Polly Whittier never grew up. Novelist Eleanor Hodgman Porter labored in obscurity until the publication of “Pollyanna” in 1913. It’s the fictional tale of Pollyanna Whittier, an impossibly positive heroine. “Pollyannaish” came to mean a sugary or overly positive take on life. It might describe our contemporary take on passion.
Actions speak louder than words. In “Let’s Get Physical,” Olivia Newton-John sings when “there’s nothing left to talk about, let me hear your body talk.” That’s also what the Bible says, but it reverses the order. The Christian faith is first bodily, giving us something meaningful to talk about. It’s a faith that begins with…
“In a minute, you’re going to hear … the rest of the story.” Paul Harvey’s famous catchphrase told listeners the whole story hadn’t yet been told. For those who scratch their head as to why marriage is only for heterosexual couples, they probably haven’t heard the whole story. It’s in scripture as well as church history….
Solving a mystery requires seeing the whole story. For some, it’s a mystery why marriage is only for heterosexual couples. This mystery cannot be solved unless we see the whole story. Is marriage a picture of the community of love between the Father, Son, and Spirit, as well as Christ and the church? Is this…
You can’t solve a mystery if you don’t see the whole story. It’s a mystery to many why God would deny gays the right to get married. It seems arbitrary. This is to be expected, since at first mysteries don’t make sense and God is a mystery. He is also good. Reconciling these two requires…
Atrophy is not attractive. Moviegoers are initially unnerved by Christian Bale’s emaciated physique in The Fighter. To play the cocaine-addled Dicky Ecklund, Bale lost over 60 pounds. Atrophy is not healthy, so when David Brooks says science is filling the hole left by the atrophy of theology, what does this say about the current health…
What is the difference between sight and blepo? In one sense, there is no difference. Both words mean the same thing. However, most readers see through “sight” but only to “blepo.” C.S. Lewis believed the Christian faith is meaningful not only because of what we see in scripture but through scripture. This is why he…
Why is Philadelphia a 21st century city while Fallujah is not? It’s a question scholars have struggled with for years, suggesting answers that are unsatisfactory, writes The Economist. Now an economist at Duke University offers a surprising distinction explaining the divergence between Middle Eastern and Western cities. It might make your faith community reconsider its…
The next round of closures might not be car dealerships. Since 2009, there have been an estimated 2,000 car dealership closures, costing an estimated 100,000 people their jobs. Especially daunting is whether anything can be done with empty showrooms surrounded by sprawling lots. But this might be a prelude to the next round of closures—shrinking…
These past two weeks, Twitter and Facebook have been hailed as advancing freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Does the euphoria indicate we don’t know much about technology?