Funny Thing About Christmas
Funny thing about Christmas… how it just is… how it just persists.
Written archives
Articles, essays and columns by Ralph Bennett. Search by any word in an article, or narrow the list by publication, year or topic.
9 articles
An American Thanksgiving
It is the most American of holidays. The day when we neither commemorate nor celebrate nor observe anything or anyone. The day we simply go home—if we can and however we can, even if only in our thoughts—and give thanks.
What a Father Taught Me
It’s like a pair of really big shoes. Every year, I have to walk up and put my feet in them and look silly because I can never fill them.
Fallen Heroes, Never Forgotten
When I was a kid we called it Decoration Day and, in a practice observed since 1868, it always came on May 30.
The Guardians
They are the Guardians. On land, at sea, and in the air they have been the guardians — of our peace and peace of mind.
This Astounding Enterprise
That was the day in Philadelphia in 1776 that 12 of the 13 colonies voted to declare their independence from Great Britain, even as General Sir William Howe was landing 10,000 British troops on Staten Island in New York. (New…
Merry Christmas!
Oh, yes, and “happy holidays!” And, by all means, “season’s greetings.” Or perhaps you would simply like to hunker down and whistle past the whole thing, or ruminate playfully (or seriously) about a “Winter Festival” or “Solstice Celebration” or even…
Dreaming of a Remote Christmas
One Saturday, about a month before Christmas 50 years ago, I was with my Uncle George in a department store in Pittsburgh, Pa. The whole family was Christmas shopping here and there, but George and I happened to be walking…
Why I am a Member of the Christian church
I could not begin to count how many times I have engaged in such an exchange, and I am sure it is familiar to many in our fellowship. By insisting that Christians should call themselves just that, the 19th-century American…