Category Archives: faith
A First-Rate Madness
x I (Ben) picked up Nassir Ghaemi’s book A First-Rate Madness after reading his op-ed in the New York Times last week. The premise is straightforward: Ghaemi, a professor of psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center, argues that mental illness may … Continue reading
Filed under books, depression, faith
H-E-Double Hockey Sticks
x There’s a kerfuffle in Christian circles about a book that hasn’t even come out yet — Rob Bell’s Love Wins. As its subtitle states, the book is “about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived.” … Continue reading
Random Thoughts on Fatherhood: Four Months
1. Wednesdays have been my weekday off for the past four years. My routine rarely varied: I woke up, took our MacBook and a good book (or two) to a coffee shop, and hung out there as long as I … Continue reading
Filed under depression, faith, parenthood, Sam
Meet Greg Boyd
There are some Sundays when you want to invite your friends to church, and other Sundays when you wisely take a pass. On the good Sundays, there’s either a speaker or message or occasion that you just want your friends … Continue reading
Filed under faith, Uncategorized
Nyquil Dreams and Other Thoughts On The Gospel of Matthew
Ben’s brother Dan is a student at Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon. Today during school-wide chapel (Multnomah is a Bible college; think of Dan as Multnomah’s Max Fischer, if you will) he read an excerpt from a book he’s been … Continue reading
Filed under faith, family, Uncategorized
Why We Go To Crossroads.
Taking umbrage to anything Glenn Beck says is its own cottage industry, and wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads there. We do not intend to take that path, exactly, but it will require more than … Continue reading
Filed under faith, Uncategorized
Pain, Suffering and Inheritance: The Tricky Art of Handling the Customer Complaint
x At my job I (Ben) often get to handle customer complaints. Whether I’m any good at it may best be answered by those doing the complaining. As with all things, you get better with practice. So this little Saturday … Continue reading
Filed under faith, retail, Uncategorized
Hurry Down Sunshine, Michael Greenberg
x When I (Ben) wrote about my ongoing battle with depression recently, several people responded with the same question: Are we crummy friends? They expressed that they didn’t realize the extent of my mental illness. They wondered if they had … Continue reading
Filed under books, depression, faith, things that make you sad
The Deepest Silence, Part 2
This is my sixth attempt to write this post. The first three times I (Ben) stopped because I thought, “The people who won’t be freaked out by depression will be freaked out by faith/Christianity. And the very few who may … Continue reading
Filed under depression, faith, things that make you sad
The Deepest Silence, Part 1
For three days running now, I (Ben) have sat down to write a follow-up to Monday’s post. The response I got — online and offline — was very encouraging. Friends who I know have struggled with many of the same … Continue reading
Filed under depression, faith, things that make you sad
