Blog Archives from November 2011

Over the years I've enjoyed reading the award-winning broadcaster and writer Dick Staub's musings on faith and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, Staub broadcasts his "Kindlings Muse" podcasts that explore the "intelligent, imaginative, and hospitable ideas that matter in contemporary life," which originates from Hales Ales Brewery and Pub in Seattle. Staub suggests that this is his attempt to rekindle the spiritual, artistic, and intellectual legacy of Christians in culture.

I first met Dick a few years ago over a cup of coffee in a Starbucks, in of all places, Oxford, England, as we were both attending a conference in Oxford dealing with the legacy of C. S. Lewis.  As I share Dick's fascination with America's spiritual quest, which is often untethered to organized religion, I thought his recent column in The Washington Post (November 3, 2011) dealing with the last words uttered by Steve Jobs to be particularly interesting. I value and commend his work to you, and you can read more at his website, www.dickstaub.com.

I welcome your own reflections on Dick's fine piece of writing, and of course, Steve Jobs' last words...

-Barry…

Most of us have lived life long enough to realize that we find wisdom in some of the strangest places. I came upon an article a while back in one of the most unlikely places, The Huffington Post, written by Jon Foreman. For those of us not exactly in the know, Foreman is the lead singer and songwriter for the band, Switchfoot. The article, entitled, "Making a Living," examines the conventional wisdom and stereotypes that we have about what it means to make a living, as well as how we define "success." Foreman's words remind me of Solomon's musings in Ecclesiastes, that life in this present, blighted world is often messy and ambiguous. Similarly, there was Asaph, the author of Psalm 73 in the older testament, who was also a musician of an Israeli rock band, who spoke about the human condition very honestly, yet with God in his sights. These writer-poets, writing from thousands of years ago to the present, have a way of penning things that truly amazes me. Enjoy...

"Making a Living," by Jon Foreman

"Hate was just a failure of imagination."  -…