Category: Challenges
Giving Thanks to the Voice of My Awakening
Before meeting Heather, I was a solitary creature, even virtually homeless at one time. I was rarely sociable, preferring the catacombs of my own imagination, the distractions of drugs and alcohol, or... Read More
A Catholic Woman Intent on Leaving a Mark
As a Roman Catholic woman in dialogue with various religious traditions, I am, at times, questioned as to my commitment: Don’t I, as a Catholic woman, feel restricted and degraded by a Church that i... Read More
Politics and the Book of Mormon
Cross-posted from Historicisms. One of the more uncomfortable aspects of the “Mormon Moment” for me was seeing LDS scripture deployed against the candidate on whose behalf I chose to exerc... Read More
“Buddhism and American Consumerism: Religious Identity as Protest” by Natasha L. Mikles
The First Truth of Buddhism, realized by the Buddha when he sat beneath the bodhi tree and attained enlightenment, is that life is suffering. All life, anywhere and at any time, is suffering. While th... Read More
Food Stamp Challenge: Done. Now What?
“Mom, I’m hungry. Can I have your grapes?” “Sure,” I replied—even though I’d been counting on that handful of grapes to carry me through the next few hours until dinner. It was Day 6 of ... Read More
Reflections on Social Media and Politics
Note: this essay draws on material originally published in two posts on my personal blog, Historicisms. Having just read Mark McCormack’s post, “Dialogue in the Age of Unfriending,” ... Read More
Dialogue in the Age of Unfriending
“Turns out over the last few days some people have unfriended me on Facebook,” I told my wife, partly out of disbelief and anger, but mostly out of hurt and disappointment. I’d never been unfrie... Read More
Guest post: Considering “Proof of Heaven”
This is a guest post by Chris Highland, a professor at Cherry Hill Seminary. A former manager at Forbes magazine gave me a copy of the October 15, 2012 issue of Newsweek (via The Daily Beast) with the... Read More