1. Good news for the procrastinators out there. The Wall Street Journal published “How To Be A Better Procrastinator” this week, which analyzes when and why procrastinators procrastinate–and, surprise suprise–it has a lot to do with judgment and perfectionism. Normalizing its symptoms, the article gives some gracious comfort to those who have always looked at their habits as a hedge to their successes. In fact, it’s just a part of being human. And more than that, the dawdling before getting down to business doubles as a fruitful getting lost that actually aids productivity and creativity. Still, people are inclined to view…
America / Art / Celebrity / Children / Film / Identity / Law / Religion / Social Science / Suffering / Week In Review
Another Week Ends: Un-Free Shoppers, Artists, Procrastinators, Middle Class Ambitions, Celebrity Spectacles, Keanu Talks Bill and Ted Three
Hope for Perfectionist Workaholic Control Freaks: Vulnerability and the Birthplace of Love
We’ve made no secret of our love for author/researcher/social worker Brene Brown. The Washington Post published a wonderful Valentine’s Day piece of hers, “A Love Note to a Workaholic,” which represents a fresh take on her familiar theme of vulnerability and its counter-intuitive power. Although she may make a distinction between vulnerability and weakness, I’m not so sure she isn’t describing the horizontal (and universal!) meat on the vertical bones of 2 Cor 12:9 (“strength made perfect in weakness”). When she speaks of perfectionism or workaholism, for example, she is talking about two of the more insidious modern iterations of…
America / Books / Children / Conferences / Film / Humor / Music / Psychology / Reformation / Religion / Social Science / Suffering / Week In Review
Another Week Ends: Moonrise Kingdom, Foolish Folly, Conflicted Lewis Worship, Tiger Moms and Snake Handlers, Hitchens on Dickens, and New Shins
1. A couple of hot-off-the-presses reasons for living. First, pre-registration for the 2012 NYC Mockingbird Conference (4/19-21) opens on Monday! Again, the theme this year is “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts: Honesty, Humility and the Grace of God” and our keynote speaker will be none other than Michael Horton, Reformation Impresario Numero Uno and all around Gospel guru. He’ll be joined by Aaron Zimmerman, myself and a host of other birds of various stripes. Keep an eye on our events page. Second, and equally important, the trailer for Wes Anderson’s new film, Moonrise Kingdom, hit the web yesterday and it’s world-class.…
Addiction / Church / Forgiveness / Humor / Music / Poetry / Religion / Sports / Technology / Theology / TV / Week In Review
Another Week Ends: More Forgiveness, Addiction and Maslow; Lying Pundits, Tolerance Cults, Googling Mormons, Santiago Casilla, Elvis, Tom Waits and Cookie Monster
1. On the subject of forgiveness, The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan posted a comment from one of his readers that gets at what I was trying to say in this week’s article, namely, that any attempt to tack a requirement or condition onto forgiveness (in the case of the HuffPo piece, repentance) robs it of its power and beauty, rendering it just another peg on the oppressive scale of achievement/deservedness – rather than an escape/rescue from “works” or identity altogether. There’s very little worth getting hot under the collar about vis a vis mainstream coverage of Christianity, but the radical…
(Dis)counting Calories at Cinnabon
An in turns tragic and hilarious report in last week’s Washington Post about the ineffectiveness of calorie labels in restaurants. As we’ve mentioned before, this happens to be one of the areas where the rubber of ‘rationality’ is most publicly and unavoidably hitting the road of human nature at the moment. Information, especially that of long term importance, simply doesn’t have the power to change behavior, to say nothing of motivation, as much as we might wish it did. The wallet is another matter entirely – at least when you tax fatty foods you’re playing on the same field of…
The Original Manuscript of AA’s Big Book
From yesterday’s Washington Post, an article about the publication of the original, annotated Big Book entitled “AA Original Manuscript Reveals Profound Debate Over Religion.” We couldn’t have asked for a better advertisement for our recent publication Grace in Addiction: What The Church Can Learn From Alcoholics Anonymous, which picks up the topic and runs with it! (Speaking of Grace in Addiction, it’s available for 25% off until Sept 30th). A few excerpts from the article – avoid the metafiler comments if you know what’s good for you:
After being hidden away for nearly 70 years and then auctioned twice, the original…
Mark Souder and The Case For Grace
A compelling editorial by Michael Gerson of The Washington Post, using the recent Mark Souder scandal as a jumping off point for a sympathetic look at the human condition and our need for mercy (ht JS).
The failure of human beings to meet their own ideals does not disprove or discredit those ideals. The fact that some are cowards does not make courage a myth. The fact that some are faithless does not make fidelity a joke. All moral standards create the possibility of hypocrisy. But I would rather live among those who recognize standards and…
When Dostoevsky Met Dickens
As an incredibly cool aside to our Dickens-inspired “Whole Duty Of Man” series, there was a great piece in the Washington Post entitled “Christmas Carol: Dickens’s Gift Keeps On Giving”. The whole article is worth your time, but I was especially struck by the final paragraph. [Update 11/8/11: A few extra lines of Dostoevsky's impressions were published in The NY Times' "Being Charles Dickens." I've included them below]:
In his book, [Dickens' biographer Michael] Slater records Fyodor Dostoevsky’s report of meeting [Charles] Dickens. The Russian novelist wrote that Dickens, “told me that all the good simple people in his novels… are…
Mockingbird at the Movies: Frank T.J. Mackey and Magnolia
In the wonderful movie Magnolia (my favorite movie, for those wondering), Tom Cruise plays the incredibly distasteful Frank T.J. Mackey, creator of “Seduce and Destroy,” a system for men to manipulate women into having sex with them. During one of his seminars, he sits down for an interview with a female reporter. She systematically tears down the carefully constructed facade he has created for himself, and, in response, he retreats into anger and silence, claiming only to “silently judge” her.
Later, he is confronted with the evil man (his long-estranged father) who has created the monstrous Mackey, and he…
Roose’s Ruse
An article by Eric Tucker on today’s AP wire discusses Kevin Roose, a young man who transferred from Brown University to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in order to write a book about his experience. In his recently released, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University, Roose describes how his stereotypes about the university as a hothouse of “hostile ideologues who spent all their time plotting abortion clinic protests and sewing Hillary Clinton voodoo dolls” eventually gave way to an amazing shift in his opinion of Christians.
Apart from the fact that the Liberty rulebook was unable to change…
Shame on You?
On Monday, DZ posted about a NY Times article on how very few resolutions last past Valentine’s day, which causes one to question how and if people change. That article didn’t offer much hope for change. But an article in Tuesday’s The Washington Post, “Practice What You Plan to Preach,” offered one solution to the resolution conundrum…SHAME:
“The most effective way to get people to change their behavior revolves around the clever use of…hypocrisy. When people feel not only that they are failing themselves but also that are failing to live up to what they tell other people…
Tam: oh man, that last paragraph. I really needed that today. Thanks....
Marianne Brian: Loved it. So, so true! I love Ethanisms, as well!...
David Zahl: Wonderful, wonderful piece, E. I'm almost tempted to call it 'charming...
Rebecca W: I saw this column and loved it too. Thanks for highlighting his book s...
Shawn Smith: Well said!...