Over forty years ago, Henri Nouwen, in his book, Clowning in Rome, wrote an introduction that has stuck with me, even all these years later. He described some of the events of the day all the way back then, declaring that “our world has entered into a state of emergency.” “We have to be prepared,” he wrote all those years

One of my favorite Father’s Day gifts is this little statue that my sons gave me, years ago, when they were little boys. It’s made of painted stones that are glued together somehow to look like a person. Mine has a moustache, blue eyes, and brown hair—which back then would have been my hair color. The figure is holding a

When our children were much younger, our youngest son had a good friend. African American. They were, as little boys can be, mischievous at times. They were in the same preschool class, and one day they did something that they should not have done in class. Nobody got hurt, but it disrupted the teachers’ plans that day, and they both