To the editor: First, I’d like to thank you for devoting so much ink and paper in your last issue to Square Halo Books…
Discernment Exercise: The School of Life
A secularist pursuit of compassion I first became aware of Alain de Botton by reading his The Architecture of Happiness, a book of uncommon…
Discernment Exercise: Internalizing the Scriptures
Internalizing the Scriptures The Christian tradition has always stressed the importance of Scripture, for knowing God, for attaining salvation, for a penetratingly realistic view…
Discernment Exercise: God, Jehovah, and Allah
God, Jehovah, and Allah: an exercise in discernment There are some things we don’t have to plan for while living in a pluralistic world,…
Discernment Exercise: Loving People
Community / Exercises / Scripture
On relationships, and all that The Bible makes it clear that God’s covenant people are to be characterized by love. He loves us and…
Discernment Exercise: Postville II
Postville: Undocumented workers, immigration & justice (II) Six years ago, Raul worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Rochester, Minnesota. He was soft-spoken,…
Discernment Exercise: Shoulds, Wants, and Faithfulness
When I purchase a food item at the supermarket, I can be confident that the label will state how much riboflavin is in it.…
Discernment Exercise: Concern for Children at Play and Work
One of The New York Times Magazine columns I always read is “The Ethicist,” by Randy Cohen. Mr. Cohen, a graduate of the California…
Discernment Exercise: The Value of Ritual
It’s a common belief among Christians that piety for show is impiety. Jesus railed against hypocrisy, as did Paul (Galatians 2:11). Hypocritical Christians “love…
Discernment Exercise: Should We Pray? Or Protest?
The fact that we live in a religiously pluralistic culture means that we can expect to be exposed to beliefs, values, and practices that…