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About Barbara
I’m Barbara Falconer Newhall and I’ve got a serious case of the human condition.
I’ve done it all: career, family, house, garden, and a prize-winning book, "Wrestling with God." The result: I'm a woman of years, lots of them, who can't help seeing things from the funny side.
Tucked away on this website are hundreds of riffs on life. I hope you’ll seek them out – and keep me company as I discover the humor, if not the meaning, in what life throws my way. Learn More
THE LATEST
Have Americans Forgotten That Humility is a Virtue?
Have Americans forgotten that humility is a virtue? A couple dozen Christians met at my church on Thursday for a reminder. Read more.
BARBARA’S BOOK
★ Publishers Weekly, starred review
Any seeker of any faith will be blessed to read the words of this fine author and observer. Read more.
An inveterate doubter for most of her adult life, journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall embarks upon a quest to find a way to believe in God in the twenty-first century.
The result is Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith, which details her search for the Divine in the lives of diverse Americans – from a fundamentalist Christian to a progressive Muslim to a Buddhist monk.Seekers of all persuasions will feel represented here, from priests, ministers, and rabbis to engineers, physicists, and avowed non-believers . . . a riverflow of a book. — Phil Cousineau, host of PBS’s Global Spirit
Recent Riffs on Life
Forget Those Charming Little Forget-Me-Nots. They’re Not as Innocent as They Seem
Forget those charming little forget-me-nots. They’re not as guileless as they look. They have an agenda. Read more.
I Confess. In 2020, I Washed the Potatoes. With Soap
It was April, 2020. The pandemic was underway and you couldn’t be too careful about what you let into your house, including your groceries. Which is why I washed the potatoes, with soap. Read more.
DON’T MISS!
The de Young This Week: Bursting With Art — And Flowers
Art. Bouquets. More art. More bouquets. My idea of a good time. I spent the day yesterday at the annual Bouquets to Art show at the de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park — joined by two friends who enjoy flowers and art as much as I do. Read more.
Widowed: 2020 Was a Very Good Year — For Jon and Me
2020 was a very good year for my husband and me. We had time for each other, and it seemed there was plenty more time ahead. Read more.
The Lost Art of the Telephone Conversation — Here’s What Happened to It. Sheltering at Home Week 14
I know why young people do all that texting. It’s because 21st-century wireless phones make for a lousy telephone conversation, and kids want to — talk. Read more.