All That Is Necessary

Tag: Web Goddess

  • A Bishop, a Rabbi and an Imam Walked Into a Room a Few Miles from Ground Zero…

    The service bulletin thoughtfully provided an English translation of the call to prayer, which begins and ends with "Allahu Akbar." Tragically, that phrase is associated in my mind with the hatred and anger of too many terrorist attacks. It was a blessing on this day to hear in those words an affirmation of our common humanity.

  • Hope Burns a Bit Brighter for a Positive Ending in Libya

    Today is my birthday, and the entire Northeast seaboard is preparing for Hurricane Irene. So what’s on my mind on this Kirk-and-Irene-focused day? Libya, of course. Specifically, whether President Obama deserves any credit for what tentatively seems to be shaping up as a reasonably OK outcome.

  • Enough on the Debt Ceiling, Let’s Talk Bicycles

    Cranky political commentary will resume soon enough. For this afternoon, there’s ribeye, shrimp and corn on the cob for the grill. I’m on vacation with a beautiful blonde who just spontaneously felt moved to tell me how much she loves me. Life is good.

  • On Gay Marriage, NY vs. NJ, and the Maplewood Bubble

    Same-sex marriage is a basic civil rights issue, and the only acceptable outcome is full marriage equality. With every passing year America will bend further in that direction. Faster, please.

  • Karen Armstrong Preaches Compassion in Morristown

    I tried to bait the famous author into a partisan screed, but she was having none of it. “America is at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now our Nobel Peace Prize winning president is taking us into war in Libya.  I’d be interested to hear your take on how some of the things you’ve […]

  • There Are a Billion Muslims — We Better Make Friends With Some of Them

    America is at war with a global enemy motivated by Islam — but if Islam itself is the enemy, we’re all in trouble. Father Butler should be commended, not attacked, for working to build bridges between Muslims and Christians.

  • Preparations for Easter at St. George’s

    Much thanks to Maplewood Patch editor Mary Mann for taking the visual images from St. George’s Palm Sunday observance and turning it into a spritely and thorough announcement of the upcoming Easter services. Cranky political commentary will resume here soon.  In the meantime, may Holy Week and Easter be a time of reflection and renewal […]

  • What Part of “Don’t Bury the Lead” Don’t You Understand?

    When leaving a voicemail message, many people will speed up while giving the all-important phone number — at the precise time when they should slow down. So someone says "nineseventhreefiveohfiveonetwoonetwo" as fast as they can, and you have to listen to the message twice, or even three times, to capture the number. What they should say is "nine seven three"… [pause] "five oh five"… [pause] "one two, one two".

  • A Brief History of Presidential Betrayal, Through the Prism of Andrew Sulllivan

    If Obama has lost Andrew Sullivan, has he lost the Left, the Right or the Center? For reasons that will become clear, I’ve been watching off and on to see what might happen when Obama does something that Sullivan perceives as a betrayal. The time may have come with Obama’s shocking decision to intervene in […]

  • They Looked at a Hillside and Envisioned a Church

    Nearly nine decades ago some citizens of Maplewood, New Jersey came together in a spirit of faith and community to begin planning a major new Episcopal church on a wooded hillside off of Ridgewood Road.  The parish traces its roots back to just after the Civil War, but the cornerstone for the current building was […]