Self-help books aren’t really my preferred choice of reading material, but a colleague gave me a copy of Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a few years ago. In an effort to actually read the books I own rather than letting them sit on my shelf, I took it to work with…
Category: Life
A Push-Back Against Victim-Blaming
Last week I devoted some space here to address the way the church in particular has responded in the face of brutality and death over the last several months, and to plead for compassion and gentleness in the questions that we ask and the comments that we make. I also expressed my intention to cover…
A Plea for Compassion
I rarely touch anything that could be construed as a controversial topic, political debate, or current event in general, not just here, but in all my interactions. Most of the arguments I’ve come across are just that – arguments, especially on the internet. There’s no real effort to convince or persuade, and most are not…
New Beginnings
A blank notebook. January 1. Moving to a new town, or beginning classes at a new school. There’s something alluring – albeit still terrifying sometimes – to most of us about fresh starts. Call it a blank canvas, a new beginning, a rebirth, whatever you prefer; we like the idea of starting again without the…
The Fickleness of Humanity
How fickle we humans are, how quick to doubt when it seems that the Lord is slow to act or has delayed in fulfilling his promises. I was reminded of this as I was reading in Exodus recently. When Moses was sent back from Midian to Egypt and he and Aaron first told the Israelites…
Signs of Love
Valentine’s Day was a few weeks ago, and my social media feed sparked a thought I’ve been considering since then. (Yes, it takes me a while to process things sometimes.) I saw post after post that included something along the lines of “real love doesn’t look like flowers and chocolate one day a year; it…
As Is Your Way
My daily Bible reading rotation has had me in Psalm 119 for the last few days. The whole chapter, every single one of the 176 verses, is good sustaining food for thought, and I’ve returned to it often over the last 8 years in particular. There’s always deeper depths to plumb in all of God’s…
White as Snow
I’m not much of a fan of snow, ice, cold, or really any part of winter in northeast Ohio. I don’t like driving in snow (an increased commute to work has increased that distaste), I don’t like being cold, I don’t like heating bills, and I don’t like freezing air that hurts my face every…
Invited
We’ve been house hunting recently, and with that of course comes the repeated evaluation of every feature of house after house, and a ranking (and shuffling, and reshuffling) of priorities: Is it an acceptable distance from work or church, is it in good repair, does a larger lot offset less living space, how far is…
Do It Imperfectly
Well, we’ve come to the first week of February. How are your resolutions holding up? Still on track with your exercise habits, your weight loss plan, your intentions to read your Bible every day? Chances are good that something – let’s call it Life – has interfered with your well-intentioned goals. I don’t mean to…