Where’s Jesus?
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Where’s Jesus?

When 19 children and two teachers are murdered we cry, where’s Jesus? When a white supremacist kills 10 African Americans in a supermarket, where’s Jesus? When nations wage war bringing death, destruction, famine, homelessness and economic chaos, where’s Jesus? When loved ones suffer from cancer or mental illness, where’s Jesus? One might treat this question…

Literature and Love: A Poet’s Search for God

Literature and Love: A Poet’s Search for God

What are the poets trying to do when they write their poems? I don’t mean the poems that are composed for birthday or anniversary celebrations, nor the short verses written for Hallmark cards. I mean the carefully crafted pieces that appear in poetry journals in language that is cut so close to the bone that you find it almost impossible to flesh out the meaning. If we are to believe Christian Wiman – former editor of Poetry Magazine and now professor of faith and poetry at the Yale Divinity School – they are looking for God.

Of pain and purpose
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Of pain and purpose

All afternoon I thought about that dear woman. I wished I could tell her that her daughter has it wrong, that she is still a lovely woman, still a worthwhile human being; that her suffering has only revealed who she really is and given her something truly valuable to offer her daughter and the rest of the world – an example of courage and perseverance in the face adversity. That would be too easy for me to say, wouldn’t it?