Posts tagged Paul Prather
Paul Quenon Delivers An Eloquent Account Of Life Inside A Trappist Monastery

(ANALYSIS) A native of Fairmont, West Virginia, Paul Quenon entered Gethsemani as a novice in 1958. Thomas Merton was his novice master. “A Matter of the Heart” draws from Quenon’s experiences and observations over five of his more than six decades inside the cloister. Paul Prather recently spoke to him via email.

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With The Election Looming, Let’s Show A Little More Love And A Lot Less Bile

(OPINION) Every day when I read or listen to the national news, I want to drive over to the public square and shout, “You kids stop it! Stop it right now!” So, before things get any further out of hand, let me offer up some thoughts on the election for all of us who are civically involved but not fanatics.

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Only God Can Say Whether Armageddon Is At Hand

(OPINION) I’m getting inquiries from folks about the broadening war among Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah and now Iran. Folks are asking, Is this it? The Big One? The End Times? My typical answer, year after year, crisis after crisis, is “Not to worry.” But this time I’m not saying that. This time might — I emphasize the “might” — be different.

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Spin-Kicking For Jesus And Other Karate Moves

(OPINION) A lot of people — hordes, in fact — feel some amorphous pull toward the spiritual. There’s the old saying that all people are born with a God-shaped hole in them and only God can fill it. At some point in their lives many folks become seekers. But just as we all have to start at the beginning, we all have to grow.

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Dad Loved Animals, Children And God — But Often Hated Himself

(OPINION) More than anybody I’ve ever known, Dad loved God. I mean, he really loved God, as if God was as real and tangible as a puppy or my mom. Meanwhile, he fought a probable emotional disorder on his own, the best he could, with no counseling and no medication, just him and the Holy Ghost waging war with his demons.

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The Book Of Ruth Is A Romance — And So Much More

(OPINION) If you haven’t read Ruth recently, or ever, you should. It’s a classic romance. I should say, it’s a romance among other things. That’s what intrigues me about the Bible, Old Testament and New. Nothing is ever just one thing. It works on a straightforward level, but it’s also full of allusions to other biblical passages and buried meanings and, well, there’s no end to it.

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I’ll Say It Again: Christians, Get Thee To Church … Now!

(OPINION) As I’ve argued for years, being spiritual on your own isn’t enough. I located a column I wrote in 2015 — speaking of repeating myself — that outlined a half-dozen arguments for why believers need to join a congregation of like-minded pilgrims. Here’s a lightly edited version of that.

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Hey, Bill Maher, I’m That Other Guy Who Loves Being A Dad

(OPINION) For men and women alike, choosing to remain childless used to be a decision frowned upon by the larger culture. Now, childlessness is rapidly becoming our culture. Look, I get it. Yet I don’t get it. Having kids might be only a choice, but it’s a choice I can’t imagine having forgone.

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When We Learn To See The Holy In The Mundane, We Discover Equilibrium  

(OPINION) During the lengthy pandemic lockdown, I decided to take advantage of all that unforeseen solitude by developing my spiritual life. Among other things, I studied the works of Roman Catholic mystics. One sublime idea they sometimes express is that each of us — indeed, God’s whole creation — is one with the Maker of everything.

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This Methodist Minister’s Life Story Is One Of God’s Grace In Action

(OPINION) I love a good story about grace. And if the story of Stephanie M. Raglin is about anything, it’s surely about grace. She might strike you as the poster child for some elite circle of saints who made the right choices and excelled at them all. But talk to her and you’ll quickly encounter another section of her vita.

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There’s A Lot I’d Like To Tell My Grandkids, But They’re Too Busy To Listen — For Now

(OPINION) I’ve got important things I want to tell my grandkids. I’m older. I’ve learned stuff. I could save them lots of problems and disappointments. Some years ago, I decided to write a book I’d call something like, “Things I Want to My Grandkids to Know.” I’d self-publish it and provide a copy to each of the kids.

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Our Reactive Thinking Explains A Lot Of What’s Amiss In Society

(OPINION) I’ve come to believe lizard brain/reactive thinking explains much about why religion and politics — not to mention, say, family quarrels — turn irrational and toxic. Your first reaction is to assume the worst. We’re born ready-made with a predisposition toward the negative, which motivates us with an urgency the positive rarely equals.

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Spiritual Conversions Can Arrive In A Second — But Often Take A Lifetime To Process

(OPINION) Among the central tenets of almost any type of spiritual pursuit is that the pilgrim involved in it must become converted. Adherents need to be transformed from one kind of person into another kind of person, preferably a better one. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” St. Paul admonished the Roman Christians.

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Drop The Pretenses, Swallow Your Pride And Tell The Truth — About Everything!

(OPINION) Just tell the truth. If I couldn’t do anything else, I could do that, I figured. With some trepidation, I started writing candid pieces about our situation. Renee’s illness. My struggles with caregiving. How God’s apparent absence was battering my faith. How guilty I felt because I couldn’t fix any of it.

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Why As Few As 5% Of Americans Attend Church Each Week

(OPINION) If just 5% — or 6%, or 7% — of Americans feel committed enough to darken the doors of their churches for even an hour a week, then we no longer need to worry about becoming a post-religion culture. We’re there. Secularization has won.

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In Quitting Church, Americans Gave Up More Than They’d Bargained For

(OPINION) I’ve long argued it’s difficult — really, next to impossible — to practice Christianity effectively without becoming (and staying) an active member of a local church congregation.  Not only Christianity but the other major faiths are, by intention and maybe by definition, communal pursuits rather than solitary ones.

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Are Many ‘Evangelicals’ Who Support Trump Not Actually Evangelicals?

(OPINION) Since 2016, in private conversations and in responses from newspaper readers, the question I’ve probably been asked more consistently than any other is: “How do you account for White evangelicals’ devotion to Donald Trump?” So I’ve taken stabs at answering that question. But more often than not I’ve ended up shrugging and saying, “I don’t know. I don’t get it, either.” 

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One Of The More Important Truths We Ever Learn Is Just How Little We Know

(OPINION) This week I call attention to another vital principle. Our subject for today, ladies and gentlemen, is humility. I’ve been mulling over an essay by Frank Bruni that appeared in The New York Times. He’s a professor of journalism and public policy at Duke University, and a contributing writer for the Times’ opinion section. 

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Whatever You Believe, You Probably Need To Repent

(OPINION) This week I want to talk about a pair of concepts that are typically used side-by-side in Christian circles, and which also strike me as among the more misunderstood and egregiously misused principles in the church lexicon. Understood rightly, they’d benefit everybody. Those two words are “sin” and “repentance.” Taken together, they suggest the idea that we’re all sinners who need to repent. 

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