Canadian columnist, gifted speaker, author, and president of the Oblate school of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. He says "We live in bitter times. Families, communities, churches, and nations are torn, divided, polarized, and wounded. When the air we breathe is bitter, it is easy to grow bitter ourselves. When everything around us seems hard and self-protective, it is easy to grow hard and self-protective ourselves. How do we keep a mellow heart in a bitter time? How do we not give back in kind? How do we transform negative energy so as to not re transmit it?" ( )