To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Years ago a workplace research group from California approached some loggers in the Pacific Northwest. They made what seemed like an offer too good to be true: “We’ll double your pay for the next month. All you have to do is swing your axe so the handle hits the tree instead of… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here J.R.R. Tolkien was about 50 years old when he had an almost paralyzing experience of writer’s block. He was working on The Lord of the Rings, the monumental fantasy that has come to be regarded by many as the 20th century’s most transforming work of fiction. Tolkien was a philologist – an expert in the study… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Throughout the month of August, we’re looking at Ecclesiastes, that strange and seemingly “modern” Old Testament book that depicts what happens when humanity searches for ultimate meaning apart from God. According to the Gallup Organization, comparatively few people experience satisfaction in their work. Based on their surveys of hundreds of thousands of people, Gallup reports… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Author and pastor John Ortberg has playfully imagined how the book of Genesis might read if God approached work the way we so often do: In the beginning, it was nine o’clock, so God had to go to work. He filled out a requisition to separate light from darkness. He considered making stars… Read more »
It’s hard to overstate the sorry condition of Continental Airlines in the early 1990s. The company had twice faced bankruptcy. A third financial disaster was looming. Employee morale was abysmal. The airline ranked last in every measurable performance category. Its stock had sunk to $2 a share. Continental’s advertising slogans during the previous two decades reflected marketing desperation: The Only Airline… Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. Within the past two weeks, billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have literally launched humanity’s latest round of exploration – the opportunity for ordinary people (at least the ones who happen to have a great deal of discretionary income) to experience… Read more »
“The scandal of Christianity in our day is the heresy of a five percent spirituality.” That’s the claim of Quaker devotional writer Richard Foster. What he means is that far too many followers of Jesus take a Tupperware approach to reality. They seal off 5% of their lives to experience God. And the rest of the time? They assume they’re… Read more »
