An Unbelievable Gift

This photo (by artist Oprisco) is entitled “Unbelievable.” I like it for a number of reasons, but I especially appreciate its ironic, unbelievable yet believable complexity (click on the picture to enlarge it).

While this picture does reflect an ideal scene, it is, nonetheless, a scene that any one of us could potentially witness or experience in the world we live in everyday. The photo’s beautiful, natural setting and the obvious human-to-human intimacy are believably part of our real world.

Those who have fallen in love know that such an experience of ecstatic intimacy doesn’t last forever between lovers; nevertheless, it is unquestionably and romantically real for a season. Conversely, while such an experience is indeed real, it truly feels—at the time—like a dream world, unbelievable.

Think about how much time and energy most human beings expend in their lifetimes dreaming and yearning and seeking the feelings captured in this picture. We all long for these feelings because they make us feel more alive, whole, bonded, and complete. In and of themselves, these are good feelings, a gift from God.

Money Management: Magical or Mathematical?

We live in an educated society, and an American education (even if one just finishes high school) includes much math. Compared to the rest of the world, our math skills—at least—should be average. Nevertheless, all over our country there are countless Americans who couldn’t tell you the true balance of their checking accounts. Moreover, few Americans seem to engage in the process of simply comparing their incomes to their expenses; that is, maintaining a simple, household budget. When it comes to managing their money, many Americans just shoot from the hip. This is one reason why the average credit card debt, per American household, was $8,329 at the end of 2008 (Source: Nilson Report, April 2009).

Clearly, a lack of math skills isn’t the primary American problem. When it comes to managing money, many Americans simply prefer to listen to the subjective voices of denial and desire rather than the objective voices of discretion and truth (mathematical truth). In their financial decision-making, they simply prefer to believe the magical over the mathematical. In time, this catches up with households, and, in the end, it impacts the stability of our national economy.

Wise people know that a true sense of mathematical reality must periodically temper their spending; otherwise, they will assume they have more money than they really do. In my experience, if a person doesn’t maintain a true balance status in his or her checking account, nor a simple budget, he or she will likely over-spend. Moreover, until they start doing these things, they usually can’t be helped by financial counsel or advice. Hopefully, the current recession will force this issue with more American households, and our nation will economically benefit from a return to simple math.

When Technology Crosses The Line

In this high-tech age, one must maintain some personal boundaries; otherwise, one can get naively coaxed into utilizing high-tech "improvements" that cross the line. If I walked into a public bathroom with one of these in it, I'd go check to see if the stalls had also been upgraded. If the stalls were similarly furnished, I'd be looking out back for an old-fashion bush.

A Pastoral Paradigm Worthy Of Emulation

Francis Schaeffer has made an enormous impact on me. While some value his intellectual contributions most, I prize most the way he communicated his intellectual contributions—pastorally. He unusually dignified all people he encountered by the way he treated them. This is rare among Reformed intellectuals, even Reformed pastors. Dr. Schaeffer understood that sincere love and keen pastoral skills were foundational to every truth he offered to every person. Anytime I read something he’s written (or something written about him), these noble virtues in his ministry always seem to seep out of the pages. He was as skilled at caring for people as he was at knowing truth, because he believed—as a point of orthodoxy— that both live together in true spirituality. Below are some quotes that exemplify the manner in which Dr. Schaeffer engaged people. They reflect a pastoral paradigm that is worthy of emulation.

Dorothy Woodson (a L’Abri worker) wrote (recorded in the book Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life):

“When Mr. Schaeffer would talk to you, there was nothing else in the world that was going on. He was totally focused on you and what you were talking about and was very involved, very interested. It wouldn’t matter who the person was. It could be from the most simple person to the most intellectual—that focus and interest and involvement was the same. I saw it time and time again. I experienced it myself, and it wasn’t anything false. He was really interested in people, and it was something that was very, very striking. I’d never seen that degree of concentration and having that kind of attention, I don’t think, with anybody else. That enormous personality that he had, it would be all focused on you. And he never forgot anything that you ever told him. For instance, he went way back with my family. He would remember all the little details of the family and my brother and my sister—various things over the years that he had learned. It was part, obviously, of that phenomenal memory he had for everything. But it was his memory for these personal details that made his talking with people enormously effective.”

Edith Schaeffer (Francis’s wife) wrote in her book L’Abri:

“Rather than studying volumes in an ivory tower separated from life, and developing a theory separated from the thinking and struggling of men, [Dr. Schaeffer talked for years] to men and women in the very midst of their struggles. He has talked to existentialists, logical positivists, Hindus, Buddhists, liberal Protestants, liberal Roman Catholics, Reformed Jews and atheistic Jews, Muslims, members of occult cults, and people of a wide variety of religions and philosophies, as well as atheist of a variety of types. He has talked to brilliant professors, brilliant students, and brilliant dropouts! He has talked to beatniks, hippies, drug addicts, homosexuals and psychologically disturbed people. He has talked to Africans, Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, South Americans, people from the islands of the sea, from Australia, and New Zealand and from all the European countries as well from America and Canada. He has talked to people of many different political colors. He has talked to doctors, lawyers, scientist, artists, writers, engineers, research men in many fields, philosophers, businessmen, newspapermen and actors, famous people and peasants. . . .

In it all God has been giving him an education which it is not possible for many people to have. The answers have been given, not out of academic research (although he does volumes of reading constantly to keep up) but out of this arena of live conversation. He answers real questions with carefully thought out answers which are the real answers. He gets excited himself as he comes to me often saying, ‘It [Christianity] really is the answer, Edith; it fits, it really fits. It really is truth, and because it is true it fits what is really there.’”

See this link to read additional thoughts Francis Schaeffer had on these matters: Truth and Love

Why Women Out-Live Men

It begins early, and then it's all down-hill from there.