Since I started my post on what I do to forgive myself, empathy has been big on my mind. Part of this has been self-centered -- I have always been seen as (and consider myself to be) deeply empathic. I believe the ability to empathize is twofold, being both a natural capacity and an action.…
In the Hidden Brain episode "Did That Really Happen?", Shankar Vidantan and his guest, psychologist Dr. Ayanna Thomas, talk about how unreliable our memories are, specifically regarding visual memory. We are remarkably susceptible to the power of suggestion. If someone tells us we wore a blue shirt on Christmas when we were 12, we are…
How do we get people to come to the church and make them feel safe and still remind them that they suck and are headed to hell?Omar Abreu, on their experience as a queer attendee of Hillsong Church, quoted from VanityFair.com It's been a long time since I have been out of my childhood home,…
I've been thinking a lot about the remarkable resistance of a number of Christians to the reality of science. Evangelicals have been shown to be three times more likely to flout CDC guidelines on COVID preparedness. Evangelicals don't want evolution taught in schools. Evangelicals want to ban abortion but don't want to do any of…
Even with the craziness and intensity of the current COVID-19 situation, I thought I was fine. Stressed about the state of the world and an uncertain future, sure. Who isn't? But I thought I was handling and processing it all in a good, thorough, "work through it and be able to function normally" kind of…
Let's start off with the big one, shall we? Fear is one of the easiest ones to talk about when it comes to beliefs, because in some ways it's quite straight-forward. Identify what beliefs are giving rise to the emotion.#1 When we are afraid, we believe something is going to or could harm us. And…
It's the start of the busy season! For the gym, that is. So far I haven't had to wait for any piece of equipment nor has anyone hit me in the face (accidentally or on purpose) with a dumbbell, so I'm happy to welcome the 2019 resolutioners to the awesome-for-your-body work that is weight lifting.…
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. ~Matthew 7:5 I've been thinking a lot about tribalism, biases, and the difficulty of transcending our intellectual and ideological blind spots. (Several great books on the topic, but the one…
As many of you know, I'm a little obsessed with truth and reality. I love learning and I want to know as much about this beautiful universe as I can. I also want to think as carefully, fully, and wisely as I can about the aspects of this world that we can't ever really know about (ethics,…
Light on Diamond Head on New Year's Eve morning. As I was muddling through some sweeping emotions and difficult life circumstances yesterday, I was reminded once again (even after writing about it extensively in my book) of the inextricable linkage between our beliefs and our emotions. In particular, I remembered how often beliefs give rise…
