Finding The Significant In The Small

We should be about the big business of faith, and not about the little business of fretting over forgetfulness and fines and library books. But what if the big business of faith does involve the little things? [Click title to read more.]

Congratulations On Doing What You’re Supposed To Do

We tend to celebrate the bare minimum as being exceptional, without realizing that we've simply set the bar so low for ourselves that we've made the bare minimum look like an accomplishment when it's not. [Click title to read more.]

Mind The Small Hurts

The answer isn't to compare pain or place it on a relative scale of suffering, but rather to address pain as pain, in context, regardless of the source. Yes, we absolutely must kick into gear the moment we hear a word like "cancer" or "death." But I hope we can also mobilize ourselves to respond with similar compassion to words like "frustration" and "fear" and "chest cold." [Click title to read more.]

Oranges and Others-Focused Thinking

When my mind is on myself, it literally prevents me from seeing outside myself: I lose my ability to think of the world in an empathetic way. I lose my ability to see the world the way others might, to understand their needs and their perspective. [Click title to read more.]

No, Satan Is Not Responsible For Your Hangnail

In certain places, the following philosophy is prominent: Satan is responsible for all the bad stuff and everything that doesn't happen how it should. This way of thinking has bothered me for ages for two primary reasons: 1) it relieves humans of responsibility and agency for their own actions and 2) it reduces Satan in some cases to a merry mischief-maker, the Dark Lord of Inconveniences. [Click title to read more.]