The last thing to enter Gunner Thompson’s mind was how unexpectedly fast the ground rose up to meet him. It was the middle of June and the Nevada air seemed hot as hell. A few hours earlier, the thirty-year-old hedge fund manager had entered the cool lobby of the Stratosphere, made a bee-line across the casino […]
Life & Culture
Why We Procrastinate
There’s a Chinese Proverb you’re probably familiar with. It says the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago… The second best time is today. A tree we planted twenty years ago would be mature and mostly maintenance free. Had we done the work of planting then, we could be relaxing in its shade and indulging […]
That ‘Inconceivable’ Liberal Arts Education
In William Goldman’s, The Princess Bride, Vizzini gets into the habit of saying, “Inconceivable!” To which Inigo Montoya eventually objects and says, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Such is often the case when folks in modernity use the expression, “liberal arts education.” The frequency […]
Should Christians Drink Alcohol?
I first thought of titling this article “Why I Can Drink Beer, but You Can’t!” But in the spirit of charity, I figured a title that could be perceived as click-bait might be too provocative and would push some over the edge who were already teetering on the brink of emotional frustration about an issue they might not truly […]
On Reading Wisdom (Hokma) Literature
The Hebrew Scriptures are divided into three major sections: Torah, Prophets, and Writings. Categorized under Writings are the wisdom books, also referred to as Hokma literature because of their extensive use of the various forms of the Hebrew root, hkm, meaning wisdom. Wisdom literature varies within the Judeo-Christian traditions, but among them five books share […]
A Diminished Life Means Diluted Work
Some people are out of their element if they don’t have their hands in numerous projects and pursuits. I’m not one of those people. I’m one of those who too frequently puts my hands in numerous projects and pursuits, and then gets bogged down and overwhelmed. I then become unproductive and tend to get depressed. For […]
Now and Later: A Quick Word on YOLO
Aristotle believed poetry was a more philosophical and higher art than history because poetry expresses the universal. Poetry is a picture of man’s imagination, what he is capable of. History on the other hand expressed the particular. It is simply an account of what had actually happened. While I think Aristotle makes a valid point, human […]
What Can You Do With 15 Minutes?
Time management is overrated. Actually, time management is a misnomer. Time cannot be managed. It is a constant. It’s you and I that need to be managed. We’ve all been given the same amount of time each day; yet, none of us know how many days “of that same amount of time each day” we […]
The Pursuit of Happiness
I’ve been working on a book that is supposed to release this fall. One of the chapters was recently published as an essay in Shield Wall, a journal of theological poetics from the community of students at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, ID. I tell you that for two reasons. First, I hope you’ll read it because […]
Why Thucydides Still Matters
Of the numerous intrigues present in The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides’ (pronounced: thoo sid id ees) use of speeches is paramount. Within the narrative he includes forty-one different speeches. What is so interesting is how Thucydides approaches the inclusion of these speeches compared to how he ascertains his information for his narrative. Of the speeches he says, […]