Soul and Spirit | Ain't Complicated

Why Not Be Cruel?

Philosopher Richard Rorty allegedly admits that the secular liberal has no answer for that.

But now I’m ahead of myself.

David Brooks titled his September 12 New York Times column thus: If It Feels Right…

And here you have the first and third sentences of his piece:

During the summer of 2008, the eminent Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith led a research team that conducted in-depth interviews with 230 young adults from across America. […] Smith and company asked about the young people’s moral lives, and the results are depressing.

OK. So it’s only 230 young folks out of million? But even that few people in the 18-23 age range ought to know better. (Surely they didn’t pull a Kinsey and survey Gutter Dwellers.) Read it all

Missionary Plane Down

This happened on September 22:

YAJASI Plane Crashes; Three Killed | JAARS

A Pilatus PC-6 crashed today in Indonesia; pilot Paul Westlund and the two Indonesian passengers died in the accident. The plane—flown by our partner YAJASI—was traveling in a remote, mountainous area. The cause is still unknown, and an investigation is pending.

Paul had flown in Indonesia for nearly 25 years; he’s survived by his wife and two children. Please pray along with us for the families, YAJASI, and everyone else involved.

May God bless and comfort the families and colleagues of these three. (My Web searching so far has failed to yield the names of the two Indonesians.)

Here are three other posts I came across:

Balanced Perspectives

Mercy and truth are met together:
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
–Psalm 85:10

Banning Bible Studies?

I marked this for comment the morning of September 20.

Then I got busy.

Then I lost interest.

But here is just one excerpt from the story:

Capistrano Couple in Legal Battle for Hosting Bible Study in Home

“We don’t like lawsuits, but we have to stand up for what’s right. It’s not just a personal issue,” Stephanie Fromm said. “Can you imagine anybody in any neighborhood, that one person can call and make it a living hell for someone else? That’s wrong … and it’s just sad.”

They’ve been experiencing a living hell? 😯

Wow. 🙄

Oh Father, as You are using the rising sun right now to paint those clouds so beautifully, even (more) so, please use Your risen Son to paint beauty into my life and onto my clouds, to the praise of Your glory.

Permissible vs Perfect

It is not OK to settle for
the permissible
when there is
a more perfect way
available to you.
—Andrée Seu

Opinions Facing Facts

Sometimes opinions
don’t change as well
as the facts.

I just read that quote, written at the bottom of my secretary’s notes of our 7-11-11 School Board meeting. I don’t remember which of my fellow Board members said it. (I’m finally getting around to writing up the formal minutes for that meeting!)