The little round vial holds about an ounce of water. There's a silver cross that sits on top of it. And in big block letters just one word: Jordan. Those who see it ...

As an adult I make mistakes several times a day and usually feel slightly bad about each one. My nieces and nephew—Cristina, age 8; Patrick, 5; and Carolina, 3—make a mistake ...

Yesterday, outside the Hogar de Cristo here in Arica, Chile, my mind boggled as I talked to a homeless, alcoholic, filthy and desperate man. ...

Jesus was all about non-violence as the way to transform your enemy?s heart. Modern warfare has other ideas about what to do with your enemy's heart. As the debate around pummeling Saddam ...

Recently we had the opportunity to babysit our friends' 10-month-old baby boy. Matthew is a quiet and happy baby, smiling and ready to play. When our friends Maria and Andy went to a wedding, we ...

TDeath has been on my mind in the past weeks, as I've had four different friends all lose a parent or grandparent. Usually such moments set ...

I read the reading from Genesis three times before I picked up on the rainbow. "I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." ...

We are a smooth-skinned people. Between walnut-shell exfoliants, multivitamins, microdermabrasion and "Botox parties," well off Americans aim to erase death line by wrinkled line. We want to look ...

For most Americans work means a steady 9 to 5 gig with benefits. But the benefits of a weekly paycheck and health insurance often come with the price tag ...

I first met him at a four-week long summer program; I knew he was the one…or so I thought. Then he didn't return the phone call. Then the letter came, and I knew he was ...

 The diminuitive, elderly nun took the microphone before our audience of several thousand at the Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. As she began, there was a hush: "My grandfather was a slave for the ...

When I first learned that a possible Hebrew-to-English translation of Genesis 1:28's command for humans to ‘subdue the earth' is, literally, ‘rape the earth,' I cheered. At the ...

I had the good end of the emergency. A friend's husband needed surgery and her dog needed a sitter. I promptly offered my services. Quincy, a mellow Lab/Beagle mix, is a good dog—a 30-pound sausage ...

When, oh, when did online dating lose its stigma? When did it become the province of sexy nerds and closet punks, as well as the schlubs and the hipper-than-thou among us? Who knows? Who cares? One ...

Sister Kay is slothful. She's a nun and professor and frantically busy. So, when she announced to my Monday night class that she is lazy, I was shocked. Spiritually lazy, she clarified. Some days, she ...

Maria (I have given her this name after many years) sat on a blanket next to her mother. They sat on the sidewalk selling small bags of pecans in ...

PART 1: THE HIRED GUN "Can you imagine us doing this in a church?" I wasn't eavesdropping, but I did overhear Mina, ...

I was eight years old when on Jan. 22, 1973 , the U.S. Supreme Court made abortion legal throughout the country. Growing up in a post-Roe v. Wade world, I listened to friends who had chosen ...

I met Raquel one spring day in Kingston, Jamaica. She was a resident at a home for girls who were wards of the state. These young ladies had been ...

Every January, millions of Americans, as well as millions around the world, will come together in homes, bars, and clubs to celebrate what is called the ...