On reading
One of the great ironies of our age is that we read more words per day than any other generation in the history of the…
Heavenly mindedness
There's an old cliche that goes like this: "They're so heavenly minded they're no earthly good." It's a criticism of religious folks who are all…
Contentment
[O Lord], give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and…
Scroll not, lest ye be anxious
I saw a quote last week that I can't find today. It went something like this: "Whenever our awareness exceeds our agency we'll feel anxiety."…
Future thieves
C.S. Lewis warns, in his The Screwtape Letters, about being so future-focused that we waste the present. This can happen negatively--by being so worried about…
Trade places?
Seneca advised that people should allow only those to influence them “who teach us by their lives, who tell us what we ought to do…
Mamma bear
We really struggle to understand God. And that's to be expected, given how small we are. Yet, that fact doesn't make our struggle less frustrating.…
Take a seat
We never intended to have assigned seats around our family dinner table. It just sort of happened. And it's only dinner--for some reason, we scramble…
Parental hangover
J.B. Phillips, in his classic, Your God is Too Small, lists several common misconceptions of God. One he dubs "Parental Hangover." He notes that one's…
In person
As a leader, I've found that sensitive conversations go about one thousand percent better in person. It's important for people to be able to see…