Whenever I go to a city that hasn't yet turned into a ghost town due to suburban sprawl and shopping malls, I always notice a beautiful mansion high on a hill, built by a local businessman who made it big. The house may be empty now, and in need of a coat of paint, but it's still a powerful symbol for those of us who grew up on the streets...

At least 6 eyewitnesses saw a military-style jet in the vicinity of Flight 93 on the morning of September 11, just before it crashed into the ground in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. But the U.S. government denies this 2nd jet ever existed. We?ve been told Flight 93 crashed because the passengers, having learned about the other 911 hijackings on...

Some Christians hope that the Rapture will take them away from all the bad folks on Earth someday soon. Moslem fundamentalists gladly kill themselves for the promise of a better sex life in heaven. For the rest of us, the idea of surviving death in some form is something we dearly hope is true or else doubt very much. But amidst the cacophony of...

The recent news about pedophile priests has shocked Catholics and non-Catholics alike. We want to believe that people who dedicate themselves to a spiritual way of life are better than us, but it turns out that a large number of them have committed crimes against children that most of us regular sinful folk find unimaginable.

I've been trying to write this diary for a couple of weeks now, looking for a way to wish all our Dreamland listeners and website fans a merry Christmas. But I just can?t get in the right mood this year. For me, Osama bin Laden is the Grinch who stole Christmas. Every time I hear a new Homeland Security warning, I decide maybe I?d better not...

War is tragic, we all know that. Soldiers are struck down in their youth before they have a chance to do more than dip their toes into the adult world. Civilians (children and mothers, the elderly) become innocent victims when they find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some people die due to secondary causes since during...

The War between the Palestinians and the Israelis has been going on for a very long time and is being fought--with words--all over the world. We recently posted a story about a group of Orthodox Jews who want to build a new temple near (or on) the site of a major mosque in Jerusalem, while at the same time a group of Palestinians is trying to...

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." These lines fill the screen at the end of one of my favorite movies, The Miracle at Morgan's Creek, when the hapless young hero discovers he has become the father of 8 infant sons, all sired by another man. I was reminded of them as our family, along with...

When the World Trade Center in New York City was reduced to rubble by terrorists on Tuesday, September 11, it hit me especially hard, because I lived in New York for 30 years and it will always be my hometown. I wasn't fond of the Twin Towers--I remember watching them being built and thinking how hideous they were. But the Trade Center was a...

We recently came back from a trip to a magical city, San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. It?s a beautiful place, with steep, cobble stoned streets, ancient churches and outdoor markets. Every morning we would walk into town, peering into the tiny stores and catching glimpses of lovely gardens behind high walls. At night we would sit in the...

When we broadcast Dreamland from our office at home for the first time on Sunday, February 25, there were some unexpected problems. Our office is connected to our kitchen, and as I waited impatiently for the dishwasher to finish noisily sloshing the dinner dishes, I worried that I would have to turn it off in mid- cycle if it wasn't done by...

After years of searching, I've learned one thing about religion: it's a journey, not a set of beliefs. I was raised by atheists with an odd sense of fair play. My father found fault with nearly everyone, but he was fair about it: he felt it was OK to hate Blacks, Jews, Catholics, Gays and pretty much everyone else, as long as he didn't do...

At age 54, I could call myself middle-aged, except I can't reasonably expect to live to age 110. So does that mean I'm old? It can?t be true! I do find that I?m in an interesting state of mind. I no longer focus on the future, the way I did for most of my life. I don't mean that I don't look forward to things; it?s just that the future is no...

Whitley and I recently helped save a friend?s life. It's a strange feeling. We don't feel heroic, only grateful, because he's one of our favorite people. We didn't run into a burning building or jump off a bridge into icy water. We accepted an invitation to a beach house a few weeks ago and had a lovely, lazy weekend with our friends. While...