Scene: 6:15 a.m. My bedroom. I am asleep. My three-year-old child enters from the bathroom. CHILD (stage whisper): Mommy! ME: …What? CHILD: Know why I didn’t flush? ME: …Why? CHILD: So it wouldn’t wake you up. He goes back to bed. Fin. Mollie Wilson O’Reilly is editor-at-large and columnist at Commonweal. Also by this author ‘The Construction Sites of History’ Get Commonweal’s latest, delivered twice weekly. Email address Recommended for you Christian Radical By Arvin Alaigh October 1, 2026 Pulling the Brake By Eugene McCarraher September 28, 2026 Clerics Without Clericalism By Timothy Kirchoff October 1, 2026
