War Dogs, Brad Pitt, and Eden Brad Pitt’s latest film, Heart of the Beast, correlates two antithetical concepts: war dogs and Eden. More on that unusual coupling of Eden and war dogs momentarily. Filmed in New Zealand, the magnificent cinematography and absence of dialogue impose a quiet that approaches reverence on movie theater viewers. Pitt […]
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Language: not so subtle pervisions One of the last classes I took to satisfy the number of courses needed for my undergraduate major in English was Linguistics. Taught by the head of the English department in the small college, it was, by far, one of the tougher courses for me. Not because the material was
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Suffering: Should doctors fix it? Back in my secular days, I viewed the suffering of the dying as unnecessary-an enemy requiring intervention. In fact, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the medical decision-making surrounding the withdrawal of extraordinary treatment for the terminally ill. I’d been disturbed by medical doctors’ fear and resistance to letting patients
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Happiness: Feeling or decision? “So, how exactly, do you decide to be happy?” My friend looked bemusedly at me as she replied to my statement that I thought happiness was a decision we made. “LOOK at that tree!” I exclaimed loudly and with vehemence, knowing that my reply to her question required more than a
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It is good for us to be here: Transfiguration The Transfiguration is the last miracle performed by Christ, marking the end of his days on earth. Peter, James and John are invited by Christ up to the peak of the mountain to pray. For weeks, he has warned his disciples that the Son of Man
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Know thyself: gnōthi seauton: These two words were inscribed in the vestibule of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. They were the reason Socrates disputed the Oracle’s declaration that he was the wisest person on earth. When told what the Oracle had said, Socrates demurred, insisting that since he did not know himself, he could not
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By whose authority? Monday’s Gospel reading, and this phrase, “By whose authority?” remains in my mind days later. There’s a world hidden in that phrase. Jesus was approached in the Temple while he was teaching by the Elders and chief priests. When Jesus had come into the temple area,the chief priests and the elders of
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Wonder: It’s essential place in our hearts There was a time when I had this memorized, the words represented truth to my 20-something atheist’s heart, immersed and lost in the sea of the thoughts of others. Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving
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The problem with the Catholic Church “So why did you become Catholic?” After listening to my abbreviated conversion story, Bob explained that he’d born a Catholic but was now an evangelical Christian. Apparently feeling the need to defend his decision to leave Catholicism to a new convert, Bob declared that the crucifix is depressing and
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The battle over health: Health isn’t a word that should invoke military imagery. However, the number of Americans dying from heart disease, specifically, President Franklin Roosevelt’s death from heart disease, led President Harry Truman to pass the National Heart Act and fund the largest epidemiological study to date: The Framingham Heart Study. From that data
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