Acts of Hope

In France, as in so many other places, holidays are excuses to eat specific foods. On Epiphany day or on the Sunday closest to it, people ...

... I think back to France, where I lived when I was growing up. I had hoped to be there for these holidays, but for a variety of reasons I...

Spielberg is making a Tintin movie. As is some other American filmmaker. Who knew? Apparently previews of the Spielberg film, at least in th...

This is one of my favorite places. I haven't been to the Abbey of Sénanque in about 30 years, but the parents of an old and dear friend...

My latest essay, "Lost Things and the Power of Memory," is up at the Episcopal Café today. The Café welcomes your comments. (If...

I have been cooking an essay called "Lost Things" which has suddenly started flowing out of my fingers. It may or may not be my n...

The intrepid parents of Acts of Hope are on the fourth and last leg of their European trip , in our beloved former home, Paris. So says our ...

A lone daffodil was working very hard to emerge from its green sheath this morning and to burst into yellow. It is still working at it, but ...

You Belong in Paris You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris. You're the perfect ...

I have returned to home base, after a visit home (intentional repetition of "home") with my parents who raised us in a home in ano...

President John F. Kennedy's family has always preferred remembering him on the anniversary of his birth, May 29 , to remembering his on ...

Remember last November? The American Academy of Religion (AAR), just before its split from the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) (rumor h...

One more proof that I am not functioning at full tilt: I somehow missed the announcement of this year's Nobel in literature ten days ago...

Two interesting stories on French culture and society. Warning: they are in French. I will be happy to provide a short summary in the late ...

Okay, campers, whatever your persuasion, imbibing or twelve-stepper, highbrow or lowbrow or middle browbrow, we want to know: What are you g...

Mother of Acts of Hope (age 90 - her birthday was the weekend I moved after the Great Tree Disaster) highly recommends this op-ed by Bob H...

You know that as soon as I say I have something major to write and I'm going to stop posting, I start posting like a maniac. What's ...

Blog flashback: last year on this date.... Thoughts on France, with pictures. Note the artistic dog poop disposal and the dishy firefighte...

Blog flashback: last year on this date... In honor of what Americans call "Bastille Day" and the French simply call " le qua...

Today is the birthday of the Russian-French painter Marc Chagall, one of my favorite artists. I have a small lithograph of the above in my ...