Analogies
If past behavior is any guide, Elie Wiesel must be having a fit. I’m not thinking here of the great loss to his Foundation from the audacious and criminal pilfering of Bernie Madoff. No, I…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Activist, What Do You See in the Night?/2
During a recent theological conversation with a friend in Louisville, I mentioned several thinkers and writers who had been very influential on me over these years. That exchange led to this concise collage…. 1. For…
Some Questions for My Students and Friends Who Are Making Their Way through The Book of Mev
Mev was really into photography. What is it that you are into? What are some of your own experiences of being accompanied by others and accompanying others? Which poems have you loved so much that,…
Annie Boyd: Walking with the Salvadorans
In class we are currently reading Like Grains of Wheat: A Spirituality of Solidarity by Marie Dennis and Margaret Swedish. The authors interview scores of North Americans who had their eyes opened by their relationships with Central…
American Values/4
April 6 marks another anniversary in the U.S. selective remembrance of the Vietnam War: 35 years ago, at the last minute, the U.S. initiated Operation Babylift, out of Saigon. According to a story today in…
Writing down Bones/32
Dear Poet, I wonder When you cried Where you cried Why you cried I cried living that story I cried writing that book I cry thinking of you crying When you do have words Or…
The Unmaking of a Marine
Friends, Join us for this discussion on Tuesday 23 March at CTSA, 1077 South Newstead in Forest Park Southeast. Mark From my friend Andrew Wimmer…. Dear Friends, I’m writing to invite you to a gathering…
Matthew 25
[31] “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. [32] Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he…
Vietnam’s Wars
Review of Mark Philip Bradley, Vietnam At War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). 1. In our history books we refer to “the Vietnam War,” which fixated American attention for a decade, if not more….
Friends in Cairo en route to Gaza
My friend Pat Geier from Louisville sent this update from her friends in Cairo… Friends, Mid-afternoon (Louisville time) I spoke with Sharon, Ibrahim, Russ and Ira. I tried but was unable to reach Mateo and…