The irrepressible Mr. Trump has again demonstrated that he is capable of turning a bad thing into a good thing, at least for himself, converting the nation’s largest mass shooting into an opportunity to spread anti-Muslim hate speech. But there is a little problem about consistency in his attitude toward immigrants. In Trump (or should I say Drumpf?) World there are, it seems, both good immigrants and bad immigrants.  Bad immigrants are those Mr. Trump/Drumpf doesn’t like – especially Muslims and Mexicans.  Good immigrants are from nice places like Scotland and Germany, where his mom and grandparents were born.  Yes, the Donald is the son and grandson of immigrants.  His mother, Mary Anne McLeod, came to the United States in 1930 and became a U.S. citizen in 1942.  His grandparents settled in the U.S. back in 1905 after leaving Kallstadt, Germany, although Donald lied about that for years, claiming they were Swedish.  It’s all on Wikipedia, folks. The ancestral name Drumpf was changed to Trump either during the Thirty Years War or in 1885. But what’s in a name? But just think, if the U.S. had stricter immigration laws, we wouldn’t have to worry about the possibility of a  xenophobic, hate-mongering, self-serving president named Trump.  Or Drumpf.

In this book, I explore some of the important links between physical, emotional and mental health and spirituality, including longevity, resistance to disease and greater happiness. Wellness explores a number of areas in which a vibrant and healthy spirituality enables people to live longer, healthier lives, contribute to society and avoid many of the ‘discontents’ of our hectic technology-drive, commercialised, artificial and often lethal way of living in today’s world.

The new CD set of 12 lectures on Angels, Demons, and the Devil: Christian Belief and Experience is now available from Now You Know Media, in Chevy Chase, MD. You can find them at nowyouknowmedia.com.

The four-CD set, St. Dominic and the Dominican Way, is available from Now You Know Media, in Chevy Chase, MD.  Renowned saints, theologians, mystics, missionaries, artists, teachers, preachers, and a number of notable rascals have been part of the Order since its accidental beginnings in southern France nearly 800 years ago. Find out more!

In March 2006, Orbis Books published the third, revised and expanded edition of Christian Spirituality: God’s Presence through the Ages. The only single-volume history of Christian spirituality when it originally appeared, it is still distinctive in situating its origin and development in the context of historical events of the period. A new chapter has been added on 21st-century spirituality.

In March 2006, Orbis Books published the third, revised and expanded edition of Christian Spirituality: God’s Presence through the Ages. The only single-volume history of Christian spirituality when it originally appeared, it is still distinctive in situating its origin and development in the context of historical events of the period. A new chapter has been added on 21st-century spirituality.

In the latest installment in the adventures of my Knights Templar, Sir Friedrich von Hochheim and Robert of Troyes, has been published by Warner Books in Crusade of Fire – the third anthology in the Tales of the Knights Templar series. Edited by Katherine Kurtz, the series has been selling very well, and there’s rumbling about a fourth volume. In this tale, the Knights have found their way to Scotland, where they become involved in a scheme to protect the relics of St. Columba from being seized by Edward II before the Battle of Bannockburn. Although the story is fiction, the background is factual. To order click on Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com

Following the introduction of the intrepid old Irish dragon-hunter Epiphanius Tighe in A DIVERSITY OF DRAGONS by Anne McCaffrey and Richard Woods (see below), I decided to trace Eppy’s career back a notch to his first meeting with the McCaffrey and a hurried trip to Chicago, where an angry Libyan dragon is on a rampage following the theft of some items from its hoard. Eppy soon finds himself deep in police scandals, political hackery, family problems, and danger from felons and the dragon itself, which has found a snug lair in the underground freight tunnel system. Just the ticket for a cool Hallowe’en night! For an on-line sample or to order either an electronic copy or a print copy, click on IUniverse.com, amazon.com , or BarnesandNoble.com and search for “Epiphanius Tighe.”

My last non-fiction book, The Spirituality of the Celtic Saints , appeared just before St. Patrick’s Day, 2000, from Orbis Press in New York. It’s an overview of the place, lives, and teachings of the great saints of Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, and Brittany who flourished between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and their later imitators down to the twentieth century who continue to shape the spirituality of millions of Christians throughout the world.

Mysticism and Prophecy: The Dominican Spiritual Tradition , was published in May, 1998 in London by Darton, Longman and Todd and that September by Orbis Press in New York. One of the first four volumes in the series, “Traditions of Christian Spirituality,” being edited by Philip Sheldrake, it is an account of the ways in which the “negative theology” of the early Church influenced, and was influenced by, “affirmative theology” in the teaching and lives of Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, and Catherine of Siena. Many other Dominicans (and some non-Dominicans) figure in the story. Originally, the title was Ways of Knowing and Unknowing God , but that seemed a little long. The new title captures the spirit of the Order very well, however .