Having a very expansive view of yourself, filled with grandiose notions of your own importance, has a medical name. It is called megalomania and is an official mental disorder. Yet it often starts with small doses of pride and haughtiness. Ten days ago I was in Bucharest, Romania to give a history lecture and visit… Read More Megalomania starts with an ounce of pride
If we are active on social media, or even if we are not, it is quite likely that we are in a “filter bubble” as we start the new year of 2019. “Filter bubble” is a recent expression coined by Internet activist and author Eli Pariser, referring to a kind of intellectual isolation. It is… Read More Are you in a “filter bubble” starting 2019?
In three days a new year will start. Time for fresh grace, fresh opportunities. Leaving behind the regrets of 2018, taking stock of life anew. This coming year is a milestone one for me: turning 60 years old, celebrating 30 years of marriage, and 40 years in the mission I serve with. Arriving at 60… Read More How would you like to receive a blessing from a 101 year old Genocide survivor?
One of the most difficult decisions to discern is when to leave and when to stay. In a relationship that has turned abusive, or a group that is now toxic, or simply a life season when it is clearly time to move on. But there are life altering situations that go beyond the personal or… Read More When is the right time to leave?
Many words have already been written about the death this week of John Allen Chau, a 27 year old American from my home state of Washington. Chau was killed in the North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Island chain and a Union Territory of India. Desiring to share the love of Christ… Read More When Love Trumps All
On a walk in a Portland neighborhood with my sister and brother recently, a rather scary scene greeted us. It was a skeleton reaching out from the earth skywards, a grimace on its skull. Then I remembered it was the day before Halloween. (and yes, I am the kind of person who takes photos of… Read More The Power of the Past to Haunt Us
More, more, more. Bigger, better, best. I have blogged before about our national obsession in the United States with being the greatest, the biggest, the best of all that has ever been in history. (See Why does it matter if America is or isn’t the greatest country on earth?) Perhaps a desire to improve yourself… Read More A Lust for Numbers
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