Whenever someone we envy goes through great suffering, our first instinct is always to revel in their pain. As Christians, the next step is to ask for forgiveness for that very common sin. And hopefully, God willing, to find some compassion for those we once envied. I am of course talking about the mommy blogger […]
Bo Burnham and a Cameo of Happiness
Kanye Rants, Anxiety, and the Insatiable Search for Meaning and Happiness
The Ministry of Weirdness, Courtesy of The Rev. Alfred Yankovic
Or, the Gospel According to Weird Al
Remembering Sy Sperling — and Your Pastor, Minister, or Priest
The Professionals are the Clients, Too
Miss Americana and the Heartbreaking Impossibility of Being Good
When Being the “Good Girl” Isn’t Good
Sitting Shiva for Kobe: On the Complicated Nature of Grief, and Humans
If there’s anything the movie This Is Where I Leave You taught me — besides that Tina Fey should not do accents — it’s about shiva, the Jewish tradition in response to the death of an immediate family member. I’d heard of shiva before but for the first time saw it dramatized in the film, […]
Because It Rains: Why Kobe Bryant’s Death Hit So Hard & Wide
The following was written by Isabella Yosuico. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45) Why has a death like that of Kobe Bryant—and his daughter and companions—hit so many so very hard? Even non-basketball fans have been […]
Super Bowl Psychology: What This Year’s Commercials Tell Us About Ourselves
Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of Super Bowl XIV. Congratulations to everyone who got up for work today after a fun football game. As the old adage goes, the real reason for the parties we attended last night was not the sport itself, though I really enjoyed a competitive game between two great […]
A Hope for Thanksgiving: Assigning Grace Instead of Malice
I was in late elementary school the first time I heard someone use a racial slur in my house. This was quite a feat in Mississippi where such a word was common parlance. My parents had never really commented about why we did not say it. I just knew that we did not say it. […]
When Jesus Tells a Boob Joke: Dolly Parton’s America
It has not been easy for me to listen to the new podcast Dolly Parton’s America. I feel like I am hearing a preacher point to the most self righteous places in me and calling them out. I feel a deep connection to the women in my family. And also Dolly Parton’s America is the […]
You Don’t Know Me, Fred Rogers
As a Generation X child who grew up with a stay-at-home mom in the upper Midwest, it was almost mandatory that my younger brother and I watched Sesame Street during lunch, and then afterward, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. I know exactly what my mom was thinking, putting two preschoolers in front of the television like that […]
