“You cannot be a man of faith unless you know how to doubt.” Thomas Merton wrote those words from within the walls of a Trappist monastery. He had devoted his life to God, yet he did not regard doubt as a failure of faith. Sue Monk Kidd
Mary Oliver liked to walk the same path every day. She lived for decades in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where woods, dunes, marshes and beaches gave her plenty of places to walk. Yet Oliver often chose the same path. “My own nature is to like to walk the same
Los Angeles. A missing girl. A private detective in a dark suit behind the wheel of a vintage Corvette. His name is John Sugar. He knows how to follow someone without being seen, how to spot a lie and what's next when a conversation becomes a
The Burden We Share A reader recently responded to one of our reflections with a deeply honest observation. One of the privileges of this publication is the opportunity to learn from readers. We publish articles and reflections, but often the conversation continues in the comments. Occasionally, someone
What an ancient Jewish teaching suggests about faith, change, and seeing what was there all along In the Jewish tradition, there is a passage in the Talmud, a collection of ancient teachings and discussions, that describes Moses watching the Torah as it is being written. He
Doubt in later life is not always a crisis of faith. Last Sunday’s reflection considered a stretch of life where certainty no longer works the way it once did—not as a failure, but as something most of us encounter along the way. Building on that, this week,
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” — C.S. Lewis Spring returns with a kind of reliability we rarely question. The days lengthen. The light changes. The air is different. The seasons still turn. For
Why the search for the sacred may be more deeply human than we think “Spirituality is an inborn human capacity.” — Lisa Miller For years now, headlines have told a familiar story: Americans are leaving organized religion. Church membership has declined. Congregations have aged. Yet the deeper spiritual
Last Sunday’s reflection asked where we belong now. This week, we consider what it means to practice staying with what matters in later life. For many who have done the inner work, that question eventually becomes quieter and more demanding. It shifts from geography to attention.
Planning with love begins before it’s needed—at the kitchen table, with calm voices and clear hearts. Begin small, at home. Pour tea, say what helps you live well now, and name one thing you’d want honored later. If you missed our related post, read Saying the
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