For nature and neighbor: A Christian vision of work and the economy
Abounding in freedom and plenty, Americans continue to grapple with competing forms of workism and careerism, struggling to find meaning and identity in an increasingly secular age. In response, many...
View ArticleGod doesn’t need your good works (but your neighbor does)
In modern America, our view of vocation has become increasingly narrow and individualistic, focused only on economic action and our own preferred paths to self-actualization. As David Brooks explains...
View ArticleRising to the challenges of ‘so-so automation’
Fears about job loss and human obsolescence continue to consume the cultural imagination, compounded by ongoing strides in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The job-killing robots are...
View ArticleAdvent: Dig deep for freedom, liberty, and love
Christmas is a busy season for the entrepreneur, the business owner, and the worker. There are the demands of production, the management of the supply chain (a significant problem in the contemporary...
View ArticleWhen bookshops were miraculous, romantic places
I began a series of essays on Christmas movies last week with The Bishop’s Wife (1947), a story about church, the community of the faithful, and spiritual responsibility. This week, I’m writing about a...
View ArticleAdvent lifts the veil of judgment and mercy in the divine economy
One of the more disturbing aspects of the way the market economy works is the ability of, at least some, participants to avoid responsibility for their decisions and actions. The manner in which this...
View ArticleThis Advent, the Christmas child calls you and me
We arrive at the Christmas stable. We have prepared. The Christ child is come to us—Immanuel. We begin by taking a step back. The candle that is lit for the final Sunday of Advent reminds us of Mary,...
View ArticleDave Ramsey, Christian witness, and the morality of markets
The tweet heard ’round the world last week involved a clip of Dave Ramsey arguing that a Christian landlord can, ethically, raise rents to market levels even if it means that the renter has to move...
View ArticleCharles Schulz, Peanuts, and the power of community
Charles Schulz believed that life was hard and lonesome. That is why he believed that life was best experienced with others. Only through the sharing of burdens and triumphs and fears and joys could a...
View ArticleThe good news of your God-given limits
I love productivity books. I’ve read all the big classics on the subject, from Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People to Cal Newport’s Deep Work. I am a devotee of David Allen’s...
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