Get the latest newsletter: October 2016 UPDATE

“Oh God, your sea is so great and my boat is so small.” This prayer of Breton fishermen speaks of human life directly and clearly. It has become the motto of the Children’s Defense Fund and is the title of a new book by the fund’s founder, Marian Wright Edelman. Admiral Hyman Rickover had it…

Whoa. Something happened. I don’t know what, but I do know when. A couple of weeks ago I had this dream. I dreamt I found a field. I left the road I was on, and turned into this field. I was excited — because I knew that somewhere in this particular field, there was treasure….

It’s hard to find a really good way to celebrate a secular Easter.  The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not the stuff of simple and lightweight symbols. Easter transmits a complex message, transported through time through a sacrament of blood-wine and body-bread on an altar derived from a sacrificial cult. The best the…

“There’s a big possum in the courtyard,” Annie said. I came to the door and looked out.  Sure enough, the marsupial denizen was poddling out the gate toward the street.  She wasn’t that big, but she was indeed a possum.  Fast for a possum is slow for almost anything else, so with a little spurt…