“I had a dream last night,” said my friend. “I was black , and I was looking in the mirror, thinking, Oh, if only I could have been born white!” She was talking to me and another friend, who immediately agreed that Caucasians are often jerks toward African Americans, ignorant as we are due to white privilege. Something about that conversation left me feeling guilty and ashamed. My two white friends figured they had a handle on race relations, but I picked up an unspoken message about being “one of those” whites. That conversation took place decades ago. The new Phariseesm is even Continue Reading

A four-year-old boy sits down to dinner with his parents and a visitor. During the meal, the child interrupts conversations numerous times, talks with his mouth full, and refuses to eat his vegetables. The visitor knows the parents are training their boy in the art of being gracious, but mostly what she notices are his flaws. If that's what adulthood is all about, she concludes, I don't want any part of it. Sounds silly, doesn't it? We know that a child is in process. He's not a finished product. He's growing toward adulthood, but he's not there yet. We don't expect a child to Continue Reading

"We're seeing people on site at emergencies refusing to help," said the CPR instructor, "because they have to capture the scene on video." Wow. So a guy is laying on the ground, pale-faced, not breathing, and bystanders pull out their cameras instead of trying to save his life. Somebody else will do that. I've got to catch this and put it on YouTube and Facebook. It's not just emergencies which give rise to concern, either. I can't count how many times I've witnessed an amazing scene in nature -- a glorious sunset, a hawk feeding close by -- and everybody around is recording it on Continue Reading