Richard A. Kauffman
Summer reading list
Right now I'm
reading In the Garden of Beasts, by
master storyteller Erik Larson. It is the captivating story of William E. Dodd,
U.S. ambassador to Germany during Hitler's rise to power. Dodd's young adult
daughter Martha, a socialite who had affairs with the head of the Gestapo and a
Russian spy, steals the show. Next I plan to read Stephen Ozment's sweeping
survey A Mighty Fortress: A New History
of the German People.
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, by Alan Jacobs
If you're like me, you have a list of books in your head or on scraps of paper that you think you should read sometime....
Fragile democracy
In 1831-32 two
young Frenchmen, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont, traveled
through the United States, ostensibly to study the prison system on behalf of
...
Isn't one time enough?
Every few years a fringe Christian leader
or group predicts when Jesus Christ is coming back to earth. The latest date,
...
A time for silence and lament
The tragic shooting in Arizona has become a cultural Rorschach
test. People see what they want to see about what's wrong with our culture, who
...
My favorite Christmas music
I appreciate when other people recommend
favorite CDs. In that spirit, I share with you some of my favorite Christmas
...
CC recommends: History & current events
A special Christmas review of noteworthy books, movies and music.
CC recommends: Theology & spirituality
A special Christmas review of noteworthy books, movies and music.
Sorrowful songs: Henryk Górecki, 1933-2010
When radio stations started playing Henryk Górecki's Symphony no....
Bass bias?
When my congregation intones the Lord's Prayer, everyone seems
to use a cellar voice. We sound like a bass section, women and children
included.
Why I go to church
When I sit in church on Sunday mornings, I sometimes look
around at the other congregants and ask myself, "Why are these people here? Why
...
The obituary page
I used to think my grandfather had a strange affliction. He not only
read the obituaries, but he kept a log of the deaths of relatives,
...
Unfinished Business
Lee Kravitz loved his job as editor in chief of Parade magazine.
But like his ancestors before him, he was a workaholic. Most of the men
...
Tales out of turn: On (mis)telling other people's stories
The challenge of telling other people’s stories is an occupational hazard for journalists, historians, memoirists, conflict mediators and even preachers....
CC recommends
In 1892 Agnes and Margaret Smith, identical twin sisters from Scot land, took a nine-day camel ride t...
Choosing to talk: A fourth meeting between church leaders and Ahmadinejad
In the fourth meeting between Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and religious leaders seeking to keep lines of communication open between Iran and the U.S.—the second such meeting I’ve attended...
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace. . . One School at a Time
Greg Mortenson grew up in Tanganyika, now Tanzania, the son of Lutheran missionaries....
Inside Iran: First-person encounters
Early in my visit to Iran I was introduced to Nesa, 24, who was eager for contact with Americans....
Card-carrying ecumenists: The WCC convenes in Brazil
The theme of the World Council of Churches Ninth Assembly, held last month in Porto Alegre, Brazil, was the prayer, “God, in your grace, transform the world.” A recurrent question for many observer...