Various

Drowned Lover Dearest enemy, so often unkind, my life was in your hands, until that wave of the sea deprived you of an earthly grave, depriving me, as well, of peace of mind. The selfish drowning waters keep us apart, enjoying your lovely beauty within the vast cold sea, but as long as my broken . . . . Continue Reading »

Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society . By David Sloan Wilson. University of Chicago Press. 260 pp. $25. This is a lucid and entertaining addition to the long list of recent books on what evolutionary theory can tell us about religion. Its author teaches biology and . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m grateful for what I’ve learned from the letters to First Things about my exchange with George Weigel on the adventures of the U.S. in Afghanistan. These letters show that the questions raised in that exchange are lively; for that we should all be grateful. To Father Oakes (whose prose is as . . . . Continue Reading »

When my fantasies, and these extreme regrets, shut my eyes in sleep, I discover, before me, the risin spirit of my lover, who was, even in life, always a dream. Then across some desert, where I can barely see the endlessly distant horizons, I pursue my love without success. She fades from view, by . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholics and Jews in Twentieth-Century America. By Egal Feldman. University of Illinois Press. 323 pp. $34.95. The book is an account of the history of Jewish-Catholic relations in America for the past one hundred years or so. The author, an American Jewish historian, carefully traces the course . . . . Continue Reading »

I am moved to respond to the opinion piece by Professor Robert Benne (“ Reinventing Sexual Ethics,” March) not only because Prof. Benne refers to me but (more importantly) because he raises some issues concerning homosexuality and the Church that need continuing, reasoned examination on the . . . . Continue Reading »

Like the weary sailor, the refugee from wreck and storm, who escapes half-dead, and then, in terror, shudders with dread at the very mention of the name of the “sea”; who swears he’ll never sail again, who raves he’ll stay home, even on the calmest days, but then, in time, forgets his . . . . Continue Reading »

Toward an Alternative Theology: Confessions of a Non“Dualist Christian . By Sara Grant. University of Notre Dame Press. 99 pp. $14.95. Sara Grant was a Scottish sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who lived in India from 1956 until her death in 2000. Before going to India she . . . . Continue Reading »

In his article “ Jews, Christians, and Civil Society ” (February), David Novak categorically states that the religious beliefs of an individual Jew have no effect on whether or not that individual is indeed a Jew. Professor Novak writes: “Even nonreligious Jews, even atheistic Jews, . . . . Continue Reading »

You who seek serenity in the wide tempestuous sea of the world, cease and abandon all hope of ever finding peace, except in Jesus Christ, God Crucified. If wealth absorbs your thoughts and preoccupies your nights, God is the greatest treasure of all; And if you’re looking for beauty, always . . . . Continue Reading »