Memory is a function of the sacred. And this is no more true than on Memorial Day.

At the core of things what counts for you?

A sermon for mothers (and fathers too) on the joys and trials of parenthood.

Where did the belief in the afterlife come from? What is the importance of heaven in Western culture? Is it possible to be religious without believing in an afterlife?

A battle of beliefs--cultural, religious, political--plague our world and compete for our loyalty. The problem is how a species wired with a belief instinct can continue its spiritual evolution while avoiding the propensity to either ignore, convert or destroy those who believe differently. It matters what we believe but perhaps more important is how we hold our beliefs in the life of the spirit.

Thomas doubted the reality of Easter. He demanded proof. We are the doubting Thomas of the faith community. We also want to know what is real about Easter for us today.

I wonder how a citizen of Jerusalem, perhaps a boy of ten by the name of Aaron, might have experienced what we call Palm Sunday.

Can corporations opt out of laws on religious grounds? Can there be a public discourse when the Web allows every side to invent its own facts? Is it even possible anymore to speak with integrity about democracy as creating the one out of the many?

They had better pray there is no real second coming.

How did the Bible become Holy? Should it be rescued from the fundamentalists on the right and the left?