Both my editor, Fitz McAden, and I grew up as proud sons of South Carolina. I remember Fitz’s father, Jim, taking us to the state capitol to visit the governor’s office when we were small boys. The same day, we posed for a snapshot beneath a statue of George Washington on the capitol grounds. ...
My October Fun About a month ago, I had back surgery at Tufts Medical Center. I’d been warned repeatedly that this was “major surgery” and that recovery would be long. But I didn’t really need to be warned because my dear sister Gracie underwent similar surgery in June and I’d watched her recovery. So ...
Author’s note 1: This will be the last blog you will receive for a while as I am going to have some mechanical imperfections of my lower spine corrected surgically on October 1st. My sister, Gracie, recently had similar surgery and I got to watch some of her recovery from a ringside seat in New Orleans. ...
Last week I began reading Disunion!, a book chronicling events over a 70-year period that set the stage for the Civil War. The book, by University of Virginia history professor Elizabeth Varon, has made me wonder about my own education in the public schools of South Carolina and the private school I attended in Virginia. ...
God of all power, Ruler of the Universe, you are worthy of glory and praise… At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home. Eucharistic Prayer C, 1979 Book of Common Prayer The ...
“This isn’t who we are.” This morning I heard those five words spoken by someone I respect — Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post — about the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. I wanted to jump through the TV and slap him. Let me explain. It will take a minute, so bear ...
I recently heard from a long-time friend in South Carolina, Mr. Eager Beaver, a high school civics teacher in the hamlet of Van Wyck. I mentioned to him what a mess I thought the country was in, but I must have said some things he found extreme. Mr. Beaver, shocked to the marrow by some ...
When it seems I’ve dropped off the face of the earth for a month, it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to write about, it only means that other things kept me from it. That’s what happened this last month when two events — an initially scary 10-day illness and The Women’s World Cup — sidelined me. ...
This morning I re-read a wonderful little book entitled Falling Upward by Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest. I first read it on the recommendation of one of my sisters, who isn’t conventionally religious. I suspect it interested her because it doesn’t just speak to Christians, but to anyone who lives life thoughtfully. In a chapter ...
Almost two years ago, I posted a blog entitled “The Drums of War.” (The piece, dated Aug. 14, 2017, is in this site’s Archives.) I fretted then about the building sentiment for war with North Korea. This was before Trump fell in love with the mass murderer who leads that country. Happily, my fears ...
