Reflections Archives | Page 6 of 8

Lent, Attention, and Invisible Gorillas

February 13, 2013 / Christopher Parr /

Lent, Attention, and Invisible Gorillas Cherie Harder Wednesday, February 13, 2013 Ash Wednesday New evidence confirms that it is really quite common to entirely miss the elephant (or gorilla) in the room. In attempting to better understand the nature of focus and attention, a group of researchers showed test subjects a video of a

Reflections

Christmas and Connecticut

December 17, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Christmas and Connecticut Cherie Harder December 2012 If the Christmas season typically consists of a frantic race to buy presents, hit sales, and max out one’s credit card, the events of last week have exposed, if only for a time, not only the relative folly of materialism in practice, but also the bankruptcy of

Reflections

Beware of Wolves and Termites

September 17, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Beware of Wolves and Termites Cherie Harder September 2012 Earlier this week marked the 11th anniversary of 9-11. Most of us who lived through the 9-11 attacks in New York or Washington can vividly remember not only the horror, but the confusion and bewilderment, of the morning hours of that day. The idea of

Reflections

Why Read Stories?

June 22, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Why Read Stories? Cherie Harder Friday, June 22, 2012 “I don’t waste time reading make-believe.”So said a friend, in response to being asked to name his favorite novel. It’s a widespread attitude – that literature is somehow fundamentally un-serious, that reading non-fiction is more practical, commendable, and responsible; that stories themselves are somehow the realm

Reflections

A Sanctuary, Battleground, and Classroom

May 11, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Why Read Stories? Cherie Harder Friday, May 11, 2012 This Sunday is the last that I and thousands of other parishioners will worship at the Sanctuary of The Falls Church in Virginia. Earlier this year, a judge ruled that despite the fact that The Falls Church is older than the Episcopal diocese, and that

Reflections

Heresy & Holy Week

April 6, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Heresy & Holy Week Cherie Harder Friday, April 6, 2012 While Easter may commonly be celebrated with brunches, egg hunts, and candy trappings, properly understood, it should be the most profound and potentially divisive of holidays. Its claims are both extravagant and exclusivist; its assertions strange and supernatural: that God, who came to earth

Reflections

Character, Community & the Church

March 12, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Character, Community & the Church Cherie Harder Monday, March 12, 2012 James Q. Wilson’s death last weekend generated a flurry of rightfully laudatory tributes. Wilson was perhaps the most respected political scientist of his generation. His scholarship reshaped approaches to crime prevention and policing, and reaffirmed the importance of virtue for the public good,

Reflections

Valentine & MLK

February 14, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Valentine & MLK Cherie Harder Tuesday, February 14, 2012 “I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems…. I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love. I’m talking about a strong, demanding love.” --Martin Luther King, Jr. On a day typically celebrated with candy hearts, Hallmark cards, and

Reflections

Salons and Subversion

January 19, 2012 / Christopher Parr /

Salons and Subversion Cherie Harder Thursday, January 19, 2012 Each election year typically brings renewed salvos in the ongoing culture wars, and there is little reason to think that 2012 will prove an exception. But in the midst of all the sound and fury that surrounds such battles, it can be easy to overlook less

Reflections

Christmas and Contemplation

December 22, 2011 / Christopher Parr /

Christmas and Contemplation Cherie Harder Thursday, December 22, 2011 Holiday departures have already begun. Here in Washington, rush hour traffic is slowly (and blessedly) thinning, airports are packed, and offices are clearing out. For the next few days, families will gather to celebrate, shop, open presents, and overeat. And in the midst of the

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