by Mark Beckwith | Apr 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
While Spring is officially on the calendar, it is still inching into southern New Hampshire, where I live. Some daffodils are emerging, taking their time after a surprise snowstorm earlier this month. This long wait for spring calls to mind my two-year sojourn in...
by Mark Beckwith | Apr 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
I fell for a scam last week. My computer froze, a pop up alarm appeared and said needed to call Microsoft immediately to protect all that was stored on my desktop, lest foreign hackers steal my data, documents and identity. The Microsoft number was prominently...
by Mark Beckwith | Apr 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
He broke out. He got up. In faith Christians proclaim that Jesus rose from the grave: Alleluia! Christ is Risen. What follows are hymns of praise, expressions of joy, a profusion of flowers – all offered to gatherings that are double the size of a normal Sunday...
by Mark Beckwith | Mar 26, 2024 | Uncategorized
When I arrived in Japan in late August, 1973, for a two year fellowship, the country was preparing to honor the 50th anniversary of the Tokyo earthquake, which upended the city for four minutes on September 1, 1923. 140,000 people were killed, many by the 7.9...
by Mark Beckwith | Mar 20, 2024 | Uncategorized
“The opposite of faith is not doubt”, a wise mentor once said to me, recalling a line from Christian writer Anne Lamott; “the opposite of faith is certainty.” Religious claims of certainty have been surging on public platforms and in various political expressions. ...
by Mark Beckwith | Mar 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
We were at the breakfast table. My daughter, then about a year and a half, was in her highchair, scrambled eggs on the tray in front of her. With an impish grin, she threw some of her meal on the floor. “Don’t do that,” I said in a rather stern tone. With an even...
