As Americans, we are inundated by people trying to get into our pockets. Perhaps it is a walk for cancer, or diabetes. Maybe a family’s home has burned down, or the local food pantry needs canned goods. A library needs funding, or the police/firemen want a little extra, and of course there are always those […]

In New England, we have often been accursed by other parts of the country as liberal elites, best known for our stiffness and detachment. In short, we’re told we’re not very friendly – particularly by Midwest or Southern standards. Unfortunately, there is some truth to this. Here in Boston, for example, the notion of ”community” is […]

Dr. David Franks, a friend and theology professor at St. John’s Seminary in Boston, is a firm proponent of a classical liberal arts education and the role the finer arts can play in bringing us closer to God. “When you spend time in the highest forms of human expression,” he says, “it is harder to […]

The desert is a good place to refuel, and it was with that vague objective I recently visited Christ in the Desert (CID), a Benedictine monastery deep in the high country desert of northern New Mexico. I wanted to unplug from reality in a place without cell phones, email, internet, 24-hour news cycles, liberals/conservatives, ISIS and […]