We are wired to maximize good feelings and minimize the bad ones. Guilt is a case in point. But guilt can be a good thing — if what it does is draw us into deeper communion with God. Psalm 32 provides an excellent sketch of the experience: 1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 While... Read more
In the July-August edition of the Harvard Business Review the editors featured an article by HBS Professor Clay Christensen. Entitled “How will you measure your life?” the article was something of a phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands went on line to read the article and journalists around the world picked up on themes from it, including David Brooks, who writes for the New York Times. The editorial staff of HBR was so taken with the response that they chose to leave... Read more
The September issue of the Harvard Business Review offers statistical confirmation of something that mothers have known for a long time. Having children does them no good in the work world. According to Amanda K. Baumle at the University of Houston, who analyzed the 2000 Census “Having children tends to result in higher wages for men, whether they’re straight or gay, married or partnered…Most mothers make less than childless women.” And “Only lesbians get a salary bump from having kids.” ... Read more
Over the years relatives have shared church bulletins with us, thinking that we might find what the churches are doing of interest. That’s understandable, considerate, and sometimes we do find them interesting. There are other times when they are just crazy-making. For example, my wife’s parents sent us a bulletin from their church in Exeter, New Hampshire announcing a new fall film festival. The subject matter? “Fresh”….according to the bulletin “Fresh” celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America... Read more
We tend to think globally or categorically about emotions, lumping all of them under one heading. But, in fact, each of our emotions vary enormously in character and origin. For example, not all anger is the same in origin: It can arise out of the disparity between what we want and what is. And what we want can be a healthy and good thing to want — and it might not be. Our anger can arise out of the disparity... Read more
Not so many people. Why? In part, apparently, because we are doing an increasingly poor job of explaining to the people who come through the doors what it is that we believe, why it makes a difference, and how it differs from what others believe. A recent Pew Research Center report concluded: Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about... Read more
Years ago I had a life-changing experience in a nursing home. I was visiting an aging parishioner and, as is so often the case, she was sharing her room with another resident. Both ladies were out having tests run, so I was left on my own to wait. While I did, I noticed that my parishioner’s roommate had a photo on the dresser. Given the vintage of the picture, it was clearly a picture of my friend’s roommate, but what... Read more
We had dinner with friends last night and we began talking about the emerging church phenomenon — the latest effort to re-boot the church by breaking ties with the long-established denominational structures that have dominated recent Christian history. In passing, one of our friends observed, “Well, I haven’t been hurt by the church, so I find it much harder to turn my back on the day to day reality that we identify as church.” I was really jarred by the... Read more
Last night after a long evening of work I stopped by the grocery for something prepared to eat for dinner. Regularly the clerks ask, “Did you find what you were looking for?” It sounds like a casual question, but it isn’t, of course. If the associates have been properly trained it is a spot inspection, a window into customer satisfaction, and a mission-oriented enquiry. Are we meeting your needs? Getting the job done? Accomplishing our goal? Selling you product? Likely... Read more
I was invited to contribute to a feature at Patheos.com called “What do I really believe…” The subject in this first feature is the question, “What do I really believe happens when we die?” It isn’t a trivial question, nor is it purely academic. The way any story ends decisively shapes what we make of everything that led up to the end; and the same is true of life. And, while we don’t know in one sense what will happen,... Read more
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