The Doctor Is In

It haunted him, without mercy. Strong, athletic, handsome, and personable, he seemed at life’s outset to be unfairly advantaged. His friends were many; a ladies man, by reputation, the life of every party, the love of every woman who gazed on him. He was, by nature, a generous and gentle soul, a gift he received [...]

  A repost of an essay from several years ago on suffering and faith.   A reader named Katherine recently e-mailed me. She had lost her husband, a man some years older than she, to multiple myeloma and Alzheimer’s disease. She is a Christian, and is struggling to make sense of his death, and the [...]

The following post was written several years ago. It seems apropos to revisit it, in light of the recent horror in Aurora.   I am not easily shocked anymore. Perhaps it is my profession, where the constant exposure to human suffering and pain harden the spirit and keep emotions at a safe distance. Perhaps it [...]

What brilliant darkness now descends To slay the weight which life doth rob To bear the anguish undeserved On frigid stone no glorious end. The blazing lanterns light the night As noble leaders drain the cup To toast the end of ghost not known And praise the triumph of blind sight. What brilliant darkness now [...]

Almost cut my hair, Happened just the other day. It was gettin’ kinda long, Could’ve said it was in my way. But I didn’t and I wonder why, I feel like letting my freak flag fly, And I feel like I owe it to someone… I’m suffering from whiplash — perhaps I should call one [...]

Today is Good Friday. It has been my custom, on this extraordinary day, to post an old meditation on the meaning of the cross, called Three Men on a Friday. Today, however, I feel led to meditate on something rather different, though not unrelated. Good Friday, of course, is the Church’s remembrance of its most [...]

Before the joys and trials of family get-togethers, the bacchanalian consumption of endless pounds of poultry, and the weariness of holiday travel tempered only by the thrill of a TSA patdown, it is perhaps fitting to pause and reflect a moment on the reason for the season we celebrate this week: Thanksgiving. Like most of [...]

Today is Good Friday. It has been my custom, on this extraordinary day, to post an old meditation on the meaning of the cross, called Three Men on a Friday. Today, however, I feel led to meditate on something rather different, though not unrelated. Good Friday, of course, is the Church’s remembrance of its most [...]