Nearly every Christian will recognize the Lord’s Prayer, but in spite of its familiarity — or maybe because of it — there might be a few surprises lurking in the text. Today, I’m going to talk about one “clause” in the prayer in the light of the Kingdom teaching (with a little Greek lesson as […]
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The Purpose of Purpose
There’s a lot of talk about purpose and the importance of “having a purpose” for a sense of well-being, but in all that purpose-talk, we don’t have a lot of clarity about what having a purpose actually means. So, let’s dig into the notion of purpose and see what we can find. Many people seem […]
Continue ReadingWhy you need a philosophy of life (coach)
No matter who you are, you have something in common with everyone else: You have a life to manage. You make choices that determine the contours and content of your life, for the near and the distant future. You plan; you revise. You review and reflect — a little, or a lot. And at times, […]
Continue ReadingWhat’s wrong with lifelong learning?
A tale of two grannies We like to talk about lifelong learning, and a lot of what we say — aspirational though it may be — leaves out the important part, which also happens to be the hard part. My two grannies illustrate this tendency: They were both “lifelong learners,” but what their love of […]
Continue ReadingPlan D
In life as in my various administrative roles in academia, I have earned a well-deserved reputation for always having a Plan B (and Plan C). I hate surprises, so I plan for contingencies. After all, if you’ve done your homework, you can go to class and relax. But there’s one “contingency” in life that may […]
Continue ReadingConfession of a Rational Animal
There’s a lot to appreciate about Aristotle’s definition of our species as rational animal. We are animals with the capacity for reason — including the all-important ability to guide our decisions and behavior through the exercise of reason. I’ve devoted much of my life to practical reason and the pursuit of excellences that enrich our […]
Continue ReadingWhy Church Musicians are So Grumpy
Prelude I have been a church musician for nearly 50 years. How it all started is a story I may tell in due course, but for the moment, my focus is a bit different. As the years have passed, I’ve seen many young musicians begin a career in church music on fire with the inspiration […]
Continue ReadingA tale of two criteria
One of the great things about living in our time is . . . the silicone baking mat. This is a magnificent piece of technology, and if you have even a passing interest in using an oven, you should have at least one. But once you have one (or two or three), you’ll confront the […]
Continue ReadingAnniversary
Those of you who follow my blog know that I took a week off from posting. I’m a philosopher, so it definitely was not because I didn’t have anything to say. 😉 Actually, I was celebrating a significant anniversary of excellencifying: This past Sunday was my 36th anniversary as principal organist at a local Lutheran […]
Continue ReadingManaging Reason Fatigue
There have been a number of articles in the news about the growing anger of vaccinated people at the unvaccinated, confrontations about masks and social distancing, and of course, plenty of expert advice that shaming, scorn, and insults do not generally move people to be “responsible.” Behind all this lies what I call “reason fatigue”: […]
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