Opinion

One of my favorite spiritual writers, Thomas Merton, offered an important insight about saints. He wisely observed that saints are not perfectionists. That is, we shouldn’t expect a saint to be someone who has lived a perfect life or has even aspired to live such a life. Saints are human beings; people who have struggled, questioned and disappointed themselves and others at times.

Fort Wayne, my hometown, has a telephone service that residents can use to ask questions, request city services or report situations that require attention from city departments. I’ve never used this service but I have a friend who contacts the 311 folks daily.

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”

OK, OK. I’ll admit it. I am a quitter.

Most kids learn to read around the time they start going to school, but years of educational research demonstrate that the groundwork for reading success is laid long before the school years start – from birth onward.

This morning, like most mornings, Becky and I start by sitting down with our coffees at the kitchen table. “How’d you sleep?” we ask each other as we wake into the day. After a time she makes a small breakfast while I prepare the seed, suet and hummingbird nectar and walk them outside for our feathered companions. Back inside, I refill my cup and we begin our morning readings: Some scripture, a daily news website, and perhaps an interesting article or two. At the quarter hour, we switch on the TV to catch a local weather update and then switch it right off. Thus unfolds our morning routine.

It has been two and a half years since the COVID pandemic pushed the United States into recession. The national economy remains burdened by the pandemic, particularly in labor markets. While the unemployment rate is low, levels of total employment and labor force participation have failed to return to pre-COVID levels. New data is beginning to offer a better understanding of why that is the case.

There are reasons former President Donald Trump keeps getting into trouble.

Having an educated populace has always been seen as a necessary component of our constitutional republic. Citizens need more than the basic knowledge to earn a living; they also need to understand their civic rights and obligations as members of a self-governing community.

In our household, we’re gearing up for my favorite holiday of the year.