The etymological roots of the word “curiosity” are “care” and “cure;” curiosity seeks to cure, to care, to heal. Every person on the planet has a seed of curiosity planted deep within them. It has been believed that formal education is the best way to feed and nurture this seed, […]
I am a trained and experienced researcher and have taught critical thinking skills for over 30 years. I am just establishing my bias and perspective up front. Through years of working in the church, with academia, community organizing, board leadership and training, and global systems, I find that most people […]
What regard do we, in our current culture, have for truth, precision, honesty, veracity, and verifiability? What makes something “true?” How do we “know” something, anything? What criteria do we use to decide whether something is credible, believable, or valid? I am going to write about critical thinking on Thursday, […]
My former boss and friend (which is better than a boss and former friend), Bishop Hee-Soo Jung spoke frequently about the “grace margin.” I first encountered this term in the 1970s when I studied Jurgen Moltmann and adopted the theology of hope as my core vision for the Christian life. […]
Due to a bad phone connection and a weird transcription, I got a voice mail from someone named Mewe Usthem (Mary Austin). At first I simply laughed at the transpositioning and transposing, but the more I thought about it, this name – Mewe Usthem – could be a metaphor for […]
Why do conspiracies always have to be darkly subversive or negative? One origin of the term “conspire” is “to breathe with,” or “to breathe together.” What if we were to form a positive, enduring conspiracy for the common good? What might we conspire together to create or achieve? I am […]
There is a linguistic condition called disfluency that is characterized by disruptions in speech — long pauses, uhms, urrs, likes, and simply allowing sentences and thoughts drift away in unfinished forms. In its strongest forms (often referred to as dysfluency) it is an inability to articulate complete thoughts and concepts. […]
A woman from northern Wisconsin engaged me in an email exchange about recent posts I have written (as well as an old post against gun violence), challenging my thinking (hopefully in positive and productive ways). She raises four points (with which I disagree, and will attempt to explain here): Negativity […]
Hope is under siege. Corporate media, social media, party politics, populism, and mass marketing are all undermining and denigrating hope. Hopelessness is the flavor of the day. Wildfires burn at hope, floods inundate hope, pandemic infects hope, politicians mock hope, and corporate America redefines hope as hunger, greed, and dissatisfaction […]
United Methodeviations 