Skeptical Faith

Google Image We don’t like to think of ourselves as “ordinary.” It conjures up images of mediocrity, lack of ambition and a poor sense of self-worth. But let’s face it, few of us are extraordinary. As human beings, we all have limitations and have experienced failures of one kind or another. For some, this leads to sadness, and if comparing ourselves to others, the sense that we don’t measure up. I’m writing about this because I just read an article on the National Public Radio (NPR) website entitled “’Extraordinary' is overrated. Here's how to embrace the power of an ordinary life” by Andee Tagle and Audrey Nguyen. Younger people, especially, they write, are under pressure from our culture, the media, social media and even loved ones “to chase an extraordinary standard in every aspect of life. We're urged to travel the world while simultaneously working our way to professional success – all to get married to the perfect partner, buy a home and raise 2.5 kids.” Alw...

Google Image The “Our Father” has a special place among Christian prayers because, according to the gospels of Mathew and Luke, it’s “the Lord’s Prayer,” taught to his disciples by Jesus himself. But like all prayers that we know from memory, it can become rote - mechanical and repetitious, bringing to mind Jesus’ quotation from the prophet Isaiah in Mathew’s gospel: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” I’ve tried to become more conscious of the words in the Our Father as I pray, and the prayer’s phrase, “Give us this day our daily bread,” has become especially meaningful. Easy Access Many of us in the western world have become so accustomed to having easy access to food, “our daily bread,” that we never think about the possibility of it becoming scarce. But the pandemic has changed that, just as it has changed many of our presumptions about health and safety and contemporary humanity’s ability to control things. Citing the pandemic and conse...

Google Image Recent news reports tell of surveys showing people leaving organized religion pretty much across all denominations, including those of white evangelicals, who until recently were steadily adding to their numbers. But the reports don’t tell the whole story. A study by the Survey Center on American Life found interesting data on the subject in its survey on the benefits of a college education. Not surprising, the survey confirmed the economic advantages of a college education. “Since the Great Recession,” the report says, “most of the jobs that have been created require a college degree, and the lifetime earnings of college graduates far outstrip those of Americans without a college education. “But there is another reason a college education might be worthwhile, even without the evident financial advantages a degree offers. College graduates live increasingly different lives than those without a college degree. They are more socially connected, civically engaged, a...

Google Image Despite being fully vaccinated and boosted, and being what I thought was “careful,” I recently tested positive for COVID-19. I’m fortunate to have relatively good health, despite my age, so I think I’ll be OK. I thought I simply had a bad cold with lots of coughing, hacking and nose blowing, but those symptoms evidently mimic COVID, that nasty virus that has changed all our lives. S everal times I thought I was on the road to recovery but several nights ago, I had a terrible night with little sleep. I rose in the morning feeling sorry for myself, then read the morning newspaper, where I saw this story: “More than 160 migrants drowned in two separate shipwrecks off Libya over the past week,” according to a United Nations migration official. How You Look At Things Ah, perspective! How it changes the way you look at things! How does my one sleepless night compare to the tragedies faced daily by so many people? The dictionary says perspective is, literally, observing “...