merely by wanting to do so, but is that true faith?
Is faith something we simply "think" about and so we "have" it? I don't know about you but this seems to lead us…
If you have a younger sibling then you've heard this before: "She did it! Why can't I?" I know I've heard it in my house on numerous occasions, especially when the younger kiddo wonders out loud "What about me?"
But sometimes (actually, many times) the younger child isn't developmentally ready to take on the task that…
Why did 5000 men, not counting women and children, follow Jesus and His disciples to a "lonely place?" What can we learn from the bravery of the crowd that cared more about their connection to Christ than their own comfort? …