Skeptical Faith

Google Image At a recent visit to the house of my son and daughter-in-law near Chicago, my 3-year-old grandson pointed to the bald spot on the back of my head and asked, “Papa, what happened?” “What do you mean?” I asked. “What happened to your hair?” he asked. “It fell out,” I said. “Where is it?” he asked. “I don’t know,” I responded. “Maybe it’s at your house,” he suggested, trying to be helpful. We may see this as “cute,” but it’s a perfectly logical question given his knowledge of the situation. No one would accuse him of being stupid or even ignorant. A 3-year-old, after all, can’t be expected to understand the vagaries of aging. Even we who are experiencing it don’t understand them. Exaggerating the Differences It has often occurred to me how much we exaggerate the differences between us and children. We see the differences as huge. But are they really? We may think of children as naïve and uninformed. Does that mean we’re sophisticated and brilli...

Google Image A public-service TV “commercial” back in the 1970s shows an obviously Native American canoeing a river. Smokestacks shoot particles into the air, forming smog. Garbage floats by. A close-up shows a single tear rolling down the man’s cheek. The announcer says, “People start pollution. People can stop it.” Turns out that the actor, who had played a Native American in numerous movies and TV shows, was actually a second-generation Italian. But that didn’t alter the power of the message. Millions of Americans who saw it thought twice about throwing trash from their car windows or abandoning messy campsites. It was the kind of message needed to move Americans from indifference and apathy to concern about the environment. But it wasn’t nearly enough, and the kind of pollution the commercial targeted isn’t that important in the tragedy-waiting-to-happen that is global warming. The major villains are industrial emissions and exhaust fumes. Relevance? Before going any...

Google Image Growing up Catholic, I heard a lot about “mystery.” No, not the novel or movie that may be a “mystery,” but beliefs that are mysteries. I never particularly liked the term. I always saw it as a subterfuge for a belief that was so obscure it couldn’t be explained, or one that is utterly unbelievable. But as I age, I’m beginning to see that it’s probably the only word you can legitimately use to describe the indescribable. How can you adequately describe God, whose existence is said to be outside time and space, who is in and around everyone and everything, and who stretches from here to beyond the ends of the universe? Those are descriptions that we humans can’t fathom. What’s more, how can you adequately describe faith? It’s said to be a “gift,” but if so, why does God give it to some and not to others? And if it’s a gift, shouldn’t that mean we don’t have to do anything to acquire it or retain it?   Rational but Not Entirely of the Intellect Scriptur...

Google Image After the newspaper I worked for went from being a family-operated business to belonging to a corporate giant, the new company sent in a series of corporate employee relations people to bring employees around to the thinking of their new bosses. Predictably, there was some resistance. Change is seldom easy, especially when you have no input in the change or when reasons for the change – discussed and agreed upon behind closed corporate doors – are inadequately explained. I recall a meeting the new head of ER had with employees, then over 500 strong. “The train is leaving the station,” he said. “You’d better be on it.” The threat was hard to miss. But the question I was left with was about the value of change. Yes, change is inevitable, but not every change. And not all change is beneficial. Should people embrace just any proposed change? Well, yes, the ER head implied, if you want to keep your job! Resist, No Matter What There is no doubt, however, that m...

Google Image One of the blockbuster movies of the summer was “War for the Planet of the Apes,” among dozens of violent movies that appear with alarming regularity at multiplexes around the country. I didn’t see the movie, but I read a review by an Associated Press writer. The movie apparently has some touching moments and the writer praises the fact that the film “manages to surprise and captivate.” Predictably, however, it starts “with a gripping opening battle.” The film is one in a seemingly endless string of “apes” movies. This one probably won’t be the last. While watching a football game recently, I saw commercials for other movies and video games that were even more violent. They dripped with murder, destruction, righteousness and vengeance, promising to plunge the viewer into an orgy of blood and guts. (Any relation between the violence of football and the kind of commercials shown?) Let’s face it, as a nation we’re saturated with violence, in movies, TV, video g...