Columns

There is a scandal at the heart of the Christian faith. This scandal makes it hard for people to believe in the person of Jesus and in the words of Jesus. The scandal is not some kind of hidden moral failing in a leader of a movement that has just come to light. It is out there in public view and is talked about from Christian pulpits regularly. The scandal is this: Christians believe that the Messiah, the Son of God, died a shame-filled death inflicted on him by his own Jewish leaders through the enforcement of Roman law. In a word, the scandal is about the cross on which Jesus suffered death.

One of the lead front-page stories, second section, in the redoubtable Wall Street Journal this past weekend was all about how much is too much jewelry to wear to your private yoga lessons in New York City; really, there is a competition for who’s the most bejeweled. But the question was, when does it start to get in the way of “downward dog?”

“I like your hair!” a woman at the party said.

Editor’s note — The author originally posted this column on Feb. 9, 2014.

This time we’ll talk about local add-on storage. Why, with all the cloud alternatives? Read on and we’ll discuss why or why not and some options.

I asked my wife last year what she wanted to do to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. I was not expecting the word that came out of her mouth immediately.

Alexi Navalny was a once-in-a-lifetime example of what John F. Kennedy once called “Profiles in Courage.” That such villainy and treachery caused his killing are the reasons we must recognize and honor this man’s willful courage and stoic fearlessness. Alexi Navalny is gone and Mother Russia has endured another blow to her attempts to join Lady Liberty as a paean to freedom and democratic ideals.

“I’ve been reading about cats,” my husband, Peter, tells me. Peter has never had a cat before.

As a lot of you know I lost my dog Sparky on Aug. 4, 2021. Sparky was a legend among many far and wide. His antics, bravery and intelligence put a smile on the faces of so many. The Spark helped me through a really tough period of my life that saw me lose several close family members and friends, and for that I am forever grateful. After Spark passed I couldn’t even begin to think of getting another dog. After all, I still had Sweet Lilly who’d been through a lot herself. So, I wasn’t ready and I didn’t want to stress Lilly out with a new rescue in the house.

There’s the old expression that when consumed by, or overwhelmed by too many goings on, one might be unable to see “the forest for the trees.”