No matter what I say, somebody is going to be mad because people take their movies seriously. Try pointing out that the third season of Star Trek is pretty bad at a fan convention. They might agree, but the justifications will begin. How do I know? I have made the excuses. There is good to be found, if you are fan, even in Spock’s Brain. O.K. No. There is not. We justify what we want to enjoy even when we should... Read more
When I have faced depression, especially as the result of difficult circumstances, the dullness and sorrow often comes wrapped up with confusion or depression about certain ideas. In talking to hundreds of students over the years (not in mass meetings, but one-on-one), I have noticed a pattern: sometimes we try to self-medicate spiritually by agonizing over issues that distract us from getting our physical, emotional, and spiritual health in order. Depression sucks the life out of a person’s emotional life... Read more
For me, sorrow is a low level hum at the back of all I do. Sometimes it has turned into depression where I feel like doing nothing, hiding, playing endless games of Candy Crush in a dark room. One cannot merely “cheer up” and the advice most people give, Christian or non-Christian, is so unhelpful that it makes me dread the person who comes up to me saying: “I have an idea of what will help.” I have been told... Read more
A school like The Saint Constantine School makes art, music, poetry, and literature central to education. Is that practical? Shouldn’t we center on the “facts?” Why bother with all these images and words when we could just give the bottom line? This isn’t my favorite Bible verse (John 1:14 anyone?), but I love it for its oddness and relevance to life: “Ah Lord God,’ I cried; ‘they are always saying of me, “He deals only in figures of speech.” ” Anybody... Read more
“Sometimes,”an older friend said, “life gets tedious.” My problems may be first world problems, ISIS isn’t coming to get my family today, but they are my problems. I cannot wish away the nattering of the negative including the doubt in my heart. Is there a man so arrogant he knows beyond doubt his work is awesome and his course correct? That man has a different and worse problem than tedium. Enough worry or self-doubt breeds tedium and enough tedium isn’t... Read more
Jesus saw a fig tree and He cursed it. He did not do this because He was out of control. He cursed the fig tree because when the Son of Man wants figs, then they should be in season. He was running on Divine Standard Time and the tree was out of sync with goodness. God of wants to give us joy, infinite happiness. Our shortcomings are impediments to joy. The news is all good if we will only hear... Read more
Most of us should examine our assumptions more than we do. There is a reason that the Socratic command about the examined life is repeated so often. Socrates was right: the unexamined life is not worth living. A man who will not ask himself questions thinks he is a god, but has the mental life of a boar and is surely a boor. The life of the mind is necessary for full human flourishing. Thinking can make a person uncomfortable,... Read more
I left one job and turned down my dream job as president of a great school because I have an improbable dream. I hope it is God’s dream. Houston is a great city. I believe it is the American city of the twenty-first century. Here we have Christians with clout, but also diversity. One can minister to many nations and never leave the city limits. I cannot leave Houston because I think God called my family here. God requires virtue... Read more
Charles Dickens was no saint, but he knew what a saint looked like. In his great novel Hard Times he described the school of the future . . and the future looked grim. There facts replaced passion and imagination was forbidden. The Gradgrind teacher was a name dropper, had credentials, but viewed each student as a monetary unit. Family, tradition, love, beauty were all gone in a Gradgrind world. The Gradgrind school calculates the value of each student and will... Read more
Students should look back on college with joy, but many are saddled with horrible debt that ruins their memories and harms the rest of their lives. What is to be done? Few Christian colleges are flush. Most struggle to do a good work with few resources and less acclaim. The hard working professors are overworked and underpaid. Christian colleges face a hard task. They are in an industry that is in trouble and they are competing against tax subsidized behemoths.... Read more
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