A Story Doesn’t Always Go the Way You Had in Mind: Thoughts on Faith and Suffering

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 2 Comments

My father passed away on Christmas Day. Even though he was 89, the hospital call informing us that he was "letting go" was a sad surprise: it wasn't his long struggles with COPD and atrial fibrillation or even the suspected prostate cancer worrying him that ultimately caused his death. A stone lurking invisibly in his … Continue reading A Story Doesn’t Always Go the Way You Had in Mind: Thoughts on Faith and Suffering

Favorite Reads of 2023: Four Unexpected Delights

~ Peggy Haslar

Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson's beloved comic strip, once depicted Calvin in a philosophical stance, opining to his stuffed tiger that “today’s TV-reared audience is hip and sophisticated.” “This stuff doesn’t affect us,” the impish Calvin continues. “We can separate fact from fiction. We understand satire and irony. We’re detached and jaded viewers who aren’t … Continue reading Favorite Reads of 2023: Four Unexpected Delights

“Joy to the World” – Not a Carol, but a Psalm?

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 2 Comments

Advent's simple candles and starry nights temper December's brisk pace. If we let them, they restore us to better rhythms of prayer. The melancholy yet hopeful tones of traditional Advent hymns, especially "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" have prepared hearts for Christmas for centuries and they never fail to help my weary heart find that … Continue reading “Joy to the World” – Not a Carol, but a Psalm?

No Man Is an Island: One of Many Reasons Why I Still Show up at Church

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 4 Comments

It’s a Sunday evening many years ago. I’m newly married and my husband and I are watching a news show, 60 Minutes most likely, on the little bookshelf TV we'd sacrificed a good chunk of our budget to buy. The camera pans a hopeless inner city neighborhood where crime is high and gangs tempt young … Continue reading No Man Is an Island: One of Many Reasons Why I Still Show up at Church

The Utterly Human Peter: Lord, Save Me

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 1 Comment

Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not/keep that vigil, how they must have wept/so utterly human, knowing this too/must be part of the story. — Mary Oliver One of the reasons I believe the gospels are true is the realistic portrayal of Christ's disciples.  They leave everything–fishing nets, families, worldly wealth, everything–to … Continue reading The Utterly Human Peter: Lord, Save Me

Books Before Newsbites: Curating the News with C.S. Lewis and Dorothy Day

~ Peggy Haslar

When it comes to news consumption, I mostly have two kinds of friends. The first backs away from any conversation about current events. “Oh, I don’t pay much attention to the news,” they say with a dismissive wave of the hand. “It’s too political for me.”  I know what they mean. Many of us are … Continue reading Books Before Newsbites: Curating the News with C.S. Lewis and Dorothy Day

Nature’s Best Hope: Your Yard and Mine

~ Peggy Haslar

"All is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil," Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote in 1877, "And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell." Nevertheless, the poet marvels at the natural world's resilience in the face of industrial degradation: And for all this, nature is never spent;   There lives the dearest freshness deep down things... I recalled … Continue reading Nature’s Best Hope: Your Yard and Mine

Lesser Known Lightfoot: Glimpses of the Singer’s Spiritual Side

~ Peggy Haslar ~ 4 Comments

I’ve been humming Gordon Lightfoot tunes since his passing last month. I mean, a little more than usual.  My brothers and and I latched onto Gordon Lightfoot’s special genius as teenagers when visiting our mom’s side of the family in California the spring when Sundown topped the charts. We then learned that our beloved Uncle … Continue reading Lesser Known Lightfoot: Glimpses of the Singer’s Spiritual Side

“Go and Be Human” with Close Reads: A Podcast for the Incurable Reader

~ Peggy Haslar

When I was a young mother trying to finish a Bachelor of Arts in English, I relished my Tuesday evening class at the local college. The English department head, a kind woman with twinkling eyes and exacting standards, required us to read a book a week and come prepared to spend the first 30 minutes … Continue reading “Go and Be Human” with Close Reads: A Podcast for the Incurable Reader