“Condemned Witches Burning in St. Peter’s Port.” Cosmic insignificance, helplessness, and groundlessness are at the root of polarization. (Schneider, 2013, p.160) From the Crusades to the Inquisition to the martyrdom of Christian Reformers, to the Salem Witch Trials to the Klu Klux Klan’s battle against civil rights, Christianity has historically been behind many of the… Read more »
He was all of 35 years old. Yet, on a very warm July morning, more than 100 of his closest family, friends, and co-workers gathered to honor and remember Sam and his life. Six days earlier, Jessica, his wife of four years, found him lying on the floor of their bathroom. By his skin color,… Read more »
Photo by Bengt Nyman. My last two entries for the New Existentialists have focused on the nature and influence of fear, and how American culture has shifted from a more adventure-based society to a fear-based society. As a society—whether speaking about politics, religion, militarization, communities, neighborhoods, or individuals—we operate from an approach that is opposite… Read more »
Photo by CBS Television. Recently, my 10-year-old grandson and I were looking at the various different science fiction films and television offerings from Netflix. As we were looking, we ran across the 60’s television series Lost in Space. I told him how I watched the program every week while it was on. He asked if… Read more »
For the last couple of months, I have been assisting a family in which their teenage son ran away from home. The parents are divorced, and the son had been living with his father prior to the runaway attempt. Once the parents located the son, the mother immediately brought him to her home where the… Read more »
Over the last several months, my family has experienced a number of major crises from a flooded apartment to a granddaughter running away to a lengthy personal illness to uncertainty of employment to decisions concerning the health and well-being of aging parents to eye surgery to ongoing long-term unemployment. It has been a period of… Read more »
Photo by Alex Proimos. Western thinking has done an incredible job of convoluting success. As a society, we have come to accept the idea that success is limited to those who finish first. If you did not win the gold medal, or make the most money, or have the best grades, you are not successful…. Read more »
Photo by Rosie Perera. We were ten rows up from the ice, sitting almost directly behind the goalie. There were 18,000-plus people sitting around us screaming and yelling for the home team, but I was most focused on the young woman sitting next to me. I have known her since she was three; we have… Read more »
In the next couple of weeks, I will turn 60 years old, and more than any other birthday, this one is bothering me. I have generally been one that eagerly anticipated previous birthday milestones. I used to tell people the 20s are the age of responsibility, 30s the age of accountability, 40s the age of… Read more »
Photo by Marcus Qwertyus. For the past several months, political pundits and sports journalists have spent a great deal of time speculating on the impact of Russia’s strict anti-LGBT stance and laws and the impact they might have on the Olympic competitions. Against this backdrop, Michael Sam, a senior defensive lineman from the University of… Read more »
