Memories observed from 40,000 feet

In the fifth chapter of The End of Memory Volf continues his quest to find the answer to the question, “How can we enjoy the blessing of memory without suffering its curses?” Thus far he has called us to remember truthfully, and to remember intentionally so as to seek healing for all. To remember wrongs [...]

Mindful of God’s presence in the beauty of the Maine wood

There is a pine and birch wood behind my parent’s house. A path crosses the back corner of their lot and traverses along a brook and bog. I’m sure it was once a logging road, but now parts have little trees growing in the middle. The wood is reclaiming portions of the trail and in [...]

Blunting the ‘wounding blade’ of painful memories

In chapter 4 of Volf’s The End of Memory, we find that memories are not healed merely by remembering them truthfully. We saw in the 3rd chapter that truthful memory is a beginning but now he points out that memory is not merely a cognitive act. They are “also a form of doing (67).” Memory [...]

Should we embed psychologists in the military?

A few days ago NPR ran a story on a California national guard unit embedding psychologists into their unit. (Listen to the story here). The program is an experiment to see if they can break the stigma of getting help from mental health professionals when they experience PTSD and other traumas. I would assume they are trying [...]

Merry Christmas from I84, I90, and I95

Traveling from Connecticut to Maine today, from Kim’s family to mine. This makes 17 years of doing this drive. Looking forward to the quiet drive through CT, MA, NH and on to the woods of Maine. Hoping to ponder God’s invasion into our lives through Christ in between the various books on tape our kids [...]

Euphemisms: Using language to hide evil

I want to share some lines from a statement purportedly made (dated 12/15/06) by the outgoing Ambassador John R. Miller, Director of the  Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. These lines are an excellent example of how the use of names/euphemisms cover up the reality of grotesque evil. [NOTE: I received a pdf [...]

Fixing the toilet is like going for marriage counseling…

I imagine some might think I’m referring to the smelly aspects of toilet repair but I’m not (though it would add much to the analogy). This last weekend I decided to fix the downstairs toilet. First it was overfilling. A new float was all it needed. Then, it was running every few minutes indicating that [...]

Do we over-memorialize life?

I’ve been blogging on Volf’s End of Memory book. In chapter 3 he states that this generation is obsessed with memorializing events. Hardly had the smoke cleared from NYC before people began debating how to erect a memorial “when we could not possibly have had enough time to absorb the impact of the disaster and [...]

Volf: Speaking truth, practicing grace

In the previous chapter of The End of Memory Volf determined that memory of wrongs suffered was an ambiguous event that could either heal or be used to harm self and other. In this chapter (3) he takes on the issue of determining how one benefits from memories of evil without also drinking the oft [...]

Science Monday: Meds for kids and the counselor’s role

Recently read a NY Times article on the issue of giving children multiple psychiatric medications to manage mood, behavior, and concentration. You can read the article here. The article states that 1.6 million children (280,000 under the age of 10) were given multiple psychiatric meds last year. There is a little graphic that lists the [...]