Organizations doing good work for disenfranchised, sick, homeless, and hungry people are worthy of our thanks and our generosity through a partnership defined by our desire to help. Thanksgiving/Christmas is typically the time of year when folks start thinking about this and giving increases.
Continue reading Open Those Wallets
I can only imbibe a certain amount of television “news,” especially the kind that daily serves up the same brew even though it is poured out in different kinds of cups. After I got over the novelty of the “Yellowstone” mug and the “I’m allergic to morning mug,” I realized it was still the same drink every time.
I discovered that the monotonous diet was producing in me a huge sense of despondency and resignation. Hopelessness even.
Continue reading Resignation
You don’t hear that word much anymore – parsimony. It can mean frugal, but this is extreme. It is penny pinching, Scrooge-like behavior. It can also mean stingy. Hardhearted. Meanness or tightness.
Continue reading Parsimony
“Emotional intelligence” (or EI) is an idea that has been around since 1964 but it has been on the radar of psychologists and book writers since 1995. This was the date that Daniel Goleman released his best seller by the same name.
Continue reading Discovering Emotional Intelligence
James Weldon Johnson was a writer, poet, and social advocate. He joined the NAACP in 1917 and later rose to leadership in the organization. Johnson is also famous for creating the Negro Spiritual called The Creation.
Continue reading God’s Work
Imagine a part-time Antioch Church
Showing up every other week
Saying to Paul, “knock yourself out”
“We’re with you in thought.”
Some in the Hebrews church were afraid
Dropping out of church life
Never considering how their fear might spread
Causing Indolence and retreat
The essential human condition is rooted in being placed before a choice. The classic biblical story of this choice is found in the account of Adam and Eve and their encounter with the command of God to not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Continue reading Discernment
Normally, when I think about “attitude,” my thoughts go to how a person behaves. For example, a student that “smarts off” to his/her high school algebra teacher has a bad attitude. But when I use “attitude” in that way I generally do not think about how it might be controlled by other factors. I think of attitude as something that is independent and exclusive to that student at that moment.
Continue reading Attitude
Jesus said it. Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. It is perhaps one of his hardest commands to us. We human beings are little judging machines, mostly because we want a way to assess the human being we just met for the first time or have grown annoyed with or that simply makes us have to work hard in the relationship business.
Continue reading Judging
Many team building workshops inevitably include what is called a “trust fall.” A participant with her back to her group members places her crossed arms on her chest and falls backward. The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate what trust looks and feels like.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines trust in this way: to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you, or that something is safe and reliable. This is at the heart of the biblical word, “believe.” It’s actually “trust.” In other words, if I “believe” Jesus, I place my life and my future in Jesus’ hands. It’s a trust fall.
Continue reading Trust
MonoLogue 