This column first appeared in The Tablet in May, 2008, under the title “The Magic is Real” We ran it again here in 2015. It’s hard to believe but the Iron Man movie. credited with launching the current Marvel Universe franchise, is now ten years old… I have a friend who has found a new drug: it can keep him awake and programming at his computer for 36 hours straight, without too many bad side effects… or so he claims. I think he’s nuts; aside from the obvious dangers of self-prescribing anything, I happen myself to find sleeping to be a beautifully spiritual experience. (At least, that’s what I tell the homilist after Mass.) But I was struck mostly by the motivation behind my friend’s drug abuse. He is so passionately in love with being alive and doing his work that he resents having to waste eight hours sleeping every night.   That passion is one of the great things … Continue reading →