Over the weekend I read most of Liam Brockey’s superb “Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 1579-1724.” Brockey’s book is not only a fast-paced account of one of the greatest adventures ever undertaken by a group of organized Europeans, it is – consciously and unconsciously – one of the better accounts that…
All posts in Appreciations and Recommendations
“Your Buddhist and Catholic Thing”
My friend Fr. William Skudlarek, OSB, is a member of the Benedictine community at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, and the Executive Director of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue [MID] – a fascinating program designed to foster dialogue and cooperation between members of monastic communities from different religious traditions. I’ve had the chance to discuss…
Mavis Staples
A brief but heartfelt recommendation for “We’ll Never Turn Back,” the new recording of songs from the American civil rights movement by the almighty Mavis Staples. From a lesser talent, this would be a stiff and joyless exercise in self-righteous nostalgia. But this is Mavis Staples, the living nexus of American gospel, country, and R&B,…
FedEx’s Little Tin Full of Chinese Cash
One of the more interesting business stories of recent years is the mostly failed integration of freewheeling Kinko’s into the buttoned-down corporate discipline culture of FedEx. The shipping behemoth purchased the copy center chain in 2003 with high hopes of taking advantage of presumed synergies between the two brands. It made perfect sense: make your…
Maryknoll
Yesterday afternoon Slate ran my short essay on Maryknoll’s wonderful Chinese Seminary Teachers & Formators Project. This is something that I will be examining at greater length in the not too distant future. For now, I hope that the Slate piece gives readers a sense of the great depth of cultural interaction that has taken…
Coach Class
A plug for Pico Iyer’s wonderful essay on airfare class divisions: How much would you pay to enjoy six hours away from your fellow humans, in a chair that reclines? $1,500 an hour – or even more? And if someone invited you to spend $9,000 to pass a long afternoon in a fairly cramped lounge,…
Easy Tiger
In an era when sampling and recording software render the art of songwriting more and more rare (and, in some quarters, borderline obsolete), a new Ryan Adams collection is a major event. So it is no small news – in my world – to learn that Ryan Adams will release his ninth album, Easy Tiger,…
Just who is in charge here, anyway?
I had just finished writing the lengthy post (below) on Church property in China when I received a phone call from a friend suggesting that I take a look at David Barboza’s June 24 New York Times story about being detained at a Chinese toy factory. It is an excellent piece of work for many…