Adults who are employed full time work an average of forty-seven hours a week, nearly 2,500 hours a year — that’s over 100 full days. We’ll spend a third of our lifetime working. How do we choose a vocation that will nurture the health of our soul? Current research says that most people will change jobs ten to fifteen times over the course of their working life, with an average of twelve job changes per career. How do we... Read more
History always has its thought police–the people who want to force others to submit to their version of the faith. However well meaning, these folks miss a central truth: The trick is not to force people to believe the same things. The trick is to stick together in friendship even while in deep disagreement; to keep an open mind, ask good questions, and wonder together about what is true, and what our way forward should be. There’s a name... Read more
I confess that the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) is starting a denaturalization task force to revoke citizenship of naturalized citizens they find objectionably brown, then remove them from the country. These people are so dangerous to our society that they apparently lied about some aspect of their application, passed background checks, did the interviews, did the classes, passed the citizenship exam and took the oath. Our government wants to revoke their citizenship, and send them away. No word yet on... Read more
“An alarmingly large segment of our society simply has no access to wisdom. In the absence of genuine wisdom, the job of the leader is to provide that wisdom for the people, not to stoke and exploit their ignorance. Sadly that’s not where we are right now. We are going to continue to disintegrate as a society without wise leadership.” As I scan Twitter and the blogs this 4th of July, I see two things: the cynicism of... Read more
I confess that I’ve got a bunch of books going at once right now. This seems to be a summer thing for me. My reading is a little scattered because summer is so irritating and hot that I’m usually looking for a distraction that fits the particularities of my current (bad) mood. Summer sucks. I’ve already started a Monday Morning Confessional on why Summer is the worst season… but, back to my reading. Here’s the list. I’m slow-reading Ronald Rolheiser’s... Read more
I confess that I think supporting Donald Trump because “we need to shake things up in Washington” is like saying, “Our kids need to make some changes. Let’s put Hulk Hogan in charge of them.” I’m really tired of that narrative. It’s irresponsible. I confess that I believe it has never been more important to be vigilant about the news. We need to stay informed. This is not a left or right thing. This is a human thing. Donald Trump... Read more
Peace is not pragmatic. It’s not a strategy or procedure put into effect in order to engineer a desired outcome. Peace is the outcome. I’m slow-reading Stanley Hauerwas’ book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer called Performing the Faith. The introduction begins with this long quote from Bonhoeffer. He was writing these notes and lectures in Germany during the rise to power of the National Socialists. The NS party members were subverting norms, scapegoating minorities, and pushing the boundaries of German culture to... Read more
I confess that I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. I confess that I have started and then not finished at least three dozen blog posts in the past few months. Usually I write to explore my own thoughts. Lately, however, I don’t seem to finish articles the way I used to. I confess that the reason I don’t finish many articles, is that I’m afraid to post what I’m thinking. I’m afraid it will hurt people close to me. I’m... Read more
I was nineteen years old when I showed up to work for a summer at Kanakuk camp outside of Branson, MO. I had my dates wrong, and was a full day early. So one of my supervisors, Doug Goodwin, let me tag along with him on his 24 hour break. Before we left he was clearing off his desk and searching for an envelope containing $150 in petty cash. He needed the money to buy supplies for an upcoming camp... Read more
I took my oldest son to buy his first suit last night. His eighth grade graduation is coming up, and his school does a few dressy events. He rejects any kind of clothes shopping as a matter or course, but he was a pretty good sport. As I stood behind him at the mirror, decked out in his entire outfit, now nearly as tall as me, strong and kind, full of life and changing–changing so very fast–I had to choke... Read more
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