Your Brain on Poverty: Why Poor People Seem to Make Bad Decisions

January 11, 2016 By Mission:Work

We just ran into this fascinating article at The Atlantic (it’s a couple years old, but it’s been going around Facebook, so that makes it new again, right?) It argues that poverty actually causes changes in the way the brain operates: Science published a landmark study concluding that poverty, itself, hurts our ability to make decisions about school, finances, and life, imposing a mental burden similar to losing 13 IQ points. It quotes a devastating first-hand report from a person in... Read more

Art, theology, and faith: an interview with the editor of Image Journal

January 7, 2016 By Guest Contributor

The founder and editor of Image journal talks about why it’s important for people of faith — and those grappling with questions of faith — to engage with art. This article originally appeared at Faith and Leadership. Does religion have a culture problem, or does culture have a religion problem? Has the Christian community sacrificed beauty in search of truth and virtue? Gregory Wolfe, the Seattle-based founder of the arts and literature journal Image, has been grappling with these... Read more

Songs of Thankfulness and Praise: A hymn about God at work in the world for #Epiphany

January 6, 2016 By Jennifer Woodruff Tait

1. Songs of thankfulness and praise, Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise, manifested by the star to the sages from afar; branch of royal David’s stem in thy birth at Bethlehem; anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest. 2. Manifest at Jordan’s stream, Prophet, Priest and King supreme; and at Cana, wedding-guest, in thy Godhead manifest; manifest in power divine, changing water into wine; anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest. 3. Manifest in... Read more

Ayn Rand Didn’t Understand Capitalism. Or Altruism. Or Christianity. Or Reality.

January 4, 2016 By Acton Institute

Rand had an almost complete misunderstanding of capitalism. She confused self-interest with selfishness. Read more

Why It Takes More than a New Year’s Resolution to Truly Change Yourself

December 24, 2015 By Guest Contributor

By Timothy Askew; reprinted from Inc. with the kind permission of Timothy Askew. Most of us make New Year’s resolutions. I don’t mean to be a downer, but the odds of instituting big changes, and even incremental ones, are not high. At least that is historically true for me. Certainly lots of studies reveal that our New Year’s resolutions usually fail. This does not mean that we are all creatures of invertebrate inadequacy. It does mean that it is damn... Read more

What were we all worried about in 2015? Evangelism, feeling stupid at work, charity, the Pope, refugees, Kim Davis, Christmas songs, and frustrated pastors

December 22, 2015 By Jennifer Woodruff Tait

It’s that time of year again when we look back over the events of the past 12 months. What were we thinking, wondering, and writing about as the crocuses bloomed or as we sipped our summer lemonade at the beach? Here are some of the stories that the faith and work community has been talking about here at Patheos Faith and Work in 2015. Is it ever OK to evangelize in the workplace? Blogger Bill Peel participated in a “Head-to-Head”... Read more

NEWS: ReFrame in Prisons and Schools

December 20, 2015 By Guest Contributor

Here’s our latest communication from the folks at ReFrame about their success in bringing work and life together. Dear Friends, The variety and diversity of the ReFrame stories we’re hearing are a huge encouragement to us. In Washington state, a retired consultant thought he’d try ReFrame with inmates at the Prison Ministry he volunteered with. The results were beyond what he could have hoped for. In Vancouver, BC a school’s administration team realized that in order to rethink how they were... Read more

Lessons from the Grinch

December 19, 2015 By Guest Contributor

By Mike Coyner One of the great things about having young grandchildren is that you get to watch videos and read books with childhood stories – many of which are really adult lessons. I had that experience recently when we were taking care of our granddaughter, Leah, and she wanted to watch the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” That movie, based upon the children’s book by Dr. Seuss, has many adult lessons. In case you have not read it... Read more

Working at Rest: Make a Breathing Space For Yourself at Christmas

December 18, 2015 By Guest Contributor

By Jordan Dillon I work on my day off. My mind organizes tomorrow’s tasks as I lay down to sleep. I squeeze in errands between appointments. I review our family calendar while I clean up after dinner. I review the family budget while I pump gas into our minivan. My down time isn’t always rest. And I can do this for months. But this isn’t how we are meant to live. Every dimension of our existence (mind, body, soul) is... Read more

Can your work be worship….

December 17, 2015 By Guest Contributor

….even if you work on a construction site? RightNow Media thinks so: For more, check out the Work as Worship Network site. Read more