The greatest human problem is a want of love, and the simplest antidote is confessing our love—telling people, “I love you.” Why does anyone need to restate the obvious, since everyone already knows it? Paul McCartney sang, You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs I look around me and I…

What can a wine tasting tell you about prayer? Plenty, it turns out. I was sitting at a table with twenty other would-be oenophiles, four glasses placed in front of me. I was to number them. In glass number one the sommelier poured Sauvignon blanc. I picked up the glass like a clod and made…

Everywhere I look there are suggestions for how to get through the Thanksgiving holiday, since–families being what they are–we are all going to have to share a table with someone who voted for the other candidate for President. Many of the tips simply riff on the oldest dictum of American etiquette (no religion or politics…

He lies on the living room sofa, propped on a bolster of pillows, covered with a blanket, head shaved clean and white. Cancer. I am here to talk about what this is like. Outside, orange leaves speckle the green lawn and pumpkins climb the three steps to the front door. My mind wanders. Why do…

Yesterday I received a cry for help. After only ten months, a marriage had disintegrated. One party was filing. Could I help. Forty-five minutes later I sat down with a couple for a pre-marital session, on our way to a fall wedding. They were sunny and excited and I tried not to bring that phone…