Baseball, Leisure, and the Liturgy

By Mark Michael I went to a baseball game last Saturday, in the company of some of the people I love most. It was a beautiful evening, and I loved hearing the crack of the bat again. But I also felt like Rip... Read More...

A Beloved Tool and its Replacement

By Mark Michael When my father started as a hardware salesman, his boss handed him the catalog, the essential tool of his trade. Always in the trunk of his car, it was a wonder to me as a child. Nearly a... Read More...

On Letting Florida Decide

By Mark Michael In 2020, I served as an election judge in my town. The pandemic had left the county board short on volunteers, and I was glad to carry on a family tradition, as my mother has staffed the poll... Read More...

Not Learning Enough from the Past

The Spiritual Practice of Remembering By Margaret Bendroth Eerdmans, pp. 142, $16 Review by Mark Michael Margaret Bendroth’s job surely manages to be among the most fascinating and frustrating in Americ... Read More...

Learning to be a Guest

By Mark Michael We could hear the hospitality crew a quarter mile before they came into view. The thumping bass of dance music cut through the dust of the trail and the haze of the Castilian sun. There hadn’... Read More...