RaMbLeS
Welcome to RaMbLeS, a collection of weekly musings on life and Scripture. It all began in 2005 on Google’s blogspot as the aBeLOG (a name now recycled), a semi-autobiographical devotional that attempted to keep well-wishers abreast of my activities as I relocated to Scotland for a few years. Since my return, I’ve continued my RaMbLeS, and here’s its most recent incarnation on Homiletix, as random reflections usually based on current news articles and travel experiences and whatever else takes my fancy!
Waist!
We’ve finally got it figured out. No wonder [Dallas Cowboys*] fans’ waistlines are growing. Yup, we’ve got the answer.
[*Insert the name of your favorite losing team here.]
Yes, if you are a supporter of a losing team, watch out. Your waistline’s growing even as we speak.
A recent study published in Psychological Science compared the outcomes from two seasons’ worth of NFL games with people’s food consumption in over two dozen cities. When a sports team
World!
Someone called it “PHPS”—Post Harry Potter Syndrome. Many are afflicted, me included. We want more from JKR. But alas, what we have is what we have—HPI through HPVII.
But take heart. There is more. In fact, we Muggles can now actually go to Diagon Alley from the comfort of your bedroom, and in your PJs, if you wish.
Nope, you don’t need to go to Orlando (to see The Wizarding World of HP) or to Leavesden, U.K. (to take in the Harry Potter Studio Tour). Nope, no
Attitude!
Attitude is everything, it seems.
A few weeks ago I blogged on how the emotions are not as nondescript, dysfunctional, and inutile, as we’ve usually been taught in our linear, logocentric, Enlightenment culture, where the mind is king!
There’s more to this than meets the eye. Feelings can actually influence our brain. Really!
Just the other day, a study in the journal Psychological Science showed that the ritual of singing “Happy Birthday” before consuming
Bequest!
A couple of weeks ago, on my way to Mt. Hermon, in Northern California (for a DTS conference), I got to spend a week on the northern coast of that state, north of San Francisco. Accompanied by my two nephews, we decided to see some big trees and paid a visit to the Redwood National Forest, five hours drive from SF.
Quite a sight! The Sequoia sempervirens, the coastal redwood, is one of the tallest trees on the planet. “Hyperion,” the biggest of the lot measured
Me!
Nine million college freshmen have taken the American Freshman Survey over the last five decades. And yes, there is a clearly visible trend. An upward trend. An escalating trend.
Of self-infatuation!
Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State, and author of several fascinating works—one of them, The Narcissism Epidemic (2009), is reviewed
Stress!
Chronic stress, we know, creates lots of trouble: cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, nerve degeneration, etc. But how about acute (short-term) stress?
Apparently acute stress is good for you. Well, at least a little bit!
All that lounging in a hot tub or in a pool or in the Mediterranean is not the best way to spend your time it seems.
Nope, that’s not what the rats teach us. Yes, rats!
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have found that a little
Heart!
Emotions? Utterly untrustworthy.
Or so they said.
I remember a popular gospel tract that pictured the sequence as a train: “Fact” was the engine; “Faith” was the rest of the train; “Feeling” made up the caboose, the last car. In other words, don’t worry about the Feelings. As long as you got the Facts and you have Faith in the Facts, the Feelings will automatically follow.
Or so they said.
We humans, however, have always had the suspicion that this neat order
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.