Posts by D C
The Fish That Didn’t Get Away
If there is one certainty in fishing, it is that there is no certainty. This past summer, on the Wisconsin lake I know best, I stumbled onto a new fishing strategy. Instead of fishing with everyone else from six in the evening until sunset, I began to venture out later, when the sky was already…
Read MoreDJ Humility
One of the greatest challenges facing parents in the next decade will be to understand the allure of fanaticism for young people. It wasn’t that long ago that calling someone a fanatic was, if not an insult, at least a warning that such a person was dangerous. For a growing number of people now, to…
Read MoreAmerica – A Nation Called To Be Better
During the Vietnam War, the slogan “America: love it or leave it” was popular among people who demanded uncritical devotion to the government and to the war. But uncritical devotion to the government has never been a trait of the American spirit. Americans who have moved this country forward have never been satisfied with America…
Read MoreMerton & The New Year
There are certain people who seem to know us, and we them, even though we never met them in person. One of those people for me is the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. Although I’d heard his name, I didn’t read anything written by him until 1975, seven years after his death. But once I read The…
Read MoreChristmas 2021
Christmas brings thoughts of St. Francis. The reverse can also be said, St. Francis brings thoughts of Christmas. If you have a crèche set up in your home, you have St. Francis to thank for that. One of the first, if not the first, crèche scenes was set up by St. Francis in the Italian…
Read MoreDemocracy Under Fire
Twenty years ago, I spent a summer working on a log cabin in Wisconsin that was built nearly a hundred years ago. My task was to remove the old mortar from between the logs and replace that with new mortar. In a part of one wall, I removed mortar to find old newspapers and magazines…
Read MoreArbery
The attorney defending the three men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery looked back at the people sitting in the courtroom and saw something dangerous. No, he didn’t see someone who threatened violence or disruption. He saw two figures who were scarier to him than that. He saw two Black ministers. Ahmaud Arbery was the twenty-five-year-old Black…
Read MoreMiracle Of The Local Paper
Instead of reading the newspaper this morning, imagine that this local newspaper didn’t come to your house. No, I’m not talking about the newspaper failing to be delivered to your home, but I’m asking you to imagine this local newspaper not existing. If that were the case, those of us who enjoy reading the newspaper…
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