The term ‘secular’ has become almost synonymous with progress, Westernization, and democracy. It often stands in contrast to the religious, the traditional, or the authoritarian. It is a beacon of hope in a world tied down by its past superstitions and stains of ignorance. Secularity, it seems, is a very good thing indeed. But what […]
Light and Truth from a Hospice Bed
Light An aged priest limps down the aisle, clutching what looks like pure light in his hands. Golden sun-like rays have been welded around the outline of a single circle, surrounding a single piece of bread in the middle – the Host — and there, kneeling in the convent, I can hear words of the […]
The Keys to Happiness
History, literature, and the present day are filled with characters pursuing happiness or, as Aristotle calls it, a life of “eudaimonia.” But how does one achieve this ideal life? Each of us have our own values and thoughts that drive our actions regarding this question. Philosophies and worldviews similarly have values that create answers to […]
Don’t Pray for Humility (unless you have nothing to lose)
Sometimes I wish I had never prayed for humility. Humility is the virtue I forgot. Growing up a cradle Catholic, I knew I made mistakes. I knew I didn’t pray enough, and that I shouldn’t have been rude to my little brother or made a joke about my teacher behind her back. Regardless, I believed […]
America’s Infatuation with Sport Heroes
August 14th 1936, almost a year after the legislation of the Nuremberg Race Laws that set the legal framework for Jewish persecution, nine middle-class boys from the University of Washington sat anxiously in their boat on the Langer See towards the outskirts of Berlin.1 And just meters away, the prized German coxswain and his crew […]
Finding Meaning in a Mysterious World: A Guide to Following the Religious Sense
Why are we here? Does my life have a purpose? Is my existence an accident? These questions have haunted the human consciousness since there was such a thing as the human consciousness. The desire to make, find, or otherwise access meaning in our existence is in many ways innate to human psychology. Whether or not […]