Go Make Babies
Go Make Babies! A new advertising campaign for the Chicago Public Radio station, WBEZ, is gaining attention with its unusual appeal – “Go make babies!” Concerned that the next generation of listeners...
View ArticleNow, Afghans are fighting Afghans
Now, Afghans are Fighting Afghans In January, 2001, the U.S. treasury had a surplus of $236 billion. Today, as everyone knows, that surplus has turned into regular deficits of well over a trillion...
View ArticleVatican Watching
Vatican Watching The eyes of many around the world are fixed on Rome this week, awaiting the white smoke that will herald the election of a new pope. Some Catholics look forward to greeting their new...
View ArticleLiving without God
Living Without God? I recently attended my nephew’s wedding. Set on a bluff in a state park overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the service was planned by the bride and groom, featuring as participants...
View ArticleThe War We Want to Forget
The War We Want to Forget Ten years ago U.S. planes were laying waste to Baghdad and troops were making their way to occupy the city. The futile hunt for weapons of mass destruction lay ahead, as did...
View ArticleLeaders Leave
Leaders Leave The Poetry Foundation, based here in Chicago, publishes a “poem of the day” on its website, a wonderful way to encounter a diverse array of poems from various times and places for those...
View ArticleA Lesson from Birmingham Jail
A Lesson from Birmingham Jail In January, 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer penned a letter to his co-conspirators reflecting on ten years of resistance. Anguished by his decision to abandon or suspend his...
View ArticleNot Normal
Not Normal The death of innocents in Boston this week and the wounding of well over a hundred, some of whom will never run or walk again in quite the same way, shocks and saddens us. The news is...
View ArticleA Stain We Can't Ignore
A Stain We Can’t Ignore “U.S. forces, in many instances, used interrogation techniques on detainees that constitute torture. American personnel conducted an even larger number of interrogations that...
View ArticleTerror in Your Closet
Terror in Your Closet Americans remain preoccupied with the confusing motivations of the two young men who detonated bombs at the end of the Boston Marathon killing three people and injuring scores...
View ArticleWhen Dead Isn't Good Enough
When Dead Isn’t Good Enough For Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers responsible for the bombs that killed and wounded so many at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, being killed by the...
View ArticleInjustice Behind Locked Doors
Injustice Behind Locked Doors They clean our homes, wash our clothes, and cook our meals so we can focus our attention on jobs and recreation. They take care of our young children so we can go to work...
View ArticleNo Act of God Caused Chicago Schools to Close
No Act of God Caused Chicago Schools to Close Two articles in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune provided a revealing, if unintended reminder of the injustices lying at the heart of America’s public schools....
View ArticleVanished Names & Cultural Amnesia
Vanished Names and Cultural Amnesia A walk through the neighborhoods of Chicago offers a rich education in the political, social, and cultural history of the United States for those who pay attention...
View ArticleDoubt is Not Enough
Doubt is Not Enough In his widely reviewed and well received new book, My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer, poet Christian Wiman reflects on the character of doubt as it relates to faith...
View ArticleBody Armor on the Playground
Body Armor on the Playground “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” When this first question from the Heidelberg Catechism was published in Germany in 1563, life was a perilous undertaking...
View ArticleWhen Sabbath Comes Calling
When Sabbath Comes Calling I bumped into a recent graduate of the Seminary last weekend at a conference. She is in between things right now, waiting for her year-long Clinical Pastoral Education...
View ArticleThree Silent Years
Three Silent Years According to the recent Pew Research Center survey of LGBT Americans – Attitudes, Experiences, and Values in Changing Times – the average length of time between knowing for sure that...
View ArticleA Grateful Word That Must Be Earned
A Grateful Word That Must Be Earned The vigil for Nelson Mandela has captured the attention of people around the world, especially those whose lives were touched in some way by his courageous...
View ArticlePaying for your Wages
Paying for Your Wages On successive days earlier this summer The New York Times exposed the continued plight of working class people in an employment culture that continues to handsomely reward those...
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