You’re at home now. You’ve probably been at home for several weeks, save for the occasional walk around the block or trip to the local supermarket. And while you might have thought all this down time would be akin to floating on a tranquil sea, it has left you feeling a little unsettled. Maybe it’s the way the work day bleeds into the night or your kids are acting up for the 20th time today or maybe the nonstop drumbeat... Read more
Will my family be alright? Will I be all right? When will this end? Will it end? And if it does, will life ever be as it was? This staccato burst of angst, written by Dan Barry in The New York Times, captures how many of us are feeling these days. We want to be optimistic that life will soon return to a state resembling normal, only to realize that (in the US) there are still 2,000 people dying of... Read more
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. ~The Serenity Prayer During our shared pandemic quarantine, there are a lot of things we cannot change. For instance, we cannot change the path of this virus or when it will go away or the safety precautions we need to take. Yet if we dig a little deeper, we can see that there are things that... Read more
Chances are that you’ve been sitting at home for 4 or 5 weeks now. I know that this is driving some people nuts, they’re going stir crazy and I get it. But if you’re like me, you’re enjoying this enforced down time as it has given you time to explore new books, new podcasts, new ways of thinking. I recently came across a 5-minute audio clip that forced me to look at life from a fresh perspective. It can be... Read more
Is it 5:00 yet? These are words you’ll hear almost daily in our house as we enter the fourth week of our Covid-19 related quarantine. And it’s not because 5:00 is quitting time from work—it marks the hour when my wife and I uncork a bottle of wine or uncap a couple of bottles of beers. During pre-Coronavirus times, we limited our drinking to weekends. Admittedly, with the occasional glass of wine on weekdays. But if you’re like me, and... Read more
How are you dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic? Has your extended time at home, away from the pressures of the outside world, allowed you to find a sense of centeredness and calm? Or has the nonstop drumbeat of negative news left you feeling anxious, maybe even angry, about your predicament and the plight of the world? I’ve written before about dealing with anger. I’ve also written extensively about prayer. But I was surprised to recently discover that there’s a place where... Read more
Where is God in all this? Why is God allowing COVID-19 to happen? I’ve written about God’s role after other deeply unsettling events like 9/11, the Newtown shootings, the Boston Marathon bombing and the Las Vegas massacre. I’m now pondering my words again, trying to make sense of what has become an ever-expanding tragedy, one that will take more lives than all the previously mentioned events combined. Let’s start by looking at God and the Christian belief, via St. Augustine,... Read more
Are you afraid? Me too. It’s hard not to be fearful during these scary coronavirus times, a quick glimpse of a major news site is enough to get your head spinning and your heart sinking. We can do something about it. It’s time to lessen the fear you and I are now facing. In times of crisis I often turn to the advice of the businessman/philosopher John Templeton. He was prescient for our current state of affairs when he wrote:... Read more
Can faith help us in a time of crisis? If we believe in a God, will our prayers and petitions lead us to the best possible outcome, for ourselves, our families and for our society? Faith is a curious thing. It may be that you either have the faith gene within you or you don’t. The author David Foster Wallace once gave a now fabled commencement speech titled This is Water. As part of that speech, Foster Wallace told the tale... Read more
Tom Shadyac was once a big-time Hollywood director, the man behind the films that launched Jim Carrey to fame, including the Ace Ventura series. He also directed The Nutty Professor with Eddie Murphy and the blockbuster Evan Almighty. Then, after banking tens of millions of dollars, he comes to a growing realization: His life is way off track. As much as he thinks of himself as a spiritual guy, his life has lost its focus. He has placed his own... Read more
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