Hardwired for Tranquility
This is a subject I often address: The biblical story begins and end in a garden. Asphalt doesn’t inspire. Nor do windowless buildings. Food for thought: Incorporating or building into and around nature in our environments begins a connection with our Creator before the words even begin.
You Will Marry the “Wrong” Person
Helpful when counseling, speaking or writing to those who are burdened by the heavy weight of romance as be all and end all. In other words, absolutely all of us who are entering or navigating relationships.
Retiring Retirement
“The aging of America is not the crisis that is often portrayed in the media or even in scholarly papers,” says Richard Johnson, an economist and senior fellow at the Urban Institute, in Washington, D.C, who, along with a growing number of social scientists, is helping redefine what it means to be old. The rise in cases of age-related illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia is a real and urgent problem. But it’s not the whole story. “Today’s seniors are healthier, better educated, and more productive than ever,” Johnson says. “The challenge we face is finding ways to harness their talents.”
Are Your Friends Getting Old (While You’re Still So Young)?
Amish Hackers
No, Christianity is not dying. But it is shifting. A lot
People of no religion outnumber Christians in England and Wales
My father had a preacher friend, C.M. Ward, who used to say, “It is a sin to be dull.” Ward read baseball stories a lot. He read widely outside of theology and “churchology” to better connect with his listeners who didn’t spend afternoons alone in a study. I always encourage speakers to listen to Garrison Keillor and his hilarious updates from Lake Wobegon. The expression: “When you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail” reminds us of the dangers of talking to ourselves. Our interests, social medias posts, and conversations should be as wide as we want our influence to be.
Five Uncommon Figures of Speech to Spice Up our Writing and Speaking
Chiasmus and Oxymorons
Talk to me about what Leon Carr means to you. You don’t know Leon Carr? Neither did I. But you may remember his jingles. Word pictures matter.
“Leon Carr was a prolific American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist and conductor known for his marketing jingles used in advertisements for Mounds candy (“Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut…”) and Chevrolet (“See the U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet”), and the “Bert the Turtle” theme song for the nuclear public education awareness film, Duck and Cover.”
Philosophers Weigh In On the Afterlife
Goodbye, Empty Nest: Millennials Staying Longer with Parents
For the first time on record, living with parents is now the most common arrangement for people ages 18 to 34, an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center has found.