Folks, those interested in the field of Christian psychology and counseling should consider making last minute plans for a September conference in Chicago. The Society for Christian Psychology: www.christianpsych.org, a division of the AACC, is holding a great conference Sept 18-20 in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago. It will be small and very intimate conference [...]
Entries from August 2008
August 29, 2008
Identity: Purveying fine ideas
Sabbaticals create a crisis of identity for me. As you may already know, the halls of academia are filled with individuals who secretly believe they are frauds–that all others in the hall (teachers and students alike) should be there but we have somehow gotten in by faking our intelligence. For me: will I, have I produced [...]
August 28, 2008
What does hope feel like?
Ever thought about what hope feels like? When ministers and other christian leaders speak or write about hope, what do you envision? Does it include confidence? Peace? Contentment? Belief? Assurance? Or does it include pain, longing, and the like?
In reading Romans 8:18f Paul speaks of present suffering and that yet reminding himself that it is nothing [...]
August 27, 2008
Thing I have in common with Obama
I listened to parts of Michelle Obama’s speech on Monday night. She told the story of the birth of their first child in 1998 (same year and location (Chicago) we adopted our first son at the tender age of 4 days). She told of how they drove home from the hospital with Michelle in the [...]
August 26, 2008
On the problem of cutting: The secret under the sleeve
Writer Amy Sondova, a former student and now friend of mine, has expertise in many areas including the problem of cutting. Playing on my friendship with her I asked if she would write here just a little on the topic. Here’s what she wrote (following her bio):
Who is Amy? Amy Sondova is a writer specializing [...]
August 25, 2008
When your ancestors might not be so great…
Back from vacation and back to the heat of Philadelphia. New England was quite cool and a bit wet this summer. We still had many good experiences nonetheless.
While at my parents I read two things at the same time: a 2 volume set of the Shaw genealogy (my maternal grandfather’s heritage) and a book by [...]
August 21, 2008
Vacation notes
I’ve been absent from the site for the past 10 days (my posts were previously written thanks to WordPress scheduling software). Its been cool and somewhat rainy here in New England. So that has meant a rather quiet vacation. Not bad for me but probably boring the kids.
We had a big scare a couple of days [...]
August 20, 2008
Helping with one hand, hurting with the other
As humans we have the capacity to split ourselves. One minute we can help another, the next we can harm. A friend of a friend of mine recently admitted to taking advantage of another in a vulnerable position. This person seems quite wise. He has good advice when I’m stuck. He is able to see through [...]
August 18, 2008
Happy Anniversary Kim
18 years of wedded bliss. Well, for me anyway…for you, you’ve had to be quite longsuffering! Here’s the top three things I love about you:
3. You love to talk about whatever, but especially good books and whatever passage you are studying at the time. There’s never a shortage of things to talk about.
2. You have a [...]
August 14, 2008
Birth trauma? Maternal PTSD?
The August 5, 2008 Wall Street Journal ran a short article on a new postpartum illness akin to PTSD. The author, Rachel Zimmerman, reports that though”PTSD is commonly associated with combat veterans and victims of violent crimes, but medical experts say it also can be brought on by a very painful or complicated labor and [...]
