Black Friday is aptly named. Everyone’s dark side is out when the last nerve is drilled down trying to buy that “smart” toy, a tie, or the last leather bag in saddle brown. Now big sales on Thanksgiving splinter the holiday further. Is the football game on the wide screen TV the only glue holding […]
Mary, Jesus’s mother, spent her last days in Turkey, and I visited her house, surrounded by maple trees, high above the ancient Roman ruins of Ephesus, five miles from the Aegean Sea, now rebuilt by the Catholic Church as a holy place. After Jesus entrusted his mother and apostle John into each other’s care, it […]
October 10, 2015. After an 11 hour flight from Boston, we arrive at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. A young man in a suit and tie holds up a sign, “David Standring.” In a foreign country, it’s sure nice to have someone know your name. His name is Wassim, and he navigates us through the crowds, […]
Centuries before the science of positive thinking, the apostle Paul wrote this in 62 A.D., “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, […]
Politicians take an all-or-nothing stand on issues while a spiritual leader urges practical morality to get things done. It’s ironic. Since when did it take courage to compromise? Pope Francis wrote, “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is […]