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Meryl Streep: The Fresh Air Interview : NPR

If you are a fan, which I am, I think you'll enjoy listening in on this fabulous interview. Meryl Streep: The Fresh Air Interview : NPR

Why I'm a Moderate

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When it comes to politics, each side of the American major two-party system holds certain beliefs about everything. Including, but not very explicitly, human beings. Conservatives (Republicans, Libertarians, etc.) seem convinced of the power of the individual. In this worldview, people have unlimited possibilities if they/we just try hard, sacrifice, invest, produce, invent and risk. The human person is strongest as the independent "I" who may contribute to the general welfare, but only because of personal choice and acting out of personal moral or spiritual values. The conservative man or woman buckles down, works hard, and enjoys the fruits of their labor, contributing to the general welfare in limited (roads, bridges, national defense) ways. Success? Well, you deserve it because of hard work, luck, or some other feature of your life. At'a boy! Think Warren Buffet, Ayn Rand, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Liberals (Democrats, Green Party, etc.) are focused on

Spiritual Reflections: Warm weather could be sign of a larger problem

My newspaper column from Saturday. All the mild weather has had me thinking...and worried. Spiritual Reflections: Warm weather could be sign of a larger problem : After the winter we had last year, snow as high as our shoulders at the end of the driveway, cold that froze lakes hard and early, this winter’s non-start is a strange reversal. A dry Thanks...

For some interfaith families, the holidays are a juggling act | Minnesota Public Radio News

MPR reporter Eliz. Dunbar gave me a call a couple of weeks back, and asked me to contribute to her story on inter-faith families and the holidays. Glad to help! For some interfaith families, the holidays are a juggling act | Minnesota Public Radio News

Advent Early On

Every year after Thanksgiving I'm surprised when the church calendar says it's a new year. Advent marks the beginning of the church's annual liturgical review of the great stories of the faith. Traditionally it starts with the prophets, who warn that God is among us and will show her/his self even more clearly in the days to come. Get ready! they shout. I'm always puzzled at this exhortation. How can a human being get ready for God? It's this great human gift and problem of looking into the future. As far as we know, other mammals aren't able to imagine the future in the same way we do. They live their lives much more in the "now" than in the "then." But humans are so in love with the future, we think anything is possible there. The allure of a future we can imagine makes us all less attached to the present, I fear. We put off anything we can. The present? Well, we're just passing through. The answer for me is the spiritual skill of

Depression Support Coalition - Speaker Series

I'm speaking in Burnsville on Thursday, December 1st at 7pm on better managing our minds, bodies and relationships during the holiday season. Please join us! Depression Support Coalition - Speaker Series

No More Comments

I spend some time every day on the internet, social media and news sites included. I have come to the belated conclusion that comments on stories should go the way of dinosaurs. In my lifetime, I have had to face, listen to and read more than my fair share of ignorant, hateful and biased responses to things I have said, written or decided. Now that I am no longer a public leader (thanks be to God), I don't have to subject myself to that kind of human detritus any more. So why do I do it online? I'm convinced the ability to post whatever comes to mind is one of the worst things about technology in our generation. People can wound, judge, belittle and hurt others without the normal consequences of face to face communication. So here's to trying to ignore anonymous rantings on public stories. I'm going to try to hold on to my tenuous belief that the more educated, thoughtful and socially responsible people in the world don't write comments because they are too b