NEW YORK (RNS) Ours has become a culture of whining. People bristle at the slightest discomfort or shortcoming. Do we all feel that helpless? Is our addiction to control so granular that we cannot tolerate anything out of order? By Tom Ehrich.

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. (RNS) The answer to escaping stuckness isn't technology or youth or brilliant presentations. It's the will to embrace change and the courage to face down those who profit from dysfunction. By Tom Ehrich.

INDIANAPOLIS (RNS) How did we go from building the interstate highway system to not doing anything unless it benefits us? How did the party of Eisenhower degenerate into would-be demagogues defaming anyone who stands between them and power? How did a nation that fought totalitarianism spy on young adults just for questioning Wall Street? By Tom Ehrich.

CLEARWATER, Fla. (RNS) The face of aging in America isn't a pretty one. Not because the flesh is sagging, but because the nation that once built schools, malls and suburbs for Boomer families when they were young has turned against its elderly. By Tom Ehrich.

(RNS) When people make grandiose claims about "God's will" and "American values" and demonize others who hold different views, we haven't just channeled a tragic yesterday and its wars and pogroms. We have poisoned the well of community on which our nation depends today and made a mockery of God and faith. By Tom Ehrich. About 700.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) I hope the signs I am seeing don't add up to this doomsday scenario. I hope wiser and cooler heads prevail. I hope a rising tide of vigilante violence, hateful campaigns and criminalizing the "other'' wake us up. But I am less optimistic than I was. By Tom Ehrich.

(RNS) I have been a Christian my entire life, never more fervently than in recent years, and yet I cringe when I hear politicians and public figures announce their Christian faith. No wonder people have come to see "Christians" as harsh, judgmental, intolerant, argumentative and angry. By Tom Ehrich.

NEW YORK (RNS) In Topeka, Kan., I saw the future of America, and it worried me. I don't want to overstate. I also see much that is good, encouraging, and fresh. I just sense a balance shifting, like a herd that is getting restless and might signal a storm coming. By Tom Ehrich.

(RNS) The future, it seems, belongs to the nimble and adaptive. When situations change, you catch the wave early and you adapt. You stop fighting old wars. But where do you find the nimble and adaptive? By Tom Ehrich. About 700.

(RNS) Churches take pride in plumes of sweet smoke, glorious music, and, for at least one day, full pews. But outside our doors, fear and hatred prevail without much opposition from us. I feel a deep sadness about a Christian enterprise that cannot do what we were called to do, but retreats instead into what we enjoy doing.  By Tom Ehrich.

(RNS) This year's Holy Week pilgrimage will have unusual irony, for the centralized institutions that took control of the Christian message and tried to rule the world now find themselves under assault by the same decentralizing and freedom-seeking that Jesus expressed. By Tom Ehrich.

(RNS) We have seen ourselves up close and decided we can do better. Pouring a lifetime of earnings into showy living becomes embarrassing. Turning religion into shouting matches and rampant bigotry doesn't pass any gospel sniff test. By Tom Ehrich.

(RNS) What will come of the war within the Anglican Communion? U.S. Episcopalians aren't likely to turn conservative. Nor, in my opinion, do we have any appetite for continued battles over gender and sexuality. We are talking more about growth, new life, young leadership and casting our lot with the 99 percent. By Tom Ehrich.

(RNS) Workarounds aren't a sad sagging of the spirit. They are the bold, can-do wisdom that that sees challenges not as betrayals but as obstacles to be surmounted. By Tom Ehrich.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (RNS) To understand American politics, follow the money. But to understand American goodness and resolve, follow the storms. While the political class channels more wealth to the mega-wealthy, people of limited means were showing grace and generosity. By Tom Ehrich.