Book Review: The Dangerous Delusion of American Exceptionalism, by Michael Barrick. C. 2011. United States Constitution Day, September 17, 2011. On this day, to the surprise of many, a new movement was born: Occupy Wall Street. In a few short weeks, Occupy Wall Street grew to an international organization called… Read More »American Exceptionalism and Occupy Together
The air was crisp that October morning. The sun was bright and the sky was blue. It was the perfect Autumn day. We gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Several hundred of us broke bread and shared the cup as we recalled the gift of freedom we experienced as… Read More »Reflecting on National Coming Out Day
The group of eight or ten of us sat in a circle. We gathered around a table draped with a colorful cloth. A single candle was lit. A CD player in the corner provided background music of medieval Christian chant. We began to share something from the time we spent… Read More »Thoughts about Meditation
What a great week! It’s been exactly what I needed! I returned home Sunday evening from teaching in Jacksonville, Florida. They were long days with classes beginning at 8:00 AM and continuing until 6:00 PM. It was a good group – but the schedule was intense. Monday, I sorted out… Read More »Work: Bringing Balance to Life
Imagine that you’re playing a new simulation game. In this game, you get to create a new society. Here’s your chance to make the world the way you want it to be. Only, there’s a catch: you will also live in this society. You will be randomly assigned a role… Read More »Fairness and Economics: Did We Miss Something?
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” When I started college, I often heard these words. This saying, attributed to Jesus and found in both the gospels of Matthew and Luke, was a favorite quote of one of my college friends, Mike. A bit of an evangelist,… Read More »What Are We Saying and Doing?
Since moving to Atlanta in May, I’ve become involved with the Interfaith Community Institute. While the Institute hosts a number of programs, I most appreciate the opportunity to sit in meditation with people from various faith traditions who then share about the experience. The Institute sponsors meditation sittings at different… Read More »Meditation: The Practice of a Healthy Brain
The conversation was animated. We talked over dinner, laughing and joking, while sharing insights and solving the world’s problems. Again we laugh as we all agreed: if only others would take our suggestions, how much better the world would be! And we laughed some more. The conversation became more deliberate… Read More »What We Remember
