With no end in sight to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, some area residents are turning to religion for answers. Rev. Mitchell Hescox, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network, just returned from a "prayer walk" in the Mississippi Delta.  He tells The Takeaway what he learned while he was there.  That and this morning's headlines.

Since the start of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, neither BP nor politicians nor the smartest engineers and technicians in America have been able to cap the well and contain the damage.

Some Americans say we are looking to the wrong people for answers, and should instead be directing our requests to a higher power.

On Friday, thousands of emails written by Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan were released by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. Observers of the court from both sides of the aisle spent the weekend scrutinizing the new documents, searching for clues about her legal history. 

Takeaway sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin tells us why a bad call during the U.S.-Slovenia World Cup game is good for American soccer. He also looks at Italy's World Cup game against New Zealand. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but it was a very emotional victory for New Zealand. "Italy is an old team," says Ibrahim, "they're playing uninspired soccer."

It was a winning weekend for Europe at the U.S. Open, where Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell became the first European in forty years to win the tournament. He shot 3-over-par 74 on Pebble Beach's treacherous course.

It's Monday, which means it's time to take a look at what's ahead this week in the agenda with the help of Marcus Mabry, associate national editor for The New York Times, and Charlie Herman, The Takeaway and WNYC's economics editor. 

After some arm twisting by the White House last week, BP agreed to create a $20 billion escrow fund to compensate people affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, someone has to decide who gets that money and how much of it they will receive. That man is attorney Kenneth Feinberg, and he's no stranger to making controversial decisions when it comes to assigning monetary value to tragedies.

Most people know Michael Chabon as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.”

And most people know his wife Ayelet Waldman as the controversial essayist who once ruffled feathers by claiming she was more in love with her husband than her kids.

But behind Chabon and Waldman’s high profile writing careers is a very real family, consisting of two parents, four kids, and – as Ayelet writes in her book, “Bad Mother ” - her own mental illness.

From the latest in Afghanistan and Iraq to drug violence in Mexico to the oil spill to the revaluation of the Yuan, we bring you this morning's headlines.

Since Mexico's President Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006, nearly 23,000 people have been killed as a result of the drug war that has engulfed many parts of the nation, and June might end up being the country's most violent month to date. Just this past weekend, the mayor of Guadelupe was shot and killed in front of his wife and child. And the violence just keeps getting worse.

900 thousand people have seen their benefits expire since June 1st and that number could reach over one million people in the next few weeks. Congress has extended unemployment benefits many times, but this week, the Senate has has been deadlocked on how to pay for the upcoming extension. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich explains the deadlock over the "jobs bill," and tells us why doctors are about to see their Medicare payments cut by 21 percent.

While Congress rushes to complete a sweeping financial reform bill later this week, the banking industry is pulling out all the stops for a last ditch effort to undercut the Volcker Rule—a provision that allows banks to retain some of their most risky businesses. The New York Times' finance reporter Louise Story explains who wins and who loses if the Volcker rule were to be put in place.

According to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 980,000 people in the U.S. are addicted to some type of opiates: a sharp uptick in recent years. The number of emergency room visits linked to non-medical use of prescription pain relievers has more than doubled in recent years. The prescription painkillers being abused include oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone. And in six states—Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont—accidental drug deaths due to use of anxiety medications increased 64 percent between 2004 and 2007.

Our DIY Checkup series continues all throughout the summer and we've been asking you to weigh in on your health. What is healthy? How do you stay healthy? Listeners responded. 

Ed from Ft. Lauderdale called in to say:

"For me, health care is pretty simple. Just ask your doctor for a copy of your lab results and review the results with your physician. Get in touch and co-manage your healthcare."

And Takeaway listener, Shayna from New Jersey responded to the notion that weight and health are linked, writing:

"Just because someone is thin does not mean they are healthy, and just because someone is heavier does not mean they are 'out of control.' As one who works with clients who suffer from eating disorders on a continual basis, the professionals are correct to focus on what a person can do to be healthier, and not having weight loss or gain be the ultimate measure of success."

Let us know what you think and keep the conversation going.

How do we plan for a longer, healthier life?  According to an Annals of Internal Medicine study, there are four simple priorities people need to have in order to get healthy: quit smoking; eat five servings of fruits or vegetables each day; get to a "healthy" weight; and exercise vigorously for 100 minutes each week.

The number of doctors in the United States who are refusing to take new Medicare patients has reached an all time high on the eve of millions of baby boomers enrolling in the program. Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital, shares his opinions about why this is happening; this morning's headlines.

In just six months, millions of baby boomers are expected to to enroll in Medicare at a time when the number of doctors refusing to take new Medicare patients is at an all-time high. In New York State alone, about 1,100 doctors have left the system. The American Medical Association blames low government payment rates for the sudden change. A 21 percent automatic cut in payments to doctors went into effect on Friday after Congress failed to pass a bill giving doctors a temporary reprieve.

With some areas of the United States already suffering from a deficit of primary care physicians, the AARP worries the trend away from Medicare will only make the problem worse. Some doctors, on the other hand, feel that the government has backed them into a corner. "Physicians are saying, 'I can't afford to keep losing money.'" says Lori Helm, president of the family doctors' group.