by Trevor Barton | Feb 15, 2021 | Opinion
Alex Kotlowitz is one of my favorite non-fiction writers. He wrote a remarkable book in 1992 titled There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America. It’s the story of Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, 11- and 9-year-old brothers...
by Trevor Barton | Nov 20, 2019 | Opinion
I noticed one of my students was sitting at her table with her head in her arms, as still as the petals of a daisy on a midsummer afternoon. This was a few weeks ago as we were moving from our morning work to our writing workshop, and as the students were milling...
by Jon Kuhrt | Mar 22, 2019 | Opinion
I worked in a large hostel for 140 homeless people in the mid-1990s. One resident (let’s call him Brian) had incredibly strong body odor. His lack of personal hygiene and reluctance to wash his clothes became a real issue. It led to snide comments from other...
by Jim Kelsey | Feb 18, 2019 | Opinion
Our neurology predisposes us to love our neighbor. When Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31; Matthew 22:39), he is challenging us to nurture our innate, neurological capacity for empathy. Our brains are wired for empathy, argues...
by Ron Rolheiser | Dec 19, 2018 | Opinion
Our natural instincts serve us well, to a point. They’re self-protective and that’s healthy too, to a point. Let me explain. Recently, I was at a football game with a number of friends. We arrived at the game in two cars and parked in the stadium’s underground parking...