New post on the Park Forum: Are humans unique or is it all evolution?

Life with God, at least here and now, is a state of constant tension. The reality of pain, suffering, separation, death, heartache. The reality of joy, comfort, redemption, grace, love. Both, and. At the same time.

I spin from one to the other far too often, from a spiritual ...

Bible Study and the Secretary of Education

I recently joined a team of writers who are making connections between the Bible and the news. I will be posting on a regular basis at www.theparkforum.wordpress.com, and I will add a link to this blog whenever a post appears. My first:

http://theparkforum.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/armstrong-intuition-or-revelation/

I've felt like a failure recently. Well, at least a few weeks ago I was feeling like a failure. I had spent a year working on a proposal for a new book. My agent sent it out to dozens of editors. Lots of them responded well. I was sure a contract would follow. But in the end, ...

Every so often, people ask me spiritual questions. One that comes up again and again is, "Who do you think is going to heaven, and who is going to hell?" My short answer is, "I'm an agnostic." I know that "agnostic" is usually a word used to describe whether or not people ...

William is now thirteen months old. We're out of the newborn stage, thank the Lord. If there's one thing I now know for sure about myself, it is that I am not a "baby person." The cuddling is nice, I suppose, but a) William rarely cuddled and b) I like talking with my children ...

NPR ran a story tonight: "Rethinking 'Retarded': Should It Leave The Lexicon?" (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112479383).

I wrote a response:

"You're such a retard" implies, "you're acting the way I imagine someone with an intellectual disability would act." ...

There's an email that floats around, especially among those of us who have children or siblings or other loved ones with mental disabilities. It is sweet and endearing and describes an adult woman's love for her brother. Early on, she says his mental age is 8.

She goes on to ...

I drive to the Emergency Room with William. I know the route now, due to Penny's ER visit and subsequent hospital stay last spring, so I no longer have to worry about the unmarked roads and whether I'll make a wrong turn in the "bad" part of Trenton.

I drive past housing projects. ...

She meant well when she asked. "How high-functioning is your daughter?"

I didn't think much of it as I replied, "Oh, she's very high-functioning. Her intelligence is at an age-appropriate level. The developmental delays she experiences are related to motor skills. She can't jump ...

(I've written about this before, but I think it is worth mentioning again.)

It happens all the time. Someone refers to my "Down syndrome child" or says, "They have a child who is Down syndrome," or "She's having a Down's baby." Or I read it in Time magazine or a newspaper article. ...

It was a few years ago, and Peter and I were talking about our relentless work ethic. We both work hard, at more or less everything, all the time. Why? For years, we had agreed when people told us that we must be striving for approval, yearning to please others through our efforts. ...

I recently read a story by Wendell Berry, originally published in the Atlantic's Fiction Issues, 2008 (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200808/berry-stand). I commend the story on the whole, but I wanted to share this paragraph, which comes on the heels of the death of one of ...

It's tempting to let it go. But every day, usually three times every day, we clean up the mess. Dishes in the dishwasher. Toys in the basket. Food back in the frig. Dirty clothes in the laundry. I sometimes can't believe that we will be back at the same place–sticky peach on ...