One banner has become a familiar, almost haunting sight: the #opentowork banner on LinkedIn. Or maybe it used to haunt. Now, when we sign in to see another friend or colleague explaining how they were impacted by “the recent layoffs,” we are no longer shocked. The language has become procedural. The tone, rehearsed. The shock,...
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In 1946, Jean-Paul Sartre delivered a philosophical blow to Christian anthropology in his essay Existentialism is a Humanism. He wrote: “There is no human nature since there is no God to conceive of it.” We are, according to Sartre, a blank canvas in a world devoid of an ultimate standard of beauty and goodness. We...
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In the 21st century, social media writes new narratives and storylines almost minute by minute, expressing what this or that person thinks, believes, desires, supports, likes, dislikes, all the while advocating what they think should be the storyline or worldview everyone must follow. Chief among today’s social media narratives is diversity. Diversity: a word loaded...
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One of the lessons I learned early on about being outdoors in the cold, especially hiking, is this: you need to have a base layer. When it’s super, super cold out and you’re hiking, you need layers to keep you warm, but if you just drop on layer and layer, it won’t actually work right....
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More than a dozen years have passed since we buried my father-in-law. I sometimes wonder what he would make of our historical moment. Jim had a servant’s heart, and COVID has made service problematic. I only recognized that admirable quality in Jim at his memorial service. It wasn’t a big affair, but I was overcome...
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Misfortune Strikes How can I believe that God is in control when so much of our society seems to be coming apart at the seams? How can I believe God is in control when I can be attacked because of the color of my skin, even if I’m peacefully protesting and clearly within my constitutional...
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