By MATT SEDDON Buy! Buy! Buy! Cook! Cook! Cook! Decorate! Decorate! Decorate! These are the messages bombarding us right now from every direction. They make us feel even more frantic and crazy than we already do. We are in conflict-ridden and difficult times, and in the midst of all the distressing messages from the news media and our social media
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By MATT SEDDON In 13 B.C., the Roman Emperor Augustus built an altar to peace on the outskirts of Rome. He had just returned from squashing resistance to the empire in what is now Spain and France. The altar – called the Ara Pacis Augustae – was beautifully carved with images that reinforced Roman notions of the Pax Romana, the
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By MATT SEDDON As I began finalizing preparations for Holy Week in the church I serve, Denis Hernández Barona crucified himself. The Cuban immigrant chained himself to a cross on the Mexican border with Guatemala to protest against a recent wave of deportations of Cuban migrants. The story caught my eye as I readied my church to remember Jesus carrying
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