Opinion

More than 40 years of research on the psychology of surviving disasters has found that religion can be a valuable resource in fostering resilience. Studies of people’s reactions to the Ebola outbreak and Syrian refugee crisis show that some forms of religiosity may be less healthy and less helpful. 

The Missouri House has approved a bill exempting private and religious schools from raising the minimum wage for their workers, as state law now requires. It was the wrong decision.

Two hundred years ago this month, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 — and the related Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 — shaped the nation in ways that continue to haunt our politics, justice system, and even churches. And it offers critical lessons for us today.

In an inversion of Teddy Roosevelt's dictum, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom speaks loudly and carries no stick at all. And not surprisingly, over the years its words had little effect beyond annoying the objects of the criticism.

Bob Dylan famously declared, “The times they are a-changin’.” In the world of journalism that sure feels spot on. Nearly every week another story hits about some publication going out of print or even out of business. And nearly every week it seems there’s also another attack on press freedom rights.

Jean Vanier, who died last year at the age of 90, has been credibly accused of an abusive sexual relationship with six non-disabled adult women to whom he was giving spiritual direction. At the same time, I ask myself, why am I surprised?

Most of us take our hearing for granted. If you doubt that, let me ask when was the last time you thanked God for your hearing? Did you ever do so?

January marked the 50th anniversary of my brother Dennis’s death. The sheer volume of days, months, and years is staggering. But it’s more than that. I’m amazed that after five decades, the dull ache of loss persists.

When I came to pastor here more than a decade ago, I wanted to see younger people join the church. But now more than ever, I’m thankful for those wheelchairs.

Why should a person be punished because our lawmakers were slow to recognize their error? If a sentence is wrong, then it is wrong. We shouldn’t measure truth or justice by a calendar.