Essays
1093 results
Page 62
Papal authority in a democratic world
More powerful than Jesus: Why the papacy still matters
As a new papal election approaches, the pope's absolute religious authority seems an anomaly in a democratic, secular world. But a glance at contemporary Protestantism suggests that Christianity itself may be at stake in the papacy's survival.
Essays
5 minute read
Heart attack, Part 8: Putting on the gloves
Take that, Fate! or: Boxing as therapy— and metaphor
My rehab regime put me on a punching bag, just like Sonny Liston. Next thing I knew, I was developing a right hook. Ridiculous for a 70-year-old heart patient, I know. But why was that fellow in the mirror smiling again?
Why I blog (a response)
My own personal billboard (and you wonder why I blog)
Professional journalists can't understand why bloggers write for nothing. As a freelance writer in the Age of the Internet, I can think of plenty of good reasons. Let me count the ways.
Essays
4 minute read
Confessions of a female draft-dodger
America's going down the tubes, and it's all my fault
Conservative pundits are alarmed about America's declining birth rate. The future of American civilization, they say, rides on the shoulders of young married women like me. So why am I dodging this pregnancy draft?
Essays
5 minute read
Requiem for the post office
Growing up, and growing old, at the Post Office
I'm probably the last citizen who will miss post offices, because I haven't seen a child put anything in the Outgoing Mail slot for years. But not long ago the post office was a vibrant community center, and picking up the mail was a genuine treat.
Essays
6 minute read
My parents and my housekeeper
If I knew then what I know now: A lesson from the help
My parents were appalled by the blatant race prejudice they found in San Antonio in 1958. But they lacked the standing and courage to do much about it. Yet in their own quiet way they passed a message to their more assertive children.
Essays
4 minute read
The Holy Bowl: America's new religion
God and man at the Super Bowl, or: Who says Americans aren't religious?
Football was once a game. Now it's a genuine national religion, complete with rituals filched from Christianity, Judaism and Islam, not to mention the Mayans.
Essays
3 minute read
Sound body, sound mind (a reply)
What Jane Austen could learn from Arnold Schwarzenegger
Are physical fitness and intelligence mutually exclusive? I used to think so, until my bodybuilder husband changed my mind.
Essays
5 minute read
Confessions of a New York Times blogger
You're not cute and this is not funny: Blogging for the New York Times
I was elated when the New York Times recruited me to write for its new blog for Baby Boomers. I was even more thrilled when my essay received more than 100 comments. Then I actually read a few.
Essays
4 minute read
The case for online friendship
Some of my best friends are virtual. How about yours?
The bizarre romance of the Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o and Lennay Kekua, his imaginary online girlfriend, got me thinking: Thanks to e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, some of my best friends are people I've rarely or never met. But they've expanded my world immensely.
Essays
4 minute read