Author Archives: Randy Coleman-Riese

Bells & Whistles and Our Annual Plea for Support

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

        The ‘Fall Appeal’, which you may read by following the link,  is our annual foray into fundraising and was once described to me as a “begging letter”. I prefer the phrase, “mendicant missive” myself. Alliteration aside, … Continue reading →

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René Girard Via First Things

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

The journal First Things has recently featured on its website a short essay by Peter J. Leithart entitled ‘Clashing Victimocracies!’  The author explores the privileged and problematic position of the ‘victim’ in current social and political debate. In doing so … Continue reading →

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Something Imponderable…

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

This Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the end of “The War To End All Wars”. The conflict lasted over four years and involved more than 70 million combatants. An estimated nine million soldiers were killed in the course of … Continue reading →

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The Religious Backdrop of the Vote

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

This past week people across the United States participated in the public ritual of voting. These days, though, it is becoming less of a public act at the polling place and more of a private affair with the advent of … Continue reading →

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New Items from the Archives & Notes on a New Perspective

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

When Gil Bailie first encountered the work of René Girard in the mid-1980s he had for years been hosting weekly gatherings for discussion of classics from the Western literary and spiritual tradition. These discussions became over time more in the … Continue reading →

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The Work of Humility

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

Reflections for Labor Day: God gave me being in order that I should give it back to him. It is like one of those traps whereby the characters are tested in fairy stories and tales on ini­tiation. If I accept … Continue reading →

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Summer Newsletter & Complimentary Download – King Lear Pt 4

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

Here in California it looks like we are in for another difficult and dangerous fire season. The skies are again hazy with the smoke of numerous not too distant blazes. As we pray for those who fight the fires and … Continue reading →

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The 4th of July Prayer Party

Posted on July 4, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

We are aware (and thankful) that we have many friends and supporters who live in countries around the world. Gil Bailie and I pray for those whose names we know wherever they happen to reside. However, today is our national … Continue reading →

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Remembering the dead

Posted on May 26, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

Recently I have been reading In Parenthesis by David Jones. It is an epic prose poem dealing with his experience in World War I between December 1915 and July 1916. TS Eliot, in an introduction to the book, called it … Continue reading →

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A Prayer Before Meals

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Randy Coleman-Riese

Amid the jarring juxtaposition of a recent school shooting and a royal wedding joining the now too familiar cacophony of daily news, it is the return to prayer that grounds my mind and spirit. And the routine of a prayer … Continue reading →

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