Do twins ever realize that one of them is unplanned?
Cognitive Overload
“Studies of cognitive overload suggest that the real problem is that people who are thinking about rules actually have diminished capacity to think about solving problems.”
Phillip K Smith
Gifts
From the viewpoint of a private property economy the “gift” is deemed to be “free” because we obtain it free of charge, at no cost. But in the gift economy, gifts are not free. The essence of the gift is that it creates a set of relationships. The currency of a gift economy is at its root, reciprocity. In Western thinking, private land is understood to be a of “bundle of rights,” whereas in a gift economy property has a “bundle of responsibilities” attached.
Braiding Sweetgrass
the kind of pastor every church needs
…the new pastor will need to be an excellent communicator, love senior adults and spend all their time with students. They’ll have to be able to manage the complex organization of the local church and raise money to accomplish all the church wants to do. They’ll need to spend 24 hours a day in prayer while going on visitation seven days a week. The new pastor will have to be able to lead a staff, perform funerals and weddings, handle social media, preach, counsel and teach. They will have to handle the intricacies of local politics and be an expert on the moral and ethical issues of the day.
Mike Glenn
Dealing with sin
I think it’s noteworthy how, in the Old Testament, there isn’t a whole lot of metaphysical mechanics involved in God’s forgiveness. No great theory of atonement is floated about how God needs to jump through some hoops to remit our sin. All that seems necessary is honesty and confession. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps. 51.17). Admitting our guilt. I think of David’s response to Nathan’s confrontation: “You are the man!” Once David owns his sin his relationship with God is restored. Yes, there are consequences, but honesty mends the relationship.
Perhaps it is that simple. The sin is easily dealt with, but it’s the hiding, lying, avoidance, denial, silence and obfuscation that is killing us.
Maybe all God wants from us is the truth.
Richard Beck
Difficulty of aging
If you depend on doctrine and dogma creating certainty more than the person of Jesus Christ, aging is going to be excruciatingly difficult for you…
Phoenix Preacher
Wise men
The wise men are not as wise in the wilderness as they are in the safety of their sanctuaries.
Michael Spencer
Contemplation
contemplation, the deliberate seeking of God through a willingness to detach from the passing self, the tyranny of emotions, the addiction to self-image, and the false promises of the world.
Richard Rohr
ONE THING FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT
“I just want to be a normal person.”
Statistically speaking, a “normal person” is physically unhealthy, emotionally anxious/depressed, socially lonely, and financially in debt. ?
Mark Manson
Autobiography
“everybody wants an autobiography at the end of their life, a bestseller and [My Story] is a way to do it now.” So so so true. If we could but wait we’d learn our story is, like the rest of the billions of earth’s inhabitants, quite ordinary even if we are special to some and to God.
Being Real – Phillip Plyming
Social Media
..social media platforms are now a culture of presenting a “positive impression” of ourselves. Here’s a real helpful set of categories of how those impressions are framed:
- First, ingratiation: “the art of getting others to like us, to hold a favorable impression of us as we appear on our front stage.”
- Second, intimidation: “the art of getting others … to fear us” by way of comparison. “My kids all got straight A’s” leads to “That mother is impressive. I don’t stack up.”
- Third, self-promotion. This one hits the bone for us who are authors because our publishers want us to market and promote our own books. And there is only a fine line between saying what we need to say and saying more than what we need to say. I just had a new book arrive at my doorstep this weekend — do I keep it to myself or do I post it on social media?
- Fourth, exemplification: the art of being “seen as worthy and having integrity.” In other words, virtue signaling and grandstanding.
- Fifth, supplication: the art of framing “one ‘s dependence in order to get others to offer help” and resources.
The big ones that Plyming sees most on social media are self-promotion and ingratiation.
Scot McKnight – https://amzn.to/3QWYZIp
Church
It is easier to live in the world without being of the world than to live in the church without being of the church.
Henri Nowen – Where the night fell
View from the Lanai
A quote from a recent sermon haunts me. I replayed the sermon and transcribed the quote attributed to Sophia Tolstoy.
Sophia Tolstoy was married to Leo for 32 years, had 16 pregnancies, bore 13 children, eight who lived to be adults.
She had this to say about the renowned Leo Tolstoy:
“There’s so little genuine warmth about him. His kindness does not come from his heart, but merely from his principles, his biography will tell how he helped laborers to carry buckets of water, but no one will ever know that he never gave his wife a rest, and never in all these 32 years gave his child a drink of water, or spent five minutes by his bedside to give me a chance to rest a little from all my labors.”
It is the phrase: “His kindness does not come from his heart, but merely from his principles.” that haunts me.
As one who considers himself a man of principles, where does my kindness come from?
STILL ON THE JOURNEY
