Skeptical Faith

Google Image Some try to avoid it at all cost. Others try to minimize it. Still others deny it. But some seem to accept adversity with courage and grace. What’s their secret? I don’t know, but I’m working on it. In a recent weekend liturgy, Mark’s gospel told the story of James and John, brothers and, like Peter, former Sea of Galilee fishermen who became ardent followers of Jesus. When Jesus and his disciples, including the two brothers, were on the road to Jerusalem, according to Mark’s gospel, Jesus predicted that he would be arrested and executed there. That should have been enough to burst the disciples’ bubble about their leader establishing an earthly kingdom. But James and John either misunderstood or weren’t paying attention because they came forward and asked Jesus, “Grant us to sit, one at your right and one on your left, in your glory.” Were they referring to some future “glory” in the afterlife or, ignoring his prediction about arrest and execution, about a more im...

Google Image A defining moment in U.S. history is occurring with little fanfare. Francis Collins, who has headed the National Institutes of Health for a dozen years, has announced that he is leaving that post by year’s end. In a Twitter article, Nell Greenfieldboyce and Scott Neuman describe the Institutes as “the largest funder of basic and clinical biomedical research in the world.” Under Collins’ leadership, I would add, no institution has had a greater impact on American medicine and Americans’ health. Trained as a geneticist, Collins was previously director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, which was in charge of a massive effort to fully identify humanity's genetic code. The project was completed in 2003. To give some idea of the challenge, humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes. Each of us has two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent. Willingness to Be Upfront But in my estimation, Collins’ greatest strength lies in his commitment ...

Google Image When our kids were young, my wife and I had a hard time getting them to attend weekly religious education classes at our parish. Even then, I understood why. They found little there that interested them. So I used to look for ways to get them to go. One week I made a deal with them. I would excuse them from going if they agreed to watch the movie “Fiddler on the Roof” with me. The movie was dated even then, having been released in 1964. And it is a musical, set in an era around 1905, featuring songs that were of little interest to kids in the early years of the rock age. I found the story inspiring. They didn’t. Jewish Religious and Cultural Traditions The story centers on Tevye, a milkman in the village of Anatevka in Russia, who, according to Wikipedia, “attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family's lives. He must cope with the strong-willed actions of his three daughters who wish to marr...

Google Image Among famous people dying recently was Norm MacDonald, a comedian who was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1993 to 1998. He died of cancer at age 61. Although I used to be a regular SNL watcher, I haven’t found it to be as funny as I perceived it to be15 years or so ago. And to be honest, I was never a MacDonald fan, seeing his humor as often cynical. But I also often find myself evaluating people using insufficient information, and that’s not a practice of which I’m proud. It impoverishes life. In any case, a story on Bing.com says MacDonald was “ a public persona laced with paradoxes, an edgy, courageous comic who often seemed unconcerned if his work pleased the public or his employers.” Portray Themselves as the Dumbest The article quotes an editor of the podcast Ricochet: “The smartest comedians portray themselves as the dumbest; Norm Macdonald was the best at this sleight of hand. He graduated high school at 14, read Russian literature in his downtime and...