Grandma was in her glory because her grandchildren were circled all around her. She gloried in their presence, looking at each fresh-scrubbed face, peering, it seemed, deep down into each of their souls.

There have been a number of arguments between politicians and civil libertarians over the Ten Commandments, and numerous attempts have been made to place the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, courtrooms, libraries, public squares, and parks.

If they had to sit through one more employee meeting with the accounting supervisor insisting that what the company needed was a little more love, they were going to jump out of their skins.

One day I was walking in downtown Chicago, passing sights so familiar to me that they hardly registered. My progress was interrupted by a group of tourists from a foreign country who had stopped in their tracks and stood pointing and staring at the front of a building across the street from us.

Those of us who live at sea level often have trouble breathing when we are up in the thinner mountain air. Many people have trouble sleeping. Others notice that their appetites are affected.

The Enron and WorldCom scandals spurred a new round of calls for tough legislation against corporate greed and promises from CEOs to clean up their acts and police themselves. But mass firings and major restructurings seem to be the only fixes they ever propose.

Have you seen the T-shirt that says, “God’s not finished with me yet?” Maybe that’s the souvenir Jesus should have bought the disciples after they went up the mountain with him and saw him revealed in all his glory. The apostles thought they’d attained a state of perfection.

Dorothy singing “Over the Rainbow” to Toto remains one of the most magical moments recorded on film. It touched something deep within many people’s hearts.

My newest hero is my neighbor across the hall: a public high-school teacher thought of as funny, sensitive, but not all that deep. Brian was on the verge of getting engaged to a beautiful woman, a social worker with a genuine concern for the people she helped.

There’s an old joke about the young man who went to Confession and said he had been experiencing temptations. “Did you entertain them, my son?” asked the kindly confessor. “No, Father,” replied the confused penitent, “but they sure entertained me!”