Uncategorized – Page 2 – Amanda Achtman

“The God of my days, companion in my adventures”

I just came upon Pope Francis’ address from this past Wednesday, and found it quite moving. In this address, he reflects on the call of Abraham:

Always write your first name before your email signature, or else…

One of my absolute biggest pet peeves when it comes to email etiquette is when a person ends an email with some closing sign off immediately followed by a default signature block. This usually strikes me as both a bit terse and lazy.

Culture and the Sacred

This evening, I’ve been reading some sections from Cardinal Sarah’s latest book The Day is Now Far Spent in which he addresses many contemporary issues. In a chapter on “Europe’s Crisis”, Cardinal Sarah discusses how a multicultural society can only flourish if there actually is a culture. And, as Josef Pieper explains so well inContinue reading “Culture and the Sacred”

Three Summer Opportunities

These are three phenomenal summer opportunities for which the deadlines to apply/register are quickly approaching. I cannot emphasize how much Acton University and the Hildebrand Seminars, in particular, have been transformative to my personal development and have fundamentally given direction to my life, education, and work. I have also met some of my best andContinue reading “Three Summer Opportunities”

Heschel on the epidemic of injustice

“Rabbi Heschel is one of the persons who is relevant at all times, always standing with prophetic insights.” – Martin Luther King Jr. I’ve just read this 1963 address that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel gave at a conference in Chicago at which Martin Luther King Jr. also spoke. Here are several of the most strikingContinue reading “Heschel on the epidemic of injustice”

Dignity: Chapter One

Today I read the first chapter of Chris Arnade’s Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America. This book came highly recommended from a dear friend of mine with whom I travelled on my most recent trip to Israel and the West Bank.

Protected: Coffee with Gazans

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Not all are mourning

The picture above is from a wedding I attended in Israel. I’m thinking about this experience in particular because today I had a Zoom reunion with the participants with whom I travelled on that trip. This Philos Project trip was specifically devoted to exploring and encountering Christian minorities (plural) within Israel. I gained a much moreContinue reading “Not all are mourning”

Sleeping on roofs

It’s nearly midnight, so today’s post will be brief. Even though it’s not possible to travel internationally right now, I find books capable of transporting me to different and faraway countries in surprising and experiential ways.

The Cooper Incident

Christian Cooper’s video he posted on Monday has been viewed 4.5 million times on his Facebook page along and probably millions and millions more times across other social media platforms. The New York Times headline about this story is “White Woman Is Fired After Calling Police on Black Man in Central Park.” Two different RobertContinue reading “The Cooper Incident”