There are Christians who revere voluntary poverty, seeing it as a means of escaping from the materialism of the world and of not abusing the resources of the earth. Other Christians revere work and consider the benefits that flow from it to be good stewardship and evidence of the blessing of God. Those in each … Continue reading What is a Biblical ethic of work and wealth?
envy
Barriers to happiness
If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are. -Montesquieu
Peacemakers
We took a trip yesterday to visit my cousin Paul We being my wife and I plus our daughter and her husband. Somehow Michelle and Ken have never met Paul, although he and his wife live only two and a half hours away. Maybe it's because we older cousins mostly meet and visit at funerals. … Continue reading Peacemakers
The folly of fashion
Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit. -George Santayana
A more honest version of the shepherd psalm
Mammon is my shepherd; I shall always want more. He gives me no rest; he makes me to always desire greener pastures and more dangerous waters. He gives me emptiness and leads me in paths that offer shiny and exciting things to fill that emptiness. But when I come to the valley of the shadow … Continue reading A more honest version of the shepherd psalm
Squirrel cage economy
Twenty-five years ago I took a course taught by a man who had grown up in India and who had travelled the world. He talked of seeing how coffee, tea and sugar were grown by dirt poor peasant farmers. He described the steps in getting these products to the multinational companies that then processed them … Continue reading Squirrel cage economy
If wishes were horses . . .
If wishes were horse, I would be in Edmonton with my wife instead of here at home looking after our three cats and trying to keep earning some money. But I supported my wife in leaving on this little one week adventure to help her elderly cousin and visit some of the people we know, … Continue reading If wishes were horses . . .
The Lonely Ache of Popularity
Bill was tall, fair, handsome, sensitive. He was also the Eighth Grade football hero ‒ the one who scored the goals and carried the home team to victory. Girls in the top two grades were openly–or secretly–nuts about him. Like Grace, the girl who lived down the street from him. She was a nobody, shy … Continue reading The Lonely Ache of Popularity
The destructive power of envy
Back in the 1960’s I was managing a grain elevator in a small Saskatchewan town. Norman, the biggest grain farmer in the area, had a farm worker named Lenny, a former long haul trucker. Norman put a lot of confidence in Lenny, paid him well and provided a good house for him and his young … Continue reading The destructive power of envy
Flatlander Faith 