My wife and I are the proud parents of three outstanding young men. Our two oldest sons, adopted as babies, now serve in the United States military. Our youngest, a definitive genetic-match that neither of us can deny, is a rising high school senior. The three share no common DNA, yet all three are brothers… … Read More
Faith
In Good Faith column: Tearing it down
Columns share an author’s personal perspective.*****The first statue controversy I remember revolved around the Babe Ruth statue outside the newly-constructed Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. No, it wasn’t controversial because it immortalized the iconic player associated with the hated New York Yankees. The Babe grew up not far from the stadium, after all.… … Read More
KEEPING THE FAITH: Freedom shouldn’t come at others’ harm
Freedom: It’s the quintessential American theme, celebrated coast to coast this Fourth of July weekend. A word always emphasized to be sure, but as a concept, freedom is not nearly as well understood — or enjoyed. In fact, what we often call freedom is selfishness, a far cry from the ideal of independence or liberty.One… … Read More
KEEPING THE FAITH: Path to healing is paved with necessary suffering
Last summer I had a major surgery to repair my left wrist and elbow. My personal anatomy, sports injuries from my youth, and the wear and tear of midlife finally conspired to take away my ability to play guitar, type on a keyboard, or to even raise a cup of coffee from the counter.My orthopedic… … Read More
In Good Faith column: The language of the unheard
Columns share an author’s personal perspective.*****Last week, as part of a year-long parish program on race and racism at our predominantly white church, one of the facilitators, a beloved African-American parishioner and retired dean at Northeastern University, shared with us a powerful quote. Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, once said to… … Read More
KEEPING THE FAITH: How can a person live a life of purpose?
“Meaningless, meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” So says the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, and not just once. Of the five dozen times this phrase of futility is used within the corpus of the Jewish Scriptures, the writer of Ecclesiastes employs it half of those times.Pleasure, success, money, dreams of a better life: All of… … Read More
KEEPING THE FAITH: What remains after all evil is unleashed?
Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. As some Greek traditions go, he also gifted mortals with the tools of civilization: Mathematics, art, science, and medicine. Zeus, creation’s overlord, declared Prometheus’ empowerment of humankind an unforgivable sin. Two terrible things happened as a result.First, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where… … Read More
In Good Faith column: Filling bare cupboards
Columns share an author’s personal perspective.*****I read an article this week in a British church publication with a pretty damning headline: “YouTube sermons will not feed the hungry.” The young Vicar’s point was that while churches are spending a lot of time figuring out how to live-stream their services, that can’t be all they’re focused… … Read More
KEEPING THE FAITH: The great unmasking
“When somebody’s wearing a mask, he’s gonna tell you the truth,” said the legendary Bob Dylan. “But when he’s not wearing a mask, truth is highly unlikely.” Oscar Wilde, one of Dylan’s many inspirations, said the same thing: “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he… … Read More
In Good Faith column: The accidental televangelist
Columns share an author’s personal perspective.*****I never thought I’d say this but … I’ve become a televangelist. On Sunday mornings I preach into the lens of a video camera, encouraging my online flock, coming to them live from a makeshift church studio. Virtually overnight, I had to reinvent myself as the Joel Osteen of Hingham,… … Read More