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About a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) now say they think of themselves as spiritual but not religious, up 8 percentage points in five years, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted between April 25 and June 4 of this year. This growth has been broad-based: It has occurred among men and women; whites, blacks and Hispanics; people of many different ages and education levels; and among Republicans and Democrats. For instance, the share of whites who identify as spiritual but not religious has grown by 8 percentage points in the past five years. (pewresearch.org) Claiming to be spiritual is relatively easy. Such a claim costs no pledge the church, no Sunday morning prayer and hymns, no service in the nursery, or on the Board of Deacons, or the Vestry. You don’t have to serve on committees. You can just sit on your porch on nice days and be grateful for the beautiful world God has made for us. Or do your spirituality while golfing, boating, hunting in the beautiful fall wo...

A group of academics calling themselves The Skeptical Scientists examined abstracts of the 4,014 papers on climate change published in 2013 and found that 97.2 percent of scientists believe humans play a role in global warming. Today, however, social scientists, political scientists, and climate change communicators doubt that discussing this scientific consensus serves any purpose. With a majority of Americans—including our lawmakers—acknowledging climate change, it is no longer a debate over science; it has become a debate over politics, economics, and ethics. Among Democratic and Independent lawmakers, there is broad support for both public and private spending to address climate change through expanding renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Among Republicans, there’s not strong opposition; Republicans address the issue of climate change by not bringing it up. Moderate Republicans place climate change near the bottom of their platform, and conservative Republ...

It's Trinity Sunday, with an outside worship. As I stood on the church lawn belting out Amazing Grace at the end of the service, I was struck by an image of a thousand firemen, guarding my cousin Mark's casket as it moved out of the huge church to the firetruck that would carry it to his final resting place. Amazing Grace was the final hymn of his service, and bagpipers were stationed along the way to play the tune and keep us all singing. Few of the firefighters could sing, however, because most of them were sobbing like babies. Young and old alike, firemen are deeply stricken when one of their own falls in the line of duty. Okay, to be honest, I was blubbering, too. Many years passed before I could hear that glorious old hymn without tears in my eyes. I did well today, sang all five verses with gusto, but my mind was drawn back to the many times over the years I've heard and sung that hymn. A jazz pianist played it at Irv Kochel's funeral. We sang it at my Dad...

I have to admit that as this day approached, when the President told us he would decide on whether to remain or depart from the 195-nation Paris climate agreements, I was not really sure what President Obama had committed us to last year. So I looked up the agreement, and I chose to take the explanation from Forbes magazine: The Paris climate agreement’s main goal is to limit the average global temperature increase to below 2C (3.6F). Over that, according to scientific experts, we will see more extreme heat, damaging storms, coastal flooding and risks to food security, Technically, the agreement is legally binding, in that it requires participating governments to accept and work toward the 2C threshold. But in reality, its powers of enforcement are weak: Emission targets themselves aren’t binding. For example, President Obama pledged to curb U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 26% to 28% by 2025. If that goal is not met, there won’t be any legal repercussions.  The U.S. produces ...

Every time I make the hour-long 60-mile drive to Savannah, sometimes two or three times each week, I decide that I will move to the city, closer to the three sweet young lives who mean the world to me. That will put me, in my second year of retirement, closer to the daughter who will be my caretaker as years pass. To be truthful, I would not do anything major in my life without asking her, because she is smart about people, money, and relationships. It's taken me two years to take a step toward that decision. I've owned three homes, two with my husband, and this last one on my own. Homes one and two came with some extraordinary problems that my husband, strong and knowledgeable about construction, could solve; home three was brand-new and move-in ready. In the eleven years I've lived in this tidy little home, only twice have I had to get help: once, a plumber, and once, a company that cleaned up air-conditioner damage. The costs were manageable and the inconvenience relat...

January 24, 2017 President Donald J. Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC Dear Mr. President: I write this letter to share some of the tools I have learned in my years as a writer, a teacher, a psychologist, a wife, and a mother. My credentials include two degrees, a book, and about 70 articles. Each day I read the news and realize ways in which you could help to reassure the American people (especially those who did not vote for you) that America will continue to survive under your leadership. First, please choose the news stories that you focus on . Public attention can be focused by simply choosing which topics you will respond to. If a media outlet makes claims you believe are false, just don't respond to them; focus attention on something else. Instead of arguing with the media, give them a meaty story that presents a positive facet of your administration's work. Journalists want stories that tell about vital government actions and int...