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The Pursuit Of Innocence
Annie Dillard once wrote about innocence: “Innocence is not the prerogative of infants and puppies, and far less of mountains and fixed stars, which have no prerogatives at all. It
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A Shallow Compassion
The dictionary defines euthanasia as “the practice of killing for reasons of mercy.” Until recently, virtually everywhere, this was considered both criminal and immoral. Today, in the Western world at
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Dying In Order To Live
Leo Tolstoy once commented that “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I like to think that restlessness is like that, it takes many forms but each of
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In Praise Of Fools
Dostoyevski once suggested that part of what’s wrong with our world is that fools take themselves seriously and we neglect to take the talk of fools seriously. Moreover we have
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Pro-Life Prayer Needs Flesh
The issue of abortion is today perhaps the most divisive issue within all of society. The two sides on this question have polarized so strongly that there is, in most
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God Is The Real Parent
Towards the end of the movie, Rachel, Rachel, there is a particularly moving dialogue. Rachel, the story’s main character, an aging spinster teacher, is more than a little frustrated with
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Virtue in Self-sacrifice
Previous generations had a certain sense of sacrifice which, for better and for worse, we have all but lost. In my parents’ generation, to offer just one kind of example,
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An Old Monk’s Question
Recently, while giving a retreat at a Trappist monastery, an old monk came to talk to me. He shared with me at length about the ups and downs of more
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A Marvellous Symphony
James Hillman once said that a good image is the most open, most exploratory, most suggestibly subtle, yet most precise thing to allow the soul the widest imagination for its
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The Polished Stone
As a young seminarian, I spent a summer working in a retreat house. The priest directing the house had a curious hobby—he polished stones. During long, solitary walks he would