This was posted on my Substack site also. Look, I get it—history can feel like a dusty classroom subject. Dates, dead people, things that happened before we were born. Who cares, right? But Thomas Merton—this Trappist monk who somehow became one of the most influential spiritual voices of the 20th century—had a completely different take.... Continue Reading →
Finding Our Way: Thomas Merton Resistance, and Living Our Faith Today
Finding Our Way: Thomas Merton, Resistance, and Living Our Faith Today The Time Of Our Lives~Together as humans and disciples I want to start with something we all feel: life right now is exhausting. We’re pulled in a thousand directions. Our newsfeeds are screaming at us. Everyone seems angry, and it feels like we’re supposed... Continue Reading →
Catholic Social Teaching and Political Resistance: A Conversational Guide
Catholic Social Teaching and Political Resistance: A Conversational Guide Why Christians Have Resisted Unjust Power Throughout history, Catholic social teaching has inspired people to stand up whenever governments or systems violate basic human dignity, harm the common good, or turn their backs on the poor. There’s actually a straightforward framework for this called See–Judge–Act that... Continue Reading →
Friendship House: A Conversation for Our Times
Friendship House: A Conversation for Our Times My Thoughts You know, as a historian, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why we even bother studying history. I mean, we’ve got enough going on right now, right? But here’s the thing—history is really about patterns. It’s about learning from the good, the bad, and yeah,... Continue Reading →
“Pause Long Enough to See”
Thomas Merton and the See-Judge-Act Method If you're looking for a practical way to engage with the tough issues we face today, the See-Judge-Act method might be just what you need. It's a framework rooted in Catholic social teaching, but really, it's about learning to look at the world more carefully, think more deeply, and... Continue Reading →
Understanding Immigration Through the Eyes of Thomas Merton and Joseph Cardijn
Understanding Immigration Through the Eyes of Thomas Merton and Joseph Cardijn I am writng this as a “Conversational Talk” for Adults Using the See–Judge–Act Method, that you can use in your own work and missional activity. Let’s begin with a simple prayer of openness: Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is fear... Continue Reading →
Finding Our Way: Faith and Action in the Digital Age
Finding Our Way: Faith and Action in the Digital Age It’s Monday in the US. We have snow in the Midwest. Our first significant snowfall of the year. I want to talk with you today about two remarkable men of faith who never met, but whose wisdom speaks directly to the questions many of us... Continue Reading →
From Factory Floors to Artificial Intelligence: Leading with Catholic Social Wisdom of Joseph Cardijn
First, I wrote this with “baby boomers” in mind. I want to honor the extraordinary journey we’ve all witnessed. We’ve seen the world transform from typewriters to tablets, from rotary phones to smartphones, from factory assembly lines to robots that can write poetry. But here’s what hasn’t changed: the fundamental questions about human dignity, work, community, and... Continue Reading →
“When the Mirror Speaks: Why Racism Is a White Problem”
Thomas Merton saw racism as a white person's problem because he believed it was born of white society's spiritual sickness—its illusion, moral blindness, and structural complicity in oppression. His analysis, especially in Letters to a White Liberal (1963) and Seeds of Destruction (1964), shifted racism from being seen as the "Black man's problem" to being recognized as a crisis within white... Continue Reading →
“Faith Against Idols: Racism and White Christian Nationalism through the Eyes of Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Joseph Cardijn”
"Faith Against Idols: Racism and White Christian Nationalism through the Eyes of Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Joseph Cardijn" Let me start with a question that should keep us all up at night: What happens when our faith stops following the Gospel and starts bowing down to the idols of race and nation? This is... Continue Reading →
Innovate ~ Educate ~ Collaborate 
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