Give a little, change a lot
Seeing a team care for remote villages in the Solomon Islands showed me how small donations can make a real big difference.
Dante’s imaginary translation of the torments of Hell
At the age of nine, the young Dante Alighieri fell hopelessly in love with Beatrice Portinari, a young woman of about the same age, whose image would haunt him for the rest of his life and inspire one of the most famous female characters in universal literature.
COVID-19: Helping children (and others) with viral anxiety
Even in difficult times there are many things we can do at home to help children as well as teenagers to feel less worried.
Changing without change
Our greatest, most desperate need today is not the type of change which loses its power over time, but that which leads to our transformation into a permanent Good.
God’s unfinished business
From the temple in Jerusalem to the final pages of Revelation, the Bible points toward a future where God finishes what He started.
The imperatives of absence
Contrary to one's initial impression, vigilance is not the main theme of Jesus' parables of "absence and expectation." Absence is central to these stories, because it is absence which enriches them, rather than impoverishing them. Absence is not a shortage, a gap, or a sign of non-existence—it is a catalyst.
From fearing loneliness to embracing it as a gift
"Loneliness irritates me like a broken nail," says a line in a Romanian poem. The truth is, loneliness stings, pulls apart, and resembles the coffee dregs left at the bottom of the pot in which joy and love once brewed. Although the fear of loneliness is natural, we can choose to see solitude as something more than a "flowering wilderness" and embrace it...
In the arms of the coach
What can you do in the face of a terrible diagnosis, which condemns you to life in a wheelchair? What can you choose besides despair or resignation? Kayla chose to run.
Searching for glow-worms
With packs and tents strapped to our backs, it took our little group of three several hours to reach the hidden valley. The lush, green rainforest was cool and damp and as we gingerly clambered over moss-covered boulders, we attempted to follow an almost non-existent track that wound its way parallel to the mountain stream.
The gift that does not wait for a special day
Although poverty remains a part of our world, love still works wonders.
How we’re becoming cogs in the Machine
Amid the carnage of World War II, a film was released that The New York Times called “perhaps the most significant film ever produced”.
More than stardust | Grandparents and their spiritual heritage
"Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.” (Dr John Trainer)
Sometimes I pass my grandparents' house, which...
People who face tragedies with eyes wide open
When faced with great tragedies, the most overwhelming feeling is one of helplessness. What can we do to change the lives of the hurting for the better? How can we help when not even the strong can find solutions? The answer is not simple, but it is more accessible than we might believe if it includes empathy, courage, and the faith that any...
Finding myself. How do I find out who my true self is?
The movie Nomadland, which was awarded Best Motion Picture (Drama) at the 78th edition of the Golden Globes, is a poem; a poem following a rhythm ever more strange to the lives that we—those who have climbed onto the carousel of adult life and have discovered that we are no longer free to get off—are so used to.