rebelling against low expectations
I consider myself a very spiritual Christian. You see, I have this invisible rule book in my head with lists of esteemed religious rules. I pretty much obsess over them — that’s what we truly spiritual people do, right? And all of this is out of strict obedience to God. These rules cover many important topics, like: – exactly what is acceptable behaviour during (and before and after)...
I have a problem with praying. It’s pretty simple: I don’t pray enough. Remember, Paul’s command to “pray without ceasing”? Everyday I seem to keep failing. When good things happen to me, I just enjoy them. If I was worried, I enjoy the relief. If they were unexpected, I enjoy the surprise. And I forget each gift has a Giver. But there is one thing that always draws...
Christmas is not the season we affiliate with rest, is it? We might call this the busiest season of all, a month well-known to deprive us rather than bless us with rest. I think that’s a problem – not because we’re busy but because we’re neglecting rest. Or rather, we’re attempting to find rest in all the wrong places. Have you ever wondered why sometimes on a day off in...
Christmas is not the holiday we associate with fear; rather, Halloween is. Elves, carols, trees, and turkeys don’t scare us. Skeletons and bleeding zombies do. But I think our lack of fear at Christmas needs to be changed. I think this simply because the first Christmas was made to inspire fear. This fear was not a Halloween-esque fear, cheap and silly. It was deep and meaningful and rich...
The cool kids have a pretty cool God these days. I often hear him gushed about at the award ceremonies — you know, the Grammys, Tonys, MVP acceptance speeches. And he really is for the cool people. He makes dreams come true and answers prayers for money and fame. He’s not really, like, super involved and stuff, nor does he really care about what you do as long as your good stuff outweighs...
For the most part I hate conflict. When someone disagrees with me (especially someone I don’t know well), I withdraw and I don’t respond. When someone is in error, often I don’t correct them. For goodness sake, if McDonald’s gives me cold french fries I won’t even return them! Yet others swing too far on the other side of the conflict pendulum — instead of hating...
This world is teeming with people in unhappy relationships. Unhappy marriages, unhappy families, and unhappy friendships surround us. The gift of community that God created to be so good has been abused and broken. And I think what lies at the root of the deterioration of true community is what I call the happiness myth. I realized that the happiness myth was the problem when I was humming a song...
Why is it that we teens seem plagued with restlessness? More so than other age groups, teens especially feel like they’re living in a transition stage — and they want out. I can relate. Sometimes we get caught in this horrible trap of longing so much to “grow up” that we forget to find joy right now. But perhaps the restlessness is good. C.S. Lewis once said, “If I find in...
rebelling against low expectations
