Ask Not: On Gifts and Debts

by Dale M. Coulter

Kennedy at his inauguration and medieval theologians agree: humans owe their existence to something beyond themselves, and they should live in light of that debt. Continue Reading »

7 Feb 2017

Books for Christmas 2016

by George Weigel

Take a stand against the electrification of reading and consider the following, in properly bound form, as gifts for those on your Christmas—not “Holiday”—list: Continue Reading »

7 Dec 2016

Gifts, Sex, and the State Legislature

by Gabriel Rossman

A Missouri state assembly bill sponsored by Representative Bart Korman (R-Montgomery County) would require lobbyists to disclose sexual relationships with legislators or legislative staffers. The bill does so through defining sex as a “gift.”

8 Jan 2016

eBaywatch: Guardian Angels

by Sally Thomas

Tuesday we celebrated the Holy Archangels; today it’s our invisible guardians whom we feast. Herewith, some stuff: Okay. If you were going to buy wings for the Christmas pageant, you could go ahead and get them today. Not great art or theology or anything, but little kids like dressing up, and . . . . Continue Reading »

2 Oct 2009

The Feast of Saint Therese

by Sally Thomas

I didn’t know it until I started googling around this morning, but right now the relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux are touring the United Kingdom. Today she’s at York Minster; more about the itinerary here.Swine flu fears aside, if you’re in the neighborhood, go and say a prayer . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2009

Quo Vadis II: Gifts for the Graduate

by Sally Thomas

I am an uninspired gift-giver at the best of times. If I gave you a little purse hand-knitted by my daughter for Christmas last year, odds are that by next Christmas I’ll have forgotten all about it, and you’ll get the same thing again, though perhaps in a different color.Graduations are . . . . Continue Reading »

21 May 2009

Were You There?

by Sally Thomas

No no no, not the hymn. I’m talking about, were you there. Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church. The Junior-High Sunday School Retreat. Panacea Falls State Park. Last weekend in April, 1978. Where they had the drowned mouse in the shower drain? And we had to do square-dancing on Saturday . . . . Continue Reading »

23 Apr 2009

Are You — I Mean, Have You Saved?

by Sally Thomas

8GB USB Flash Drive Cross NecklaceIn elegant antique brass. Thanks to my friend A.B. for alerting me to this useful curiosity. {Rating: . . . . Continue Reading »

22 Apr 2009

Crunchy on the Outside. Strange Piece of Paper on the Inside

by Sally Thomas

Years ago a friend of mine took her little daughter to a Chinese restaurant and asked how she liked the fortune cookie at the end of the meal. “Well . . . ,” her daughter said, “it doesn’t taste like much. And the paper inside it is kind of strange, too.” Growing up in . . . . Continue Reading »

16 Apr 2009

Now THESE Are Rosaries

by Sally Thomas

Alan Creech makes these beautiful, Franciscan-inspired, single-decade rosaries using natural materials with satisfying textures.If, like me, you not only have a San Damiano crucifix on your front door and a relic of Saint Francis in your living room, but are also a tactile person whose attention at . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Apr 2009