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One Crook Telling the Cops Where to Find the Other Crook

Betsy Childs

An odd story came out of Spain this week. Or perhaps “odd” in the literal sense is the wrong word, for the story has an ironic symmetry. A 64-year-old...

The Devil at Christmas

Betsy Childs

Some years ago, I taught a Sunday School class of third- and fourth-graders. One Sunday, they learned the story told in Luke 4 of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth. We...

How Should the Childless Relate to Children?

Betsy Childs

In “ I’m Not a Spinster Aunt, I’m a PANK ,” Allison P. Davis describes the newish phenomenon of “aunthood as a marketing opportunity.” PANK is an acronym for...

P. D. James on Book Reviews

Betsy Childs

While the Internet may be suffocating the world of print media, it has only enlivened the genre of the book review. In addition to the scores of websites posting...

Davion Only and the Power of Specific Need

Betsy Childs

I’m not one to say that a story I read on the Internet broke my heart, but the story of Davion Only did a number on me. The fifteen-year-old...

Martha, Martha

Betsy Childs

Martha Stewart is not happy with the blogosphere. Last week, in an interview with Bloomberg News she griped  Who are these bloggers? They’re not trained editors at Vogue magazine. I mean,...

Making Ministers Behind Bars

Betsy Childs

When the ACLU approves of a Baptist Bible college in a state penitentiary, you know there is something extraordinary going on. An article in The   New York Times,...

Elegy for a Library Checkout Card

Betsy Childs

Tucked tightly in place in the back of the book, Adorned with loopy signatures, some familiar, some mysterious, The history of a volume, a confession, or perhaps a pretension,...

Flannery O’Connor at Prayer

Betsy Childs

When I learned that a Flannery O’Connor prayer journal was to be published, I initially pictured an empty, spiral-bound gift book with sardonic “thought for the day” quotes scattered...

A Word About Comfort

Betsy Childs

When I hear the word comfort, the images that come to mind are macaroni and cheese, recliners, and powerful air conditioning. Comfort food and comfortable surroundings are concrete manifestations...

Philadelphia Medical Examiner Refuses to Release the Bodies of Gosnell’s Victims

Betsy Childs

It has been almost four months since Kermit Gosnell was convicted for the murder of three infants. The bodies of those infants and 44 others, seized as evidence from...

Strings Attached

Betsy Childs

This week, President Obama unveiled a new plan designed to make college more affordable . The plan will tie federal financial aid to college performance based a new rating...

Murder Escapes the Vicarage

Betsy Childs

Writing in The Weekly Standard , Jon Breen makes the bold claim that Christian crime fiction has come of age in the novels of J. Mark Bertrand. Three weeks...

Tolle Relege!

Betsy Childs

In his column ” Personal Great Books ,” R.R. Reno invokes Augustine’s distinction between use and enjoyment, confessing his own temptation to use books rather than enjoy them. I suspect...

Distracted Walking Awareness

Betsy Childs

The Department of Transportation has authorized $2 million in grants to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted walking. The announcement came along with the launch of a new...