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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
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My Rocky Spiritual Journey

You don't have to be a big believer to find something interesting to read here . . . You'll find excerpts from the spiritual journeys of people I've met on the religion beat as well as reports of my own fraught encounters with religion and spirituality . . . as well as updates on my book, "Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith," from Patheos Press.

Anne Lamott on Getting Older — Drop That Rock

November 16, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

Ann Lamott at a book signing in Oakland, CA, spring 2012. photo by BF Newhall

It’s time to drop that rock we’ve been carrying around, says Anne Lamott. It’s time to surrender to the fact that we can’t do it all. We’re getting older and it’s time to have ourselves some peace.

Photo Op: Yosemite Rocks — And Sometimes It Rolls

November 2, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Glacial erratics piled on a sloping rock at Inyo National Forest, CA. Photo by BF Newhal

 

The big rocks and cliffs at Yosemite are spectacular, but so is the smaller stuff — the boulders, rocks, stones and pebbles that litter every inch of the 12,000-square-mile national park. I’m especially partial to the glacial erratics.

Belief Is Seriously Overrated — You Don’t Have to Be a Believer to Believe

October 14, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 7 Comments

Peter Newhall at St. Vincent Catholic church, Pentwater, MI. Photo by BF Newhall

Some of my family members were uneasy at the thought of standing up at my mother’s memorial mass to read from the Bible, a document they didn’t believe in. I told them I thought belief was seriously overrated.

The Somethingists — They Don’t Believe in God, but They Do Believe in . . . Something

October 10, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

[caption id="attachment_1163" align="aligncenter" width="427"]The Helix Nebula. NASA Photo. The Helix Nebula. NASA Photo.[/caption]

Good news for those of us – count me in – who aren’t at all sure of what God is like. It’s called Somethingism. Read more.

The Rise of the “Nones” – Young Americans Are Doing Without Church

October 9, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

Rose window from interior of the National Cathedral, Washinton, DC. Photo by BF Newhall

 

I was in Bethesda, Maryland, for the annual Religion Newswriters Association conference last weekend. Here’s what I found out about the religiously unaffiliated in America. Read more.

Religion Scholar Huston Smith at 93 — ‘Be Happy!’

September 29, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments

huston smith and mary busby of Sagrada bookstore sing How Can I Keep From Singing? Photo by BF Newhall

 

Ninety-three-year-old Huston Smith rolled into the Sagrada bookstore in Oakland, California, in a push wheelchair the other day, ready to do what he does best – say something. At 93 and plagued as he is by hearing loss, weakened eyesight and debilitating osteoporosis, you’d think the popular author and religion scholar would be ready to take it easy. Not so. Read more.

Buddhist Writing — Wisdom or Chicken Shit?

September 28, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

jack kornfield. Photo by robert vente

Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Boorstein are two of my favorite Buddhist writers. But I don’t follow their advice entirely — I don’t meditate.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

There’s a Pollinator in My Pollinator Garden

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The columbine, the statice and the armeria had been planted only a week earlier, but already there was a pollinator in my pollinator garden.  Read more.

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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

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