After my mind-blowing encounter with Palestinians and Israelis on a 2010 trip to the Holy Land, I have kept abreast of news from the region. Never has it been so painful as it is now. Sparked by the brutal murders of one Palestinian teen and three Israeli teens, the conflict seems to intensify every hour. 

I study photographs of the boys—Mohammed, Naftali, Gilad, and Eyal—all gangly growth and goofy smiles, smooth cheeks and pimply foreheads, then fix my gaze on their beautiful, blameless eyes. I want to scream. Why, God? Why? More here...

I’ve always loved the poetic “O Antiphons” we say each year to close the Advent season. I can’t seem to get enough of them, and I’ve occasionally created a few extras to pray on my own. 

Just before Lent this year, while reading the Billy Collins poem “Aimless Love,” it occurred to me that I could start a parallel Lenten tradition. This Lent, I am creating and praying my very own “Ah” Antiphons; that is, verses that mark a moment of insight, awe, or appreciation. I’m also doing the traditional Lenten things, like fasting and service, but I have a feeling that writing an Ah Antiphon each day might end up being the practice with the most punch. More here...

How would you fill in the blank in the sentence below?

“_______________ has been my salvation.”

I asked myself this question today after watching an eleven-minute film called, “Still.” The mesmerizing film features 72-year-old Hawaiian free-diver Carlos Eyles floating through coral reefs, frolicking with dolphins, and stroking giant sea turtles.

Carlos Eyles is lucky, and he knows it. A childhood experience opened his eyes to the beauty and wonder of the ocean, and he never looked back. Everything in his life—his marriage, his career, his philosophical musings—reflect his unwavering passion. More here...