• self
    Featured - Self

    Finding Your Self and Why it Matters

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    In the religious stream in which I grew up, finding your self was synonymous with narcissism. Whenever so and so mentioned that their friend or relative was embarking on a quest to find themselves, the adults would snicker. Then they would throw out the Bible verse that says, he who would find himself must first lose himself. That is not quite the way the original reads. I grew up thinking that having a self must be a bad thing indeed. Jesus would not approve. Now my theology has changed rather drastically. That I even have a self is a miracle. In…

  • modern language
    Featured

    How Language Changed Our Relationship with God

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    The power of life and death is in the tongue says Proverbs 18:21 but the sentiment does not translate well into our modern language. The reason why is because the ancients had quite a different relationship with language than we do. For them, words were power. In the first couple thousand years of known history, language had the ability to change the minds of the gods. In fact, one could hold them in one’s power if only the right spell or incantation was spoken. I am not arguing with the Bible verse, just our contemporary interaction with it. No separation…

  • parental inversion
    Parental Inversion

    The Heartbreak of Parental Inversion: In Eight Pieces

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    The first time I really became aware of how grievous parental inversion is, came in a meeting with a student, Susan, who had recently broken up with her boyfriend. They had been together for a number of years. As my student related their history, I noticed that she seemed to be relatively unemotional. I was surprised as he had left the relationship unexpectedly for another. When I asked her about her feelings, her response took me aback. “Oh, I haven’t had time to really feel anything. I have been comforting my mother over the breakup. She is so heartbroken, you…