Letting go of our desire to be famous could lead to better birthdays. Admiring people who do things worthy of our admiration – hard workers, loving parents, good listeners, caring teachers – could help us understand that anonymity is okay.
Mental fitness and humility: You can’t have one without the other
President Trump would not be the only political or religious figure ever to be questioned about fitness for a position. The alchemy of autocratic decision-making with the presumption of self-sufficiency makes for a toxic concoction.
Our problem with humility
Humility has been called the master virtue. If one can grow in humility the rest of the spiritual life falls into place. Yet being humble is really hard and goes against the grain of everything our self-actualized culture professes. Humility…
Genius hesitates, both in science and religion
In his fantastic little book, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, a kind of primer on modern physics meant for lay readers, Carlo Rovelli tells the story about how in 1905, a 26-year-old graduate student named Albert Einstein published three short…
Felices son los estupidos
By Brett Younger “Once in your life before you die you ought to see a country where they don’t talk in English and don’t even want to.” Mrs. Gibbs’ recommendation in Our Town has stuck with me, so Carol and…
Wooly + waste (or the art of nonviolent Facebook-ing)
I’ve found it quite difficult to remain internet friends with people these days (thanks mostly to the DOMA ruling, Paula Deen, and living in the Southeast around the 4th of July). Now, I do realize it can be hard to…
Humility: A key to postmodern faith?
I never expected to land on humility as an emphasis of study in postgraduate work, but it makes sense. Ever since God called me to vocational ministry, I’ve been interested in the intersection of faith, academics and postmodern culture. Reflecting…
Redefining what it means to be great
Pride is essentially competitive; it’s competitive by its very nature. We are not prideful because we are rich, clever, or good-looking. We are prideful because we think we are richer, clever-er, and better-looking. It’s the comparison that makes us proud….
Practice Christian humility
Which Christian discipline comes hardest to you? Some answers spring to mind: prayer, generosity, worship, silence, benevolence, fasting, Sabbath keeping, reflection on the scriptures and the like. My vote goes to Christian humility. Jesus’ life defines the nature of Christian…