For much of my adult life, I’ve lived as a people pleaser. Despite raising five children and having the responsibilities that come with it, I’ve often felt compelled to accommodate anyone who’d ask anything of me, no matter the chaos it created or the strain it might put on my personal wellbeing. That is,…
Over the last several years, academics, politicians, and journalists have generated a culture that presents theories and perceptions as facts. Among their many theories is that white Americans harbor an innate racism that society must now extinguish no matter the cost. To further their theory, they often uncover historic sins of men and stake…
“Ugggh, what is wrong with them?” “I’m done with them!” “I’m over them!” “To heck with them!” These are the phrases we sometimes utter when it turns out that the fellow Christians we love, admire, and trust are, well, just people–people with inconsistencies, egos, secrets, proclivities, or, sometimes, just general weirdness. Fallen people. Ironically,…
I recently had a conversation with my sister about how life’s challenges have evolved since our thirties. Faced with decisions on how to care for aging parents, guide children we can no longer strap to our hip, handle our own physical ailments, manage job changes, or balance increased financial responsibilities, the two of us…
“Repent, and believe in the Gospel!” That is the message that marks the beginning of this Lenten season, a season where we Christians prepare our hearts to receive redemption through Christ by fasting, almsgiving, and especially penance. While the necessity of preparing for Christ seems like Theology 101, it is actually a message that…
Perhaps you’ve seen this 2012 YouTube video, capturing a Christmas-caroling flash mob. Distracted shoppers busily scurry through a large metropolitan mall when suddenly one shopper begins singing “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” At first the regular shoppers notice the planned singers with confusion and curiosity, but before long many join in with the litany…
Last Wednesday ABC’s television series Modern Family received the International Television Audience Award for Comedy at the 54th Monte-Carlo TV Festival, indicating that it has among the highest ratings worldwide. Anyone who has seen the show knows its story line centers upon three couples—one traditionally married, one divorced and remarried, and one homosexual. With…
By Krissie Allen (The following was originally published last year at Newevangelizers.com, but because the message still rings true, I wanted to share it again at Choosing God.) “You just can’t force someone to learn about God,” I declared years ago on a balance beam outside of Holy Spirit Catholic Elementary School. My best…
As a teacher, I understand the importance of providing feedback to my students. I know that if I don’t take the time to respond to my students’ mistakes or redirect their thinking to a deeper level, my student’s learning either stagnates or even possibly regresses. I therefore find myself spending hours laboring over papers,…
Today, I asked my creative writing class to free write on the question, “Who am I?” Of course, the assignment was more than a simple directive or a time-filling exercise. For me, it is an essential question I have to—no, want to–ask myself to live honestly, to live in truth. So here is my…