What's Tony Thinking

“Self-Care” Revisited Or How We Talk To Ourselves

October 11, 2023 — I’m catching up on some of my favorite podcasts and recommend this one from Ezra Klein, (although one of his colleagues sits in for him as the interviewer. Ezra’s on “book leave”). This one is with the psychiatrist Pooja Lakshmin on her new book, Real Self-Care. For those who are perhaps sick of hearing about... Read More

Trying Again on the New War

October 9, 2023 — [Sorry that we’ve had two errors on this mailing. Trying again.] I am sickened by the Hamas attack on Israel. It is evil and must be seen and named for what it is. And I support Palestinians. Is that possible? Yes, and the distinction, between Hamas and the wider Palestinian cause is crucial to make... Read More

A New and Most Dangerous War

October 9, 2023 — I am sickened by the Hamas attack on Israel. It is evil and must be seen and named for what it is. And I support Palestinians. Is that possible? Yes, and the distinction, between Hamas and the wider Palestinian cause, is crucial to make right now. Hamas is a terrorist organization whose invasion of Israel,... Read More

A New and Very Dangerous War

Book Notes, On Aging

October 8, 2023 — Our book club, “The Gentlemen’s Book Club,” is wrapping up its Climate Change series. Our next book, the final one in this series, is Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel, The Ministry for the Future. The “Ministry” (not about ordained ministry in the church) is a Zurich-based UN office which has the responsibility of advocating on behalf... Read More

Against Taking Sides

October 3, 2023 — And now for your listening enjoyment . . . I mentioned in my last post that I had again been a guest on the Crackers and Grape Juice podcast. I joined Jason Micheli and Teen Hardy to discuss a piece I’d written that was published under the title “The Ministry Is Not a CEO.” Against... Read More

A Faith That Is “Actually Worth Believing”

October 2, 2023 — My post titled “Leaving Ministry,” which appeared here on September 18, generated a fair bit of response. It was itself a response to a widely read letter of resignation by a Presbyterian pastor, Alexander Lang. His letter had “gone viral,” as the saying goes. My piece was picked up and published at both Mockingbird.com and... Read More

End of Another Week, 9/29

September 29, 2023 — We’re back in the Wallowas for a final week, celebrating Linda’s October 1 birthday with friends here, and then closing up the cabin for winter. Beautiful hike yesterday with lots of autumn color. The reds are mostly Rocky Mountain Maple, similar to Vine Maple. The yellows are aspens. Other bright yellows are Tamarack, a.k.a. Larch.... Read More

Pulling the Rug Out From Under Police

September 27, 2023 — Here’s a brief follow-up to my last blog on “Seattle’s Drug Crisis.” Another element in the mix of urban decay is the status and authority of police. In recent years (weeks even) highly-publicized cases of police bad behavior and/ or excessive use of force have been in the national and local news. These are real... Read More

Seattle’s Drug Crisis

September 25, 2023 — Alex Fryer, of the Seattle Times, had an excellent piece in yesterday’s edition about how divided people in Seattle are in their approach to Seattle’s growing drug addiction problem, now exacerbated by fentanyl flooding the market. Fryer begins with what he calls the ruling orthodoxy on the issue, which is, “Meeting people where they are... Read More

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