George Bush Sr. Knows How to Live
George Bush Sr. knows how to live before he dies. For his 90th birthday he jumped out of a helicopter, went skydiving. At 90. I like this guy. So many people try to live safe lives, or they live in fear of anything outside their comfort zone. And they never live well–whether in the face of eternal reality or of their own earthly mortality. Bush went skydiving on his 75th, 80th, and 85th birthdays as well. Whether he makes it to 95 to continue the pattern remains to be seen. But even if he doesn’t, he’s living. As opposed to…
The Blessed Poor
How can poor people be richer than rich people? By not having what keeps rich people poor. An African farmer hoes his field with a machete, lives in a mud hut, and is happy for two meals a day. In fact I could argue that in some ways he’s better off than a lot of people in other countries who own mansions and luxury cars. A Gallup poll questioned thousands of people in 132 nations (yes, one hundred and thirty two). Out of all the data, researchers are finding that people in poor countries generally sense a greater meaning in…
Evil Is Not a Mental Illness
Contrary to popular feel-goodism / we’re-all-somehow-good-people liberal mindsets, evil is not a mental illness. Because so many people willfully blind themselves to this, they wonder how rampages like the recent one at UC Santa Barbara could happen. A young man was mentally ill. He rebuffed people’s friendliness then blamed them for rejecting him. Despite his kind parents’ every attempt to help him, he grew isolated and bitter, a victim consciousness driving him to rage. It’s not uncommon. As a pastor, I’ve encountered this kind of person many times. I understand such people; I have pity on them and want to help….
The Girls Who’ve Become “Our Girls”
“Bring back our girls.” Our girls. In the protracted tragedy that has become the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in norther Nigeria, the international cry of care and disgust has led much of the world to what seems to be a new step. Too often tragedies that unfold in Africa don’t receive nearly the attention or concern among Western nations (or Eastern for that matter) that tragedies in many other areas of the world. It has often seemed that if those who suffer are black Africans, the media doesn’t care much, and likewise citizens of developed nations–unless and until the tragedy…
When Happy and Horrified Are Neighbors
Tornado season is already kicking in furiously in the Southern states. The crazy temperature spikes in California remind me of the crazy polar vortex much of the country endured last winter. Temperature is nothing compared to having your home obliterated. Until we get the dreaded “Big One,” folks in Southern California will continue to bask, or sweat, while other citizens get walloped. Southern Cal’s turn will come though. How oddly life goes on while others suffer. It happens on a personal level as well. I’ll never forget how one night years ago Kim and I were enjoying our supper until…
