partsofspeaking

Sorry. We live in an attention economy; attention is the "allocation of limited resources." Find it here. A review:  "I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. You have a way of capturing local characters and dialect that is very authentic. The characters have a complexity that creates depth in your stories and keeps me engaged. Thank you for sharing your gifts!"

 I do this podcast because I get to talk with fascinating people--and you get to listen in! https://rss.com/podcasts/dialogues-with-creators/ YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT!

 Caveat: I am not an expert on this issue in terms of credentialing. I am an "experiential," on-the-ground semi-expert on the subject of dealing with college students with mental health problems as a faculty member and lower-level administrator.  Second caveat: I have no quantitative data that I have generated myself. There is plenty of that available if you look for it, and you will not have to look very long.  I read (parts of) Jean Twenge's book IGEN , and now Jonathan Haidt has a book out on the same subject (which I am tempted to think he borrowed from Twenge's work; I heard him cite her on a podcast). So the stats about 60% of young women being depressed and how much the female suicide rate has gone up are well reported.  Third caveat: I cannot, obviously, give details or examples from my experience, so any I do allude to will be vague.  Beyond the caveats: I am a department chair in the liberal arts unit of my college. My department has the distinc

 What I like about both of these songs is the foundational aspect of God's love. Not a smarmy, mushy thing, but a love that goes to the ends of the earth to make His will complete.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x63cVewXAeg Lyrics: O, church arise and put your armor on Hear the call of Christ our captain For now the weak can say that they are strong In the strength that God has given   With shield of faith and belt of truth We'll stand against the devil's lies An army bold whose battle cry is love Reaching out to those in darkness   Our call to war, to love the captive soul, But to rage against the captor And with the sword that makes the wounded whole We will fight with faith and valor   When faced with trials on ev'ry side, We know the outcome is secure, And Christ will have the prize for which He died An inheritance of nations Come, see the cross where love and mercy meet, As the Son of God is stricken Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet, For the Conquer

 It has been almost three weeks since I posted last. April is the cruelest month, said T.S. Eliot; actually he wrote at the beginning of The Waste Land: April is the cruellest month, breeding   Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring   Dull roots with spring rain. Wow. What an image. We sentimentally think of spring as rebirth, but rebirth comes from previous death and decay, reproduction with "memory and desire."  Okay, I'll need to think on this one.  However, that is not the point here. At the college where I work, April is stressful because of all the reports, grading, assessing, and overabundance of programs.  But I've gotten through the worst of it.  One of my students wrote an email about not doing an assignment and asking for mercy (not grace--that would be me doing the assignment for her) with an interesting statement: We went looking for the path of totality. She was referring, of course, to the eclipse on April 8; I am not sure why p

It is Friday, but Sunday is coming.  Today is the holiest day of the year for Christians, I think, in terms of how we should stop, rest, reflect, repent, redirect,  return to worship.  I am going to say something radical, perhaps. Most of us think of today as a day that shows God's ultimate love for the humans He created. And I do not deny that. Romans 5:8 is enough: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  However, the cross is about so much more, if possible.  It, with the necessary resurrection, is about the restoration of the universal order God created. It is about justice delayed no longer denied. It is about the kingdom, righteousness, the depth of human rebellion, betrayal, and fulfilled prophecy. Also grief and hope and expectation and promise.  To be honest, all those "themes," if you will, take more study, time, thought and work to parse out, if doing so is even possible.  Yet, how can we understand