Recent surveys show that only one in three families eat meals together on a regular basis, let alone the fact that the idea of family is itself, in some circles anyway, quaint. Among the many victims of modern ideology, the social act of eating is perhaps one of the most badly wounded. We have given…
Frivolous spending is out in our current economic crisis. High-end restaurants are hurting. McDonalds is thriving. The government is capping excessive pay for top executives. Trips to the Bahamas are being scrapped (Citigroup instead paid its 1,900 Primerica Financial Services brokers a total of $5,000 each). Rahm Emmanuel said you never want a serious crisis…
Most business managers are Marxists. Not Karl Marx, but Harpo. In 1912, Harpo Marx was told his career was in jeopardy when he opened his mouth. So he performed as a mute for virtually the remainder of his professional life. This is often what managers do when they imagine using moral language at work. They…
For centuries, “experts” had widely assumed that a human being could not run a mile in under four minutes. “Can’t be done.” On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did it, completing the distance in 3:59.4. Since the early 1900s, management “experts” have assumed workers have to be managed. If you suggest mentoring as a better…
Memorial Day has become meaningless for most Americans. Admit it – it’s a stretch to remember those who have died in our nation’s service. We shouldn’t, however, be too hard on Americans. They’re the product of a system designed to make paying attention darned near impossible. Inattention poses one of the most significant challenges for…
“Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Over 200,000 miles from Earth, one of Odyssey’s oxygen tanks had exploded, making Apollo 13’s lunar landing impossible. Returning home required nudging Odyssey into the gravitational pull of the Moon – to slingshot the craft around the Moon and back home. A similar maneuver might help faith communities in one…
If God cares, why does he often delay – or not show up at all? If the gospel is good news for everyone, why don’t we hear it everywhere, everyday? And how can a reasonable person believe in the Trinity – three persons in the Godhead? Christians routinely roll out replies that prove implausible in…
Concluding her marriage took ten minutes. Coming to the end of it took ten years. During that decade, Diane Vaughan says she and her husband were “uncoupling.” Once you learn how “uncoupling” occurs, you’ll see why 44 percent of all Americans leave their faith or change religions at least once in their life. The good…
When Sarah Palin described her choice about whether to “change the circumstances” of being pregnant with a Down syndrome baby, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus said she gave away the game in the abortion debate. She’s right. Words create and reflect realities. How we talk matters. The reason most faith communities missed it is because…
“The Cylons were created by man…” Battlestar Galactica’s prologue pointed viewers back to something that happened before the beginning of the weekly saga. It was a reminder of unresolved tensions – unresolved until the finale this past March. There’s a lesson here for faith communities focusing more on the finale than the prologue. It’s the…