Tag Archives: faith

The New America?

Posted on June 7, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

“Go see the new America,” I was advised by a not-altogether-well-meaning friend. “See how America has changed.” “America has changed a lot in the last nine years,” said another friend, “and not all for the better.” And yet again, “America … Continue reading →

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On Oppression

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

Last night I was reading the Bible to my little boy – we are now in the life of Jesus – the story about when the Pharisees tried to trick him by asking him whether a good Jew should pay … Continue reading →

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A Short Story Worth Dying For

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Sometimes you stumble across something that is majestic. That’s what happened with “Farewell Aylis”, by Azeri novelist Akram Aylisli. Specifically, of this “Non-Traditional Novel”, the second short story – Stone Dreams. Stone Dreams is a story of an Azeri man … Continue reading →

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Our Summer of ’20

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Summer is winding down. The weather is beginning to cool off, at least in some places, and “Back To School” season is upon us. Book-bags and binders and lunch-bags. And face-masks – for though summer is over, the strangeness of … Continue reading →

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Nature and Nature’s God

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

It seems to me ironic that the last four years of socialist rage were finally met by pandemic. We who work in the field of peace know that it is violence more than anything else that begets more violence, in … Continue reading →

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Many Types of Lords

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

“Joel D. Hirst’s masterpiece is a worthy best-selling novel brimming with poignant lessons about idealism, culture, and religion. It begs us to examine the current state of the world today, a world so divided by different idealisms and misruled by … Continue reading →

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On #BlackLivesMatter

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Apropos of #BlackLivesMatter, I first arrived in #Africa in 1999, beginning my work of ten years living on the continent trying to end four different civil wars. Two of the wars still rage, two have found a shaky peace – though the violence … Continue reading →

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Eulogy for Resistance

Posted on June 6, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

One of my wife’s former colleagues passed away yesterday. He was working from his unpleasant extended-stay hotel in Bogota where he had taken refuge after being forced to flee his country; locked down by COVID and still carrying on with … Continue reading →

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It Really Wasn’t So Bad, Before The Mayhem…

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

It’s difficult to articulate, much less to narrate the sense of loss those of us in distant places are feeling watching America’s epic struggle. I am, and have been for some time the King of Lost Places – a reign … Continue reading →

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To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #9 – Coronavirus)

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

“It seems a shame,” the Walrus said, “To play them such a trick. After we’ve brought them out so far, And made them trot so quick!” There’s a new resoluteness, a steadfastness, a single-mindedness that is gripping America in the … Continue reading →

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