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The Illusion of Self-Sufficiency
A number of years ago, I attended the funeral of a man who died at the age of ninety. From every indication, he had been a good man, solidly religious,
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It Comes and it Goes
The 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Rumi, once said that this is how faith moves in our lives: We live with a deep secret that sometimes we know,
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Private Integrity
In a 1990s movie, City Slickers, there’s a scene that sheds light on the importance of private integrity. Three men, New Yorkers, close friends, have gone off together for a
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Praying for Both – The Weak and the Strong
When Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, he held up bread and wine as two elements within which to make himself especially present to us. Since that time,
https://ronrolheiser.com/praying-for-both-the-weak-and-the-strong/
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Relating to Both Jesus and Christ
For too many years, for me, Christ was simply Jesus’ last name: Jack Smith, Susan Parker, Jesus Christ. Intellectually, I knew better; but practically, both in my private faith and
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No Lasting City
Scripture tells us that in this life we have no lasting city. True enough. But, it seems, we also don’t have a lasting house, school, neighborhood, town, zip code address,
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The Therapy of a Public Life
More than fifty years ago Philip Rieff wrote a book entitled The Triumph of the Therapeutic. In it, he argued that widespread reliance upon private therapy today arose in the secularized
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Post-Sophistication
A generation ago, J.D. Salinger wrote a novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which became immensely popular, as well as becoming required reading in most undergraduate literature programs. It deserved
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The Taste of Banter and Wine
Elizabeth Poreba ends a poem, No Good Company, with these words: I’ve got no banter, I’m all judgement and edges, an edgy white lady Wondering what to do, what to
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Blessing Others as the Endgame of Sexuality
Although not too many people might recognize this, the #MeToo movement is, in essence, a strong advocate for chastity. If chastity can be defined as standing before another with reverence,
https://ronrolheiser.com/blessing-others-as-the-endgame-of-sexuality/