Columns

​Trump’s last chance for a wall

By the time you read this, you’ll know whether the federal government has been partially shut down for the holidays.

The holidays offer us a second chance!

Most of us have been swept up in the momentum of the holiday season. We have passed Thanksgiving, reached the Christmas milestone and are approaching New Year’s Day, the third in the trilogy of holidays. Sure, there is a lot of our attention on holiday shopping, football, and social events.

Children’s Christmas gifts to adults brings joy

I love Christmas. I love it because my mother has worked hard to make the day magical and eventful for her family for more years than she will permit me to share! My mother has six children, 17 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren — and counting.

Three good men; Three Great kids’ books

Men get a bad rap. They’re blamed collectively for rape culture, violence, war, poverty, climate change and all other manner of global suffering. They’re forced to apologize on college campuses for their chromosomes, anatomy and athleticism.

News flash: The apple doesn’t fall far from the Tyree

Sentimental fool that I am, a recent change in my son’s extracurricular activities was like an early Christmas gift. Gideon has joined the staff of his school’s newly launched (online) newspaper, the Cornersville (TN) High School “Paw Prints.”

Apollo 8, Christmas Eve 1968 and a message for today

1968 was a year desperately in need of a Merry Christmas. The year had seen student protests worldwide, the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War, a chaotic Democratic National Convention, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy and countless other examples of discord.

Women’s march organizers need divine inspiration

As a woman who immersed herself in the lives of the saints growing up, I have a unique perspective on the modern feminist movements we’re seeing today (including #MeToo).

All along, Google’s been Googling me

I thought Facebook knew too much about me, but it turns out Google is even worse. Google, like Facebook, makes its money by targeting ads at us that reflect our interests and needs. The more both know about us, the better they’re able to target us with ads we’re likely to click.

​Worthy asylum seekers – or not?

Earlier this week I was at an event that honored Malala Yousafzai. Malala, in case you don’t recall, is the brave young school girl from a village in Pakistan who was nearly killed in 2012 by the Taliban.

A strategy for giving

In the emergency room and on the battlefield it’s easy to appreciate the wisdom of a triage system: those with the greatest need are helped first. But few of us, particularly the wealthy, apply that same type of thinking when it comes to making donations to charities.