This past week, I gave a lunch talk to a group of interdenominational people aged 55 and older, one of those potluck lunches I have found to be popular nowadays, who would have thought…I was told the audience knows little about Merton. But they were looking for something more than a biography. I am attaching... Continue Reading →

Green Junction In the late 1950s, plastic films began to replace paper and other natural-based materials in agriculture and landscaping. Mostly classified as mulch, these materials are applied directly on soils for different purposes: protection of seedlings and young plants, reduction of soil moisture, control of weed growth, and prevention of soil erosion. For many... Continue Reading →

*A See–Judge–Act Reflection on* Magnifica Humanitas There is something almost head-scratching about a papal encyclical on artificial intelligence — the oldest institution in Western civilization issuing formal teaching on the newest technology in human history. But *Magnifica Humanitas: On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence* is not a panic document, and it... Continue Reading →

What Aristotle's eudaimonia can teach us about living well in an age of autonomous machines. Aristotle's eudaimonia is not "feeling happy." It is living well — a whole-life flourishing built through rational activity in accordance with virtue. In a world increasingly shaped by autonomous technology, the central question is whether our tools help us become... Continue Reading →

We recently had the privilege of viewing the coast of Alaska and witnessing a glacier and its evident decline in size. Dawes Glacier, near Juneau, is an awesome site, but also a clear indicator of our changing climate. The international assembly of people on the cruise ship was united in its awe of the glacier.... Continue Reading →

The newest papal encyclical and the oldest Christian theologians turn out to be reading from the same page. Something is striking about watching the Catholic Church respond to artificial intelligence. While many respond with either uncritical enthusiasm for new technology or anxious warnings about its pitfalls, Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (”On the Safeguarding... Continue Reading →