I’m one who likes to look at both sides of an issue. Sometimes this causes me great indecision because I usually see the virtues and deficiencies of opposing perspectives and have a hard time completely settling on one side or the other. And sometimes it frustrates my friends, because I don’t usually stand within the […]
Life & Culture
A Farewell to All My Greatness!
The Scottish philosopher and writer, Thomas Carlyle, was once scolded at a dinner party for incessantly chattering about books. A fellow diner exclaimed, “Ideas, Mr. Carlyle, ideas, nothing but ideas!” To which Carlyle replied, ‘There once was a man called Rousseau who wrote a book containing nothing but ideas! The second edition was bound in […]
No Man is an Island
In 1624 John Donne published the famous poem, “No Man is an Island,” in his book Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. It reads, No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the […]
The Community Utopians Dream Of
When Sir Thomas More’s Utopia hit the shelves in the early 16th century, Erasmus suggested to a friend that if he “wished to see the true source of all political evils,” he should read it. A work clearly inspired by Plato’s Republic and likely Plutarch’s account of Spartan life under Lycurgus, More was, I believe, […]
The Felt Need for Community
One sunny weekend, a pastor who had been faithful to preach nearly every Sunday of his 30-plus years of ministry found himself out of town and without a place to preach on Sunday. He had attended a conference that ended Saturday, and since his flight home wasn’t scheduled until Monday, he had a notion to […]
9-11: What Christians Must Never Forget
As you are well aware, today is 9-11. It’s been 13 years since the tragic terrorist attack on America was carried out in NYC, Washington, D.C., and (although it failed to acquire its target) Pennsylvania. Today, all around the country there will be memorial events commemorating that tragic day. All around the blogosphere and various […]
The Real Problems in Ferguson, Missouri
Until a couple of weeks ago, like me, perhaps you had never even heard of Ferguson, Missouri. Now, we’ve all wearied of the cacophony rising from this tiny St. Louis city. But just because we’re tired of hearing about it doesn’t lessen its existence or its profound impact on our nation’s psyche—not to speak of […]
A Rude Awakening
[WARNING: This post is not for the sensitive or the easily offended. As the title suggests, it is Rude! So be warned; if you read on, don’t come whining to me if you get your feelings hurt!] It’s that time of year again, when kids are graduating high school, and other kids are graduating college. […]
Rules of Engagement
In mid-19th-century Europe, puerperal fever (a.k.a., childbed fever) snatched the souls of one-third of women giving birth. No one knew why or how to stop it. Birthing in the Alley In Austria, Vienna General Hospital had two obstetrical clinics that provided free health care to underprivileged women in exchange for their participation in training medical […]
Reconciling the Alternative
I staggered to a shallow place where I gained my footing. Holding onto my raft, I stared downstream, then scoped the surrounding landscape. I could hear my heartbeat over the rushing water and contemplated throwing up. Convinced we had drifted into a theological and philosophical current that was sweeping us up into a deceptive river […]