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- Written by EJ Sweeney
“You Are that man!”
For most of my life I never cared much for Bill Maher, for his brand of humor. But recently, I’ve found myself watching his weekly TV show on CNN. Not so much because my sense of humor has changed, although I have to admit he is growing on me. But rather, because I really enjoy his political commentary.
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- Written by EJ Sweeney
Toward the conclusion of her acceptance speech at the DNC, Kamala Harris declared that the story of America is “The Most Extraordinary Story Ever Told.” I don’t think she used this phrase by accident. Rhetorically, it was a clever move. It conjures up another familiar phrase: “The Greatest Story Ever Told”—a phrase that is used to describe the story of Jesus.
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- Written by EJ Sweeney
This Wednesday marks the Twenty-Third Anniversary of 9-11. As I’ve mentioned before, the only other thing I ever wanted to do with my life besides what I’m doing now was to be a New York City Firefighter. If I had two lives, that’s what I would do with my second life. When I was teaching, I was blessed to have a student whose uncle happened to work in one of the busiest ladder companies in New York, Ladder 120 in Brownsville Brooklyn.
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- Written by EJ Sweeney
How do you think the assassination attempt several weeks ago has changed Donald Trump? Profoundly? Not at all? Too early to tell? However you answer this question, it is only natural to ask it. Whenever someone has the kind of close, dramatic brush with death Donald Trump had a few weeks ago, it is perfectly natural to assume that it might change a person. Profoundly.
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Richard Rohr is one of the spiritual writers people most frequently recommend I check out. If you haven’t heard of him, Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest who is very well known in spiritual circles. He’s even been interviewed by Oprah. Twice.
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- Written by EJ Sweeney
I have a friend who used to work in a larger city fire department who told a story about a certain Probie (new recruit) they once had assigned to their truck company. The first few tours he was fitting in perfectly. They hadn’t gone to an actual fire yet. But they responded to a number of medical calls and false alarms, spent time checking equipment and cleaning the apparatus, and he was doing splendidly with all of it. The third or fourth shift he worked, however, they were dispatched to an actual structure fire where their truck was first due.
