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Jack R. Van Ens

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The Bully Pulpit

Moderator Tom Brokaw on the December 7th edition of NBC's "Meet the Press" asked Barack Obama what changes he and wife Michelle planned to bring to the White House. Obama replied that the President's house would serve as a "bully pulpit." Such a phrase might be interpreted in a pejorative way unless we know its history. President Theodore Roosevelt wielded constructive power from his bully pulpit. To "bully" doesn't always mean verbally browbeating enemies. The British shout "bully" when a…
Jack R. Van Ens
January 1, 2009
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Letters to the Editors

Why Pastors Leave Church Dear Sirs: Why did Barbara Brown Taylor leave a parish pulpit to fill an endowed chair at a Georgia college, teaching in the religion department? The Reverend Dr. Douglas Brouwer in his review of Taylor's memoir Leaving Church writes wistfully of losing such an excellent preacher from the parish. He offers several cogent answers but misses the main reason Taylor no longer is a parish preacher. She adamantly wants to preach on topics forbidden in local…
Jack R. Van Ens and Al Hoksbergen
February 1, 2007
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Surviving When Life Squeezes Us Sideways

The movie Sideways, winner of an Oscar and two Golden Globes this year, leaves viewers laughing so hard they cry. Some of the tears flow because Sideways conjures up the times when life pinches us. When we feel trapped. Losers. We describe such moments in different ways. We say we are spinning our wheels. We sigh that we are stuck in a rut. We feel like a square peg in a round hole or, in an antique expression, like we…
Jack R. Van Ens
June 1, 2005