partsofspeaking

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/09/23/five-reasons-people-leave-church.html I agree with four of his points. But the first falls short. Yes, Jesus is the basis of our faith, rather than the Bible, but we only know Jesus through the Bible. So he has a logical problem here. If we don't use the Bible as the basis of our faith from a factual standpoint, we have nothing to go on. We then have a Jesus that fits whatever we want Him to. That's not an option. 

This article is just a little better than clickbait, but worth reading. https://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-your-type-knowing-can-make-you-a-better-communicator-1511193573 I am reminded of the medieval categories of (why always four?) sanguine, melancholy, choleric, and phlegmatic. The four categories in this article almost perfectly match up with them. Sanguine-dopamine; melancholy, estrogen; choleric, testosterone;  phlegmatic - serotonin. Quote from article: "She also discovered who is attracted to whom. People high in dopamine activity and people high in serotonin activity gravitate toward people like themselves. People high in testosterone or high in estrogen tend to like their opposites." Since I have Kallman's syndrome, I do not have a lot of estrogen (any, actually). I was socialized to behave like I do, but don't know if that's really me. I will share this with my Interpersonal Communication class next semester. Since these are all self-report...

Because I want to be an expert on detective fiction, I am reading the greats. Right now I'm entranced by Father Brown stories by G.K. Chesterton. Folks who think they know Chesterton/Father Brown (or Doyle/Holmes) from watching TV depictions of them are mistaken. You really have to read the originals. Father Brown stories are wonderful. It's hard to stop. However, I've run across something odd. Chesterton takes pot shots at Presbyterians. Snide remarks about why pagan Scots turned to another form of quasi-paganism like Calvinism. Puritan put-downs. Here's an example from "The Hammer of God." “ Look at that blacksmith, for instance,” went on Father Brown calmly; “a good man, but not a Christian — hard, imperious, unforgiving. Well, his Scotch religion was made up by men who prayed on hills and high crags, and learnt to look down on the world more than to look up at heaven. Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great ...

Some will recognize that title as the original words of a hymn by Charles Wesley. "Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?" The words were changed to wretch over time. Still, both show a self-loathing that the recognition of our sinfulness might bring out. Contrast with a song I heard on the radio the other day that asserted, "Because you saw I was worthy, you saved me." How about no? It seems hard for us to walk circumspectly between the two extremes of being a vile worm before God (because humankind is in the imago dei ) and that we are redeemed because of our potential, because God saw something in us individually worth redeeming. Like most things in life, getting that right is a life-long battle. I tell my communication students they will study and improve their communication all their lives. Likewise, we will be tempted to swing between these two extremes all our lives. Yes, we will feel like garbage, which we aren't. Or we will fee...

Yesterday afternoon my husband and I went shooting at a range far back in Murray County (since shooting ranges have to be away from populations). It was hot, which probably kept others away. We were there well over two hours and alone the whole time. Except for the mosquitoes, gnats, flies, and oh, my, the butterflies. Beautiful indigo and purple butterflies with splashes of gold. Try as I might, they eluded me, No matter how quietly I approached, they flew away as soon as my outstretched hand was within a few inches.  And why shouldn't they? What do I need with a butterfly? So I watched, surprised that the gunshots did not seem to chase them away. I observed one intently and my husband shot, unexpectedly (I wear strong ear protection). The butterfly flinched or shuddered, but did not fly away. Yet it did when I tried to cup it in my hand. A textbook I used to use for Humanities talked about the modern theory of the butterfly effect, that states that if a butterfly flutters...