So much of life is invisible: the roots that nourish plants below the soil surface, the nonverbal communication that conveys our thoughts and attitudes, the years of training that go into a 10-second Olympic sprint. It’s so easy to be dazzled by whatever appears, and to miss the substrate that props it up. But the world […]
In the dark
It turns out there’s such a thing as too much light. Light pollution is the feature of modern industrial life that means that 33% of the planet doesn’t see the same skies as our ancestors did. Thousands upon thousands of stars would be visible to the naked eye were it not for street lights, lit billboards, […]
Humility required
Love never ends… When the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.” –1 Corinthians 13 We are always changing because our understanding is always incomplete.” –Dr. Olive Hemmings One of the most important functions of heterogeneous teams is to expand the individual’s incomplete perception and understanding. And one of the most important functions […]
Read with Spectrum: Volf’s Flourishing
Adventist Forum’s Spectrum Magazine is hosting a summer reading group again this year. Last year, we read Richard Beck’s reflections on morality, purity, and disgust in the book Unclean. Read my article on the body and the private sphere. This year, we turn to Miroslav Volf’s latest work, Flourishing: Why we need religion in a globalized world. […]
Checking your lenses
I had an eye exam today, my first in too long. I’ve had my current glasses for nearly a decade and no substantial changes to my vision. But there was a surprise. There’s a defect in my lenses. It’s a small thing, a little whorl in the glass that warps light as it passes through […]
Playing peekaboo with reality
Object permanence is a cognitive development skill that most children learn within their first year. It’s the ability to recognize that other things and people around us persist even if we stop perceiving them: there’s a world beyond us. This is also a skill that adults regularly fail to use as we navigate life, playing […]