We make an Olympic sport of pointing out other people’s mistakes. An Olympic athlete stands on the podium, gold medal around her neck, and fails to put her hand on her heart for the national anthem. We who could never do what she has done are offended. A presidential candidate’s wife poses topless twenty years […]
My last post struck a nerve for at least one reader. It’s probably unfair to say this person lashed out at me with their response, but they certainly directed a different sort of criticism at me than I’m used to receiving: my post was slamming whites, I was blaming society instead of working on my […]
I went spelunking with my Boy Scouts this weekend. We explored a small cave in central Texas, spending ninety minutes or so underground with a guide, squeezing ourselves into spaces mostly too small to stand up, crawling on hands and knees and occasionally bellies to explore the muddy, fascinating structures formed by the drip of […]
We seek comfort in almost everything we do. In many ways, that’s a good thing. After all, the easier it is for us to do what we need to do–whether it’s sitting at a desk all day, digging trenches for power lines, or catching a football–the more likely we are to do it. A level […]
I heard a story once about a TV preacher (I can’t remember which one) who would not allow himself to be alone in a room with a woman who was not related to him. The teller gave me the story to make fun of the preacher, and by extension all TV preachers: what kind of […]
It’s nearly impossible to miss. If you spend time on the Internet, listen to talk radio, watch TV, talk to friends–you can find somebody who’s angry about something, somebody who’s ranting and raving and explaining at length, and in great detail, exactly what’s wrong and why and what should be done about it. It’s tempting […]
I am awful at asking for help. It feels like weakness to me: if I have to ask for help, it means there’s something I don’t know, and if there’s something I don’t know, it means I am inadequate–as a leader, as a father, as a mentor and example and as someone others consider smart. […]
It’s a common refrain on my Facebook feed: millennials, or maybe liberals, or immigrants, or whatever group is in the news today for demanding something the poster thinks is unreasonable, are whiners or freeloaders or entitled or idiots or maybe criminals. Their request is ridiculous, and they should all just shut their mouths and go […]
We hate not knowing. We hate being wrong. We hate uncertainty. Fortunately, our technology gives us a level of control over our lives no other humans have had in history. We can control our schedules down to the minute. We can control the food that goes into our bodies–where it comes from, how it’s stored, […]
When we meet somebody who doesn’t fit our preconceptions of a group, someone we find ourselves growing comfortable with, we often feel a need to praise our new friend with an observation that points out how unlike those people he is. We say something like: Those people are all so immature, so ignorant. Present company […]