Uncategorized
-
Perhaps I have been asking the wrong question. Ben Azzi used to say: “Despise no man and consider nothing impossible for there is no man who does not have his hour and there is nothing that does not have its place” (Aboth IV.3). Despise no person regardless of socio-economic status, gender, gender orientation, race, creed,…
-
Sun Tzu, Sikong Shu, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde A little more than a week ago, I received an angry note telling me that I am a good writer who says nothing unless I am willing to say, “Trump must go now!” Perhaps there is an element of truth in the…
-
Letting in the Fresh Air COMPASSION AND CHANGE Letting in the Fresh Air Bob, an artist friend, recounted a story to me about Cardinal Loris Capovilla, Pope John XXIII’s personal secretary. Father Capovilla told Bob that moments after being elected pope, and they were alone, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli said, “They chose me to be pope…
-
A REMINDER OF BEAUTY I received a newsletter from a dear friend, Terrill Welch, two days ago. Terrill is an artist residing on Mayne Island, British Columbia. The newsletter contained photographs of works in progress and photographs of the shoreline and natural life found along the trails she walks. I confess that these photographs left…
-
A mutual acquaintance arranged our clandestine meeting. We left the lecture hall and entered the fluorescent hallway that appeared shadowy that night. He hesitated, glancing around. Then he motioned me to follow him. We came to a narrow, corner space where we had a clear view of the hallway and he could slip into the…
-
PART THREE: THE POSSIBILITY OF ANSWERS THE SYNAGOGUE, THE CHURCH, AND THE MOSQUE I am a proponent of ecumenical dialogue. In the past, I participated in meetings, assisted others in preparing their conferences talks, and taught in various denominational settings. Today, in a time of deep concerns, rabbis, pastors, priests, and imams need to engage…
-
THE POSSIBILITY OF ANSWERS But what can one person do? I will not pretend to have all the answers to how to respond to the totalitarian regime that, in a few short months, has blatantly disregarded the law of our society and denigrated our allies in the international community. What follows in this and the…
-
PART ONE: THE QUESTION BEFORE US On the morning of 12 March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi began walking from his ashram in Ahmedabad towards the coastal town of Dandi on the Arabian Sea. The distance of 240 miles required walking twelve miles a day. He was 61 years old. Seventy-eight men and women left with him.…
Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal 