Skeptical Faith

Google Image At 28, Mitchell had a passion for sports, had gotten his pilot’s license and “did really well with the ladies.” One day he jumped on his motorcycle, off to see his girlfriend. He didn’t see the laundry truck that hit him. “A faulty gas cap on his motorcycle popped off and drenched him in gallons of gasoline. The hot engine ignited and he was turned into a fireball…,” says an online story. He had burns over 65 percent of his body and most of his face and hands were burned off. His chances of survival were considered extremely low. Amazingly, he recovered, moved to a small town in Colorado and worked as a pilot. But fate wasn’t finished with him. As he was taking off, a small coating of ice on the wings made his plane crash from about 100 feet. He crushed his spine. Paralyzed from the waist down, he can no longer walk. That still didn’t stop him. He has become a successful businessman, sometimes politician, environmental activist and author. And he gives motivati...

Google Image Today, many Christian churches celebrate Holy Thursday. For me and my fellow Catholics, the day commemorates Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist, or Mass, and the priesthood. Included in today’s Mass is arguably the most moving of rituals, the washing of the feet. The day is also called “Maundy Thursday,” deriving from the Latin “mandatum,” meaning command. After washing his disciples’ feet – a menial task done by servants and undoubtedly embarrassing for the disciples – Jesus urges them to wash one another’s feet, according to John’s gospel. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Later, in the same chapter, Jesus expands on its meaning: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you….” A Certain Logic Typically, the priest or bishop washes the feet of parishioners, which has a certain logic because Jesus’ disciples, who would become leaders of his church, ...

Google Image From a distance the world looks blue and green And the snow-capped mountains white From a distance the ocean meets the stream And the eagle takes to flight. People of a certain age will recognize these words as lyrics to a song by Bette Midler that became a major hit in 1990. As the song progresses, you understand that what is seen from a distance is a mirage. The reality is obvious when it comes to our common home and its inhabitants. A whale washed up on a beach in the Philippines recently, according to a recent story on National Public Radio. When a marine biologist drove to the scene he found that the whale’s stomach was “full of plastic — nothing but nonstop plastic. It was compact to the point that its stomach was literally as hard as a baseball.” He believes that the animal had been suffering for months or even a year or more. Plastic Among the 88 pounds of plastic were 16 rice sacks — similar to potato sacks — and plastic bags from grocery chains...

L.J. "Pat" Carney Back in 1995 when I was 53 years old, I wrote a Father’s Day piece for The Des Moines Sunday Register about Pat Carney, my 94-year-old father. It was entitled, “Dad, at 94, Is in Transition.” He died the same year. “It was only a couple of years ago,” I wrote, “two decades after his retirement and 10 years after my mother’s death, that he began showing signs of senility. His doctor said he was in the early stages of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. “His losses are formidable. His spouse, all but one of his four brothers and sisters and nearly all of his friends are deceased. He still asks for them, believing he will soon visit them – or his own parents or grandparents – ‘on the farm.’ He doesn’t know where he is, the year, month or day of the week. He only occasionally recognizes his children or remembers that he has children. His sight is bad, hearing poor and he has a permanent catheter to empty his bladder. Formally fastidious about his appearance,...