By: Carol McLaughlin on January 23, 2015
In some ways prayer is that in between place. G.K. Chesterton described the difference between talking about prayer and praying as the difference between blowing a kiss and kissing.[1] One communicates an intention, while the other acts revealing desire, commitment and affection. It is not that talking about prayer lacks desire, commitment and affection, but…
By: Brian Yost on January 22, 2015
In her book Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space and Influence, MaryKate Morse stresses the importance of leadership, not just for a select group of individuals, but for everyone. Morse asserts, “God did not design us to be benchwarmers; we are all players. And since we are all part of this great game, with one…
By: Deve Persad on January 22, 2015
It’s been over eight years since one of the most significant conversations that I’ve ever had. I had driven two hours from my home to visit with one of my mentors. We went for lunch and then took a walk around the campus at the Bible College where he teaches. Our conversation that day had…
By: Mary Pandiani on January 22, 2015
In an effort to build relationships between a particular local non-profit and the church in which I worked, I asked the Executive Director and her Senior Project Manager to meet the Senior Pastor and Executive Pastor. When Karen and Marsha, both women, walked into the room with me, we encountered the two pastors, both men,…
By: Travis Biglow on January 22, 2015
Leaders Helping others in the Sandbox January 21, 15 MaryKate really hit on some major issues that I have faced years ago and even now. I can’t even begin to speak about how many areas that are so relevant to my life now and even in the work I am doing here at…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on January 22, 2015
Reading A Guidebook to Prayer by MaryKate made me reflect on my prayer experience. Prayer has been an important part of my journey with God. I first learned how to pray from my grandmother who prayed aloud every morning and evening. She never asked me to pray with her, but I remember kneeling next to…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on January 21, 2015
My initial thought when seeing the “title” for our next read in class was to think this would be a leadership book for the soul. Without reading it, I would have labeled it as probably a good book to go on a “soul journey” that would have some type of “restorative” affect on your personhood. …
By: Dave Young on January 21, 2015
The infamous “they” need to start teaching entire seminary courses on power. It seems to me that Jesus—who had all power and authority, used it for others, and did not abuse it—could have zapped all those religious hypocrites with a single command. The image that comes to my mind is a Tolkien-created Elven princess who was tempted…
By: Nick Martineau on January 21, 2015
“He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.[1]” Tuesday night I watched the State of the Union address. I have a love/hate relationship with the State of the Union address. It’s like one of those car crashes you can’t keep your eyes off of. I always want to watch the…
By: Travis Biglow on January 21, 2015
Nationalism by Vernacularization After finding that this book was a little hard to read at times it had some important concepts to think about. I realized that nationalism is connected to languages that are more popular than others. And this is really something to think about in more areas of life than one. Unity…
By: Richard Volzke on January 18, 2015
David Brooks, in his book The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, states, “We are primarily the products of thinking that happens below the level of awareness.”[1] Who we are comes from our subconscious rather than the conscious part of our minds. According to Brooks, the subconscious mind is where we make most of…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on January 17, 2015
“There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body’s sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.” ― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo I am a romantic. I love love stories. I love movies that are based on true stories. Historical epics, life documentaries, tear…
By: Carol McLaughlin on January 17, 2015
Julia and Rob, Harold and Erica, Harrison, Raymond and Richard Grace, cultures and ambition, generations and maturing, descriptions of the flow and ebb of life are integrated within the pages of The Social Animal by David Brooks. I am thankful that Brooks has taken the time to interweave the nuts and bolts of information and…
By: Bill Dobrenen on January 16, 2015
In his well-written book, The Social Animal[1], David Brooks does a terrific job of explaining the human condition as it really is in all its humanity and bases his input on lots of rich research. I enjoyed the book and Brook’s style. I especially enjoyed his characters and how he develops their lives. So does…
By: Stefania Tarasut on January 16, 2015
Community: the thing that shapes us into the people we are and become. Community: the one thing that most of us want, but aren’t willing to fight for. Community: a romantic notion of doing life with people, but in reality it’s hard, messy and often difficult to attain. We like the idea of community, but…
By: John Woodward on January 16, 2015
A few years ago, I sat in my campus ministry office talking with a young man who was having relationship problems. Over the next couple hours he poured out his heart, confessing to many sordid activities that he had been involved in. Now, I didn’t grow up in a protected environment, but what I was…
By: Miriam Mendez on January 16, 2015
I must confess that when the first sentence in the introduction of a book begins with “this is the happiest story you’ve ever read,”[1] I can’t help but be a bit skeptical. David Brooks, author of The Social Animal: The Hidden Source of Love, Character and Achievement begins his book with such a sentence. Now,…
By: Julie Dodge on January 16, 2015
Last night while I was speaking in front of my class, one of my students did something that caught my eye. Tonight I can’t tell you what it was that my student did. It wasn’t anything significant or distracting. I just noticed it. It’s what followed that stuck with me. Without even directly looking at…
By: Jon Spellman on January 16, 2015
Blame the Capitalists! There’s only so much room on this planet. If a nation is to expand, or a new one emerge, some existing borders have to be shifted around a bit. It’s just the nature of things. It’s interesting to me to watch as (even as we speak) a new nation (Islamic State) is…
By: Dawnel Volzke on January 16, 2015
Nationalism is a sentiment upon which common cultural characteristics bind a population and produces a national independence. It is also used to describe loyalty or devotion to one’s country.[1] Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism[2] by Benedict Anderson asserts that modern nations are the creation of communication networks and people’s imagination. The underlying…
