Abraham's Journey
By Charlie Johnston Just over a month ago I told my son about Trump Accounts for the kids. Frankly, these are the greatest things since Harry met Sally. Because they give a seed deposit of $1,000 for every child enrolled who was born on or after Jan. 1, 2025, some folks have gotten the mistaken […]
Read More Laying Down the Trump CardBy Charlie Johnston Five things I’m pondering… Inversion of Church and State A bizarre dispute has arisen between the State of Florida and Miami Catholic Archbishop Thomas Wenski over Catholic school vaccine mandates, which the State of Florida forbids schools to mandate. What is bizarre about it is that the state’s Attorney General, James Uthmeier, is […]
Read More Enough is EnoughBy Charlie Johnston Well, for the last couple of weeks I have had sporadic bouts with that cyclospora outbreak around the country. I haven’t been eating lettuce, but I do eat a lot of fresh fruit. I think maybe God has been jesting with me a bit, saying, “Hey Charlie, when did I ever tell […]
Read More The Curtain RisesBy Charlie Johnston One of the devil’s most brilliant successes has been to embed the pharisaical instinct deeply into the human psyche. Few want the mundane honor of being God’s good servant, preferring the romantic drama of being God’s enforcer. The latter is the wide gate that leads to destruction while, as Christ said, the […]
Read More One Bread, One BodyBy Charlie Johnston When St. John Paul II died my father, then a Protestant Pentecostal Pastor, cried. When I asked him why it affected him so deeply, he told me that, from his perspective, John Paul had climbed up onto the cross with Jesus and stayed there with Him until Jesus called him home…that it […]
Read More Signs of Hope, Signs of ContradictionIn the brief run-up to the American Civil war between Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration and the start of hostilities, the new president was visited by a host of “peace committees,” urging him to let the rebellious states go in peace, forming two countries from one. Lincoln believed such a peace would only be illusory, setting off […]
Read More Birthing PainsBy Charlie Johnston The feud between Pope Leo and President Trump is dominating a lot of Catholic headlines these days. Many are saying that the Pope has gone completely political and is outside of any legitimate authority he has. Others argue that faithful Catholics must do whatever the Pope says (God forbid he ever starts […]
Read More Appearance and Reality: The Triumph is on the HorizonBy Charlie Johnston I think I gave the wrong impression when I wrote passionately about Pope Leo’s formulaic statement opposing American action on Iran, where he said that negotiation is the only answer and that violence never solved anything. Both were trite, nice-sounding platitudes that are easily and quickly disproven. But it did not signal […]
Read More Do Whatever He Tells YouBy Charlie Johnston Our community lost one of its charter supporters and friends to begin Lent. Anne Baker passed away at 101 in the assisted living facility where she had been in Florida for the past couple of years on the morning of Ash Wednesday. Anne was the mother of our dear friend and chief […]
Read More TransitionsBy Charlie Johnston I spent most of my life in various parts of the often-frozen northern states of Illinois and Colorado. Right now, I am housebound in Texas…not out of any infirmity, but because we had a decent ice and snowstorm outside. I chuckle because, objectively, what we got (about an inch and a half […]
Read More Thoughts From the Texas Tundra
A Sign of Hope 