Posted inThe Good Word

A Prayer for the World-Weary

St Ignatius of Loyola suggested that we read scripture by picturing ourselves in its scenes nbsp It rsquo s a fruitful insight because God rsquo s word aims to accomplish more than just communicating information nbsp It seeks to transform us nbsp But who can picture him or herself praying wi

Posted inThe Good Word

Sure Smells Good

On my eleventh birthday I was finally old enough to join the Boy Scouts Back then Troop 153 was led by Roy Barber a local farmer a Kansas Andy Griffith To my mind he was everything a Scout Master should be My parochial school had no male teachers and I had never bonded with a coach They were

Posted inThe Good Word

Honky Tonk Angels

Here are the lyrics to Hank Thompson rsquo s Wild Side of Life In 1952 it was 1 for 15 weeks on Billboard rsquo s Country Charts You wouldn rsquo t read my letter if I wrote you You asked me not to call you on the phone But there rsquo s something I rsquo m wanting to tell you So I wrote it in t

Posted inThe Good Word

True, Gentle and Faithful Love

To take in the tumult provoked by the death of Arthur Prince of Wales the first born son of King Henry VII and of his wife Elizabeth of York early in 15th century Tudor England combine the affection currently felt for Prince William with the fear for the future engendered by the death of John K

Posted inThe Good Word

Come Lonely One

In 1967 Robert Kennedy went on a fact-finding tour of the Mississippi Delta An eyewitness recalled that he and his party went into one of the worst places I rsquo ve ever seen A dark windowless shack smelling of mildew sickness and urine There was no ceiling hardly the floor had holes in it

Posted inThe Good Word

When I Was a Child I Read Books

Marilynne Robinson rsquo s new collection of essays is entitled When I Was a Child I Read Books Here rsquo s the opening of the title essay When I was a child I read books My reading was indiscriminate I preferred books that were old and thick and hard I made vocabulary lists Surprising as it

Posted inThe Good Word

After the Fortnight

American school children are taught to revere the sacrifice made by soldiers in the Continental Army during the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge Most don rsquo t realize that the following winter outside Morristown New Jersey was even worse Here rsquo s a soldier rsquo s description from Th

Posted inThe Good Word

Wrong but Rather Wonderful

There rsquo s something wrong or at least not quite right about Corpus Christi the medieval feast established by Pope Urban IV in 1263 Like Trinity Sunday and the American holiday of Thanksgiving it involves an ignorance about Eucharist in the ancient Church What rsquo s wrong with Trinity

Gift this article