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As the first part of this post indicated, we cannot define the imagination as merely the faculty of pretending or making up the imaginary. This is for two reasons: first, such a definition shortchanges our ability to understand and employ the function of imagination within daily life, and secondly, as a result, it truncates our […]
Many teenagers know how to get what they want from their parents. After the initial polite request has failed, there comes the sour face, the tears, the heated exchange, the slamming of doors and possibly the threat of leaving home, never to be seen again! However, most parents know that they have to stand firm […]
Scientists disagree on its causes, treatment, and prevention. Government regulations seem slow and, in some cases, counter-productive. Truth is elusive, yet many claim to have it. I must be talking about Covid-19, right? Actually, no, I was talking about mental illness. There is a sense in which, when coronavirus first invaded our news channels, some […]
Most are well aware of Peter’s denying Jesus three times. We may even recall that Satan was involved in Peter’s debacle. As Jesus said before Peter’s failure and the other disciples’ abandonment, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your […]
A regular refrain we have heard over the past few weeks runs something like “there’s never been anything like this COVID-19 situation.” Sure, there have been pandemics, but none quite like this. Yet in some sense an event like this is simply another of what we call “calamities.” As the Oxfored English Dictionary defines it, […]
The past few months have been a difficult time for many. Hospital staff and other essential workers are giving heart and soul to their tasks whilst others have an uncertain and frustrating wait to continue their lives as they might wish. This unusual period has given many of us a little more time to think. […]
It was a conversation I needed to have with my Pastor when my wife and I lived in Boise, Idaho. At the time, I was leading a men’s small group Bible study and had a challenging man in the group who didn’t care for me, or at least that’s how it seemed to me. Each […]
There are two possibilities — and only two — about our lives. Either everything matters or nothing matters. On the one hand, it is possible that nothing matters. It does not matter what you eat or what you drink. It does not matter whether you go to college or live in your mother’s basement. It […]
This Thursday, known as Maundy Thursday, Christians around the world will commemorate Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples, as recorded in John 13. But something happened before the meal: Jesus gave an important lesson. It was a lesson for the first disciples surrounding Jesus at that table, and it’s a lesson for us today […]
We live in a world where some of the most popular forms of communication actually make us worse listeners. Just think about the number of words that pass through your mind on any given day: texts, social media posts, headlines, television, radio, podcasts, friends, coworkers, emails, books, articles, etc. We’re consuming more information than ever […]
Fasting has ordinarily been practiced as giving up food for a fixed time, and has been a fixture of the Christian tradition since its beginnings. One of the earliest Christian documents, the Didache, has several instructions regarding fasting that touch multiple aspects of life, which indicates that fasting’s importance was suffused throughout early piety. Drawing […]
This coming February 26, the world will see literally millions of practicing Roman Catholics emerge from Mass with a smudge of cruciform ash upon their foreheads. This practice, known as Ash Wednesday, kicks off the forty-day Lenten season of fasting and penance which leads up to the celebration of Easter. It should surprise no one […]
