The Ultimate Unifying View of Life

A recent article on the web page of National Public Radio contained these sentences: “We now know that all extant living creatures derive from a single common ancestor, called LUCA, ...

Does Faith Breed Mediocrity?

Among the interesting people I covered as medical/science writer for The Des Moines Register was Patricia Clare Sullivan, alias “Attila the Nun.” Her obituary was in the newspaper recently. She ...

Searching for God, Ignoring the Issues?

I have at times teased my life-long friend, Fr. Gerald Waris, about the time in the late 60s when he fled from the front door of an irate resident of ...

Is Tolerance the Best We Can Do?

The web site, “Teaching Tolerance” at www.tolerance.org, quotes UNESCO, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. “Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s ...

When to Get Serious About the Search for God

In his book, “The Lost City of the Monkey God,” Douglas Preston briefly describes the rise of The United Fruit Company, the firm that had possibly the most influence – ...

How “Church” Can Be Joyful and Relevant

My wife, Amparo, and I have been staying in the little town of Barichara, Colombia, for the past three weeks. It bills itself as “the most beautiful town in Colombia,” ...