Posts by D C

I was saddened to hear about the one thousand, three hundred Muslim pilgrims who died while on the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, because of the heat, but I was not completely surprised. Modern travel has lessened the sacrifices demanded of pilgrims, but over the centuries, men and women have always faced danger, sickness, and…

Before I spoke at a church last weekend, an elderly man on a walker approached me for a short conversation.  Learning that I would be talking about interviews that I had conducted for a book, this ninety-six-year-old shared some of his stories—beginning with his experiences in the Great Depression.  It was a brief encounter, but,…

On a spiritual retreat last week, I expected to be inspired by the speaker. While I was not disappointed, the two moments that made the deepest impression on me over the weekend were spontaneous comments that, in retrospect, I believe I needed to hear. The first came from Mother Hilary, a nun, who shared that…

A conversation with my son lined up with what I recently read about home insurance. Home insurance is not a subject that I have given much thought to. I have home insurance, I trust my local insurance agent, and then I tend to forget about it. Our son and his family live along the Atlantic…

A trait that seems to be steeped in the human brain is “either-or” thinking. I was reminded of this when numerous university campuses ended this spring semester not with calm graduation celebrations but with protests about the war in Gaza. The majority of student protesters is decrying the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza at the…

Although I’d been invited, once I retired as a professor, to march with my colleagues at Franklin College’s commencement, I hadn’t done so for the past few years because of COVID-19. But this year, I robed up and joined the faculty, staff, and students for this yearly celebration. The experience was surreal because I knew…

“It’s all connected.” That’s a sentence we hear frequently, but what is the “it” that the sentence refers to? The connection a friend of mine made recently is one linking undocumented workers at our borders, failed countries to our south, and climate change. That might sound like a stretch, but my friend made a good…

I consider myself fortunate to have lived part of my youth in Springfield, Illinois. Out of my grade-school window, I could see the old courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law before going into politics. When family and friends came to visit, we often took them to see Lincoln’s home or his grave. One of my…

Being in my mid-seventies, I am facing what everyone my age faces—the increasing number of my close friends dying. The past few years have been particularly marked by grief. Some of my friends died after long illnesses; others died suddenly. It is common to describe all these deaths as “losses,” and, of course, there is…

Perhaps we all have thought at one time or another, “If I have to make another decision, my head is going to explode.” It is true that we can become overwhelmed and worn down when we are faced with one decision after another. Taking a nap can be a good response when the “decider” part…