From the paralyzing gridlock in Congress to the painful divisions we experience in the Church of the Brethren, the past year has underscored the poisonous consequences of our disunity.  But I think there’s something each of us can do to make 2012 different. It’s no mystery as to why we are troubled.  Our economy is [...]

I’ve heard them described as `Cafeteria Catholics’ for the way they personally select the church doctrines they will actually practice.   I’ve tended to hear it from scriptural literalists claiming to follow the `whole bible’, aimed at liberals who cherry pick their favorite teachings and ignore the rest. But when the Pope’s Council for Justice [...]

Have you ever noticed that some people seem confused about who they are? At times, they fit neatly into our pre-conceived notions. Sometimes, not so much. I’ve even noticed some folks who seem to have difficulty distinguishing the person they know themselves to be from the person others see when they look at them. I’m [...]

I’ve been told the whole disagreement is completely unnecessary, that no other industrialized nation’s legislatures agonize over whether or not to stop borrowing the money they need to meet the financial promises they have already debated and made.  But apparently being completely unnecessary hasn’t made arriving at a compromise any easier. The bitter congressional fight [...]

Not every young American woman dreams of traveling to hostile nations to get to know their sworn enemies, but Lily Ghebrai is no ordinary young woman.  When dreams like this become realities, crazy things can happen. This spring, Lily joined a delegation of Seattle’s United Nations Association on a friendship tour of Iran.  That’s right, [...]

We’ve heard the call before but we might have mistaken it for the hype with which we’re sometimes recruited to join some leadership team.  Yes, June is the month when the leaders we called in April take their places on our church board, but when we hear ‘Get on board!’ I hope our imaginations are [...]

Nearly ten years after the terrorist strikes of Sept. 2001, the news of Osama bin Laden’s death re-awakened strong feelings in our nation.  Grief, relief, anger, exuberance, fear, and dismay again took the stage of our public and private conversations.  Ten years ago, these played themselves out on television, in living rooms, classrooms, shops, and [...]