Rudolf Dreikurs

In my plethora of readings for my dissertation, I stumbled across the writings of Rudolf Dreikurs. Dreifurs is important to me because of his research on student misbehavior. However, his work extends well beyond student misbehavior.

For Dreikurs (and Adler who he studied under), misbehavior was the direct result of a "corrupt" lifestyle. By lifestyle, Dreikurs meant the general orientation an individual has towards the rest of humanity.

The key to good behavior, according to Dreikurs, was a healthy social lifestyle. Cooperation and equality were two major components of a healthy lifestyle. Dreikurs referenced competition as just one example. Excessive competition creates an imbalance of power in humans. Winners suffer from egotism of superiority; losers suffer from discouragement of inferiority. Both are out of balance and unhealthy according to Dreikurs.  It is fairly easy to find examples of both in our world today.

Cooperation and equality keep the individual in balance, specifically because of the individual's response to others. Cooperation is a striving for equality with others, and equality is arriving at that balance with others. A healthy lifestyle does not include "I" or "me." It is a lifestyle considerate of others, and one marked be selflessness and service.  

Dreikurs also believed that human beings become who they are largely due to the decisions they make. Dreikurs believed democracy could not function nor could humans fully appreciate the control they possessed over their lives if they were constantly fed excuses for the way things are. Dreikurs asked the same question Kant asked years earlier, how could we possibly emphasize basic human rights while neglecting personal responsibility? Good question!

Regardless of your theological position, is not life a series of decisions? If Dreikurs were alive today I think his assessment would be that most of us are out of balance in our lives. We focus on ourselves more than we focus on others, which for Dreikurs, constitutes imbalance. What are the root sources for your decisions? Do you think of others? Do you seek to make decisions consistent with your belief system? Or, do you make each decision based upon what that decision will do for you right now, never considering the future ramifications of it for you or for others?

What is your status? Are you in balance or out of balance? More good questions!

A Respite from Life

I had a moment to think the other day... just a moment, without noise, words or someone else's thoughts invading my own.

In that moment, I thought about life today compared to life yesterday. And, when I say yesterday, I am referring to my yesterday which includes time, culture and geography.

My yesterday includes life in a northern state at a younger age in a different culture. It includes a different education and a different community.

In that moment, I thought of life today as crowded, cramped, fast and rushed. Life today is full of many things, but, in that moment, I thought of the things that I miss about life in the past. Then, the MRI machine started and my moment was gone. My moment was filled with loud and strange rhythmic sounds. Those sounds, as loud and strange as they were, did not deter me from continuing my thoughts on life past.

Why was I lamenting life past? Is not present life full of fast and exciting technology? Is not present life full of inventions and procedures that extend life's duration and quality? The machine stopped to adjust for the next loud blast of sound, allowing me a respite of sorts from the mechanical sounds. Again, I drifted back to life past and smiled at the thoughts that came, and then, the next blast of loudness came.

But, the loudness could not wipe the smile off my face as I continued to think of life past. Life in a small town where everyone knew everyone's name and really cared for everyone. Life in a time when locking the door was only done when one left for days at a time. Life when one acted in ways that considered others before themselves. Life when education was about the students and not about the one hundred other things now considered important.

The loud clanging and bonging stopped and a voice instructed me that I would be extracted from the belly of the loud beast for a moment. A swipe of alcohol, a sudden pinch, a bandage and then back into the belly of the beast for my acoustic torture. I closed my eyes and returned to my thoughts on life past.

Is there a real difference? Is not change part of everyone's life? I opened my eyes to see the white mask over me, and quickly closed them again, forcing my thoughts back to these questions. Yes, I deducted, change is part of everyone's life, but the kind of change that comes matters much. There have been many changes to our world that have made our world better, but how many changes have made man, generally, better?

Then, all was silent, and a voice came over the speaker. I was extracted from the beast and told my procedures were finished. I stood up and return to the world, thankful for my respite away, but I was still in full possession of my questions regarding change. Are we better now than yesterday? Are we really less considerate of others, or is this my own perspective?

There is nothing quite like coming to grips with your paranoid perception of reality and then having it changed for you in a matter of days. It is like dynamite; it blows you out of your current hole in life and places you at a different point in life. You are on the proverbial hill looking out over life with a renewed sense of purpose and a heightened sense of sight. I am praying that my purpose and my sight stay at this elevation.

B. C. by Johnny Hart

Situational faith!

Sovereignty and Responsibility

Someone once told me that God's sovereignty does not negate man's responsibility. I have thought often about that advice in the context of God and who He is.

I have thought about that advice in the context of God in relation to who I am. Do my choices reflect who God is, or who I am?

I have thought about that advice in the context of God in relation to the world in which I live. Do I live in a way that reflects who God is in me, or who the world is in me?

I have thought about that advice in the context of God in relation to those I relate to daily. Do I treat them as God treats me, or do I treat them as I think they ought to be treated?

I have thought about that advice in the context of God in relation to those who have hurt me. Do I forgive them as God has forgiven me, in spite of all of my sin against Him, or do I forgive them according to my own personal standard?

I have thought of that advice in the context of God in relation to what God has done for me. Do I realize what God has really done for me, or do I think I am a little deserving of this salvation He gives?

Do I realize that God asks me to treat others according to the way He has treated me? Do I realize that, despite my sinful heart and addiction to myself, God still rescued me from my sin and addiction and adopted me into His kingdom forever? Do I really realize that, as His adopted son, I am to be known by my love over everything else. Do I realize that God sent His Son to die on my behalf and that through His Son's finished work I am free to live a life of love for others? God's sovereignty fulfills my responsibility to live a life in total dependence of Him.

And, here is my recent lesson. My response to others is never in reaction to them and their actions, but, instead, it is always to be a reflection of a Holy God in me. Jesus stated clearly, "You will know my disciples by their love for one another." Love is the predominant action of the Believer and a sure sign of God's sovereign empowerment of the Believer towards love and good deeds.

Hopefully, in these words, you have found some that resonate with you. May God meet with you where you are and let you get a glimpse of the life He has for you.

Good Grief!

Charles Schulz always penned life in a perspective to which almost everyone could relate.

Calvin and Hobbes

Bill Watterson is my all time favorite cartoonist. Calvin and Hobbes is an absolutely brilliant examination of life through the eyes of a typical little boy and a wise semi-real tiger. Enjoy another peak into life through the mind of Watterson.

The Christian Life

The Christian life, at times, is a barren room, exposed to the light with nowhere to hide. Windows and doors all seem the same; one blends into the other in ways that seem to offer confusion instead of solution. The floor seems no different than the ceiling, and both are merely separations from the glass and wood of old windows and doors in dire need of repair. The room, protected by these walls, floors and ceilings, is no room at all, at least no room fit for protection. It is a highly exposed vulnerable pedestal upon which we must sit. Nothing we are is concealed, and nothing we have is sacred... all is perched high so as to be offered as a target. And, yet, we sit in that room with doors that do not lock, windows with no shades, a floor full of dirt and a ceiling seemingly ready to fall in on us at any moment.

As Christians, we sit in this room on this side of heaven when Christ comes into our lives because it is not the "room" that protect us and takes care of us; instead, it is Him. We occupy this room in testimony of who He is in our lives and of our trust in Him, but I have learned, recently, that there are still other purposes for our occupancy of this room. This is the room offered to us by Christ, and if we possess the faith of Abram who was told to leave his homeland with no personal promise to him other than the promise of God's word, we gladly take this room over all others because it is in the right home.

There are other rooms in other homes, and those rooms have strong doors and nice windows with shades and locks and freshly painted floors and ceilings. Those rooms are much nicer than this room and much more comfortable according to the world's standards. But, this room, the one that offers us seemingly nothing as a room, offers us everything in Christ. This room, as I have learned the hard way, also leaves you exposed to the world in order to reveal much about the world to you. The dirty windows are not pretty to look at and will not protect you from the rocks thrown at you, but they are still clean enough to see who it is that throws those rocks. The door is weak and offers little protection from the threats outside, but at the same time, its frailty offers little resistance to the weak who need the help represented on the inside. The room will not hide anything about you and will reveal everything about you, but it will also, by its vulnerable and seemingly shabby state, reveal everything about others to you. Some will shun you, others will look down on you, and still others will take advantage of you all because of the room in which you live.

You will also begin to recognize others in similar rooms as they recognize you. They, too, share what you have because they live in what appears to be the same room. There are still others who will claim that they, too, live in similar rooms, and, at one time, maybe they did live in similar rooms, but they have since replaced doors, cleaned and painted floors and ceilings and added locks to windows. The room was once like yours, but no longer bears any likeness to your room. These "others" have spent much time and money on the room, working hard to build that room into something great and forgetting that the room matters little in this life we walk with Christ. The temptation will be there to make your room into what their room is, but that temptation must be fought because the room can never become yours because it must always remain His. Those who have re-built their rooms have claimed them as their own and have forgotten the lesson that you are now learning... what matters most is not the room but the owner of the room and the home in which the room exists. This is the Christian life.
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Defining Moments

Life is full of defining moments. Those moments that define us, if you keep count, tend to come in groups. They come in groups for one simple reason - defining moments of life are such monumental parts of our life that they themselves trigger other moments by their shear magnitude.

A dear friend dies, a tragic car accident occurs, a promotion is received, marriage, children... these are all defining moments of life that most likely prompted some other defining moment of life for one reason... defining moments are triggers that lead to other defining moments.They are changes that occur in our lives, shifting us from one path onto another.

Defining moments in life are rarely our actions alone. They usually require actions outside of self. These actions can be decisions by others, acts of God, circumstances, recognition, and the list could go on, but the important point is this: they are all decisions involving you about you usually made outside of you. Ultimately, it is my belief that they are all acts of God for I believe He is in complete control. There are those who would disagree and present the issue of evil in the world as an example of why God can not be in control, but then I present the issue of defining moments as a counter example of why God is in control.

A good person trying to do good will not always make every decision that results in good. Does that mean he or she does not have "good" motives in their attempt to do good? How about situations where to do good requires a painful decision? To save the whole body, a limb must be amputated. The amputations will result in much pain, years of discomfort and a change in lifestyle, but in order to save a life - the ultimate good goal - a limb must die. God is very much the same way. He sees the ultimate good and has to allow actions that we deem bad to happen, and sometimes, they must happen to us. How haughty of us to judge God by what is taking place in our life when there is a whole world out there hanging in the balance. Do we really think we are that important that the events of our life merit attention over the billions of other people or the starts in the sky or the energy in the universe? These are our perceptions, and they are rooted in who we are. This issue of perceptions is one that I would like to address in more detail.

We humans perceive everything through our own selfish senses, and today, we perceive more through our eyes than any other sense. This has occurred as a direct result of the shift of culture towards social media. Everything is directed at the eyes today, and the eyes are the most selfish sense of all the senses. What? Think about which sense requires no other contribution. We can hear and feel, and we can smell and taste, but we see in isolation as there is no other sense that can enhance our sight. You can see and hear, but sound does not travel as fast as light. Even thought it is a fraction of a second faster, light is still faster. We have become overly dependent on our eyes, but our eyes our not to be totally trusted. The picture above is an optical illusion. I can ask a question about that picture and you can answer correctly if your perception of that picture is the same as mine. But, if I see a face and your see a person walking we will have two totally different answers and both be right.What will matter most regarding right and wrong is who is asking the question.

Too many of us rush to judgment because of one perception, and never give our other senses time to confirm our one perception. As defining moments happen to us, we will immediately label them and file them.  The older we get the more of these moments we will experience; we must allow time and our other senses an opportunity to make sense of the issue in front of us. Failure to do that will result in an altered perception of your life and a lack of understanding regarding what God is doing in your life. Defining moments do happen in groups. They are life changing triggers leading to a change in life. They are also opportunities afforded us to change. We need not miss any of those opportunities. They will be painful and challenging, but since when is anything worth anything not? Blessings!

Watching...

I am learning that observing is better than talking in most instances. I was kind of forced into this new mindset by my circumstances, but I am gaining new insight every day from just observing. Here are some of my observations and the insights gained from them.

On a clear night, the sky, with all of its stars, is one of the most beautiful sights the human eye can see, and it is totally free to anyone interested.

When the wind blows yellow construction tape, its movements are symmetrical. Amazing what you can notice when you take the time.

Trees are one of the most beautiful parts of creation. And, their beauty stands in all situations; whether rain, wind or snow, trees are always beautiful.

The cell phone is the main reason most people do not talk or look at other people. I was writing one morning while enjoying a cup of coffee at a certain establishment and decided to conduct an informal social experiment. I paid close attention to the next five people that walked in the door. All five had cell phones on their person, with three actively engaged in a conversation walking in the door. Two of those three did not stop their conversation when ordering at the counter.

Loyalty is becoming extinct, and so is true friendship. In my conversations with some of my friends and in my observations, friendships these days serve some sort of purpose, and when that purpose is gone so is the friendship. Most common excuse given to not staying in touch... I am really busy. Second most common excuse... I have a lot going on at work and at home right now.

People who are walking a dog will say hi to you before someone who is just walking alone. I do not know if the dog gives the person walking it added security, but they will say hi sooner than someone who is walking alone.

A fire will attract every boy within a mile of the fire. I was trying to burn a stump out this weekend in my yard, and before I knew it, every boy on our street was bringing me wood for that fire.

A bad mood is contagious. If someone in the family is in a bad mood, chances are at least one other person in that family will get that bad mood at some point during the day.

If you want it to rain, plan a labor-intensive project that demands that it not rain. If there is no rain in the forecast, there will be as soon as you start the project.

Grass will grow everywhere except on your lawn. I see grass growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, on the street and in our garden but in certain spots on my lawn... no grass.

Men are less likely to admit being wrong than women. Men will go to the grave first before admitting they are wrong about anything.

People will do things in a group that they would never do alone. It is called the mob mentality, and it has no boundaries.

Well, that is all for now. Watching the world that I live in has been most enjoyable. Stay tuned for more observations! 












 

Gas Prices

Recently, the media informed all of us that we should expect considerably higher gas prices in the next few months. My questions is this: in comparison to what?

I have been collecting gas receipts for the last three years. Here is a gander at the meteoric rise of gas prices.

11/13/08 ........... $1.98
11/20/08 ........... $1.85 (And, that was high!)
12/08/08 ........... $1.56
12/16/08 ............ $1.69
12/22/08 ........... $1.53
1/08/09 ............. $1.69
2/13/09 .............. $1.31
3/12/09 .............. $1.77
4/06/09 .............. $1.89
6/14/09 ..................... $2.43 (What happen?)
6/24/09 ..................... $2.44
7/31/09 ..................... $2.37
8/14/09 .................... $2.35
9/03/09 ................... $2.53
10/23/09 ................. $2.57
11/24/09 .................. $2.47

1/14/10 .................... $2.69
2/12/10 .................... $2.55
3/27/10 .................... $2.69
4/11/10 .................... $2.75
5/28/10 ................... $2.61
6/28/10 ................... $2.66
7/11/10 .................... $2.45
8/12/10 ................... $2.62
9/12/10 ................... $2.45
10/07/10 ................ $2.75
11/15/10 ................. $2.75

1/4/11 ..................... $2.88
2/24/11 .................. $3.25 (Wow!)
3/14/11 .................. $3.21
8/12/11 .................. $3.59
11/27/11 ................ $3.07

1/09/12 ................. $3.25
2/4/12 ................... $3.29

Hard to believe that not even four years ago we were all paying well under $2.oo a gallon. Once the price of gas went past a certain threshold it never went back down past that threshold again. Now, we sit at over $3.00 a gallon and are being told to expect another big jump in price. The last two times we had a big jump in price the price never did go back down to the price before the jump, Based on past history, expect a big jump and expect the price to stay right there.

With prices like these, it might be a good idea to take a Sunday afternoon walk instead of the Sunday drive. Blessings!

Consumer Debt

The Federal Reserve reported some good news this month; consumer debt is declining. Suspicious? I am and maybe for no good reason, but just the same, I thought I would do a little digging into the numbers to see what I can see. If consumer debt is declining I want to know why because I still know too many who are struggling because of unemployment and underemployment, and they are not in position to pay any debt down anytime soon.

I found a great article about this very issue. The article states the following facts about consumer debt:

• U.S. consumer debt is declining, though at different rates among different groups of borrowers.
• Defaults or bank write-offs account for most of the drop in debt over the past two years.
• Borrowers with weak credit scores paid down auto loans in 2010, while those with stronger scores increased borrowing.
• A similar pattern holds for mortgages in 2011.

The drop in consumer debt could mean any number of things, but it is premature to celebrate it as "good news." Moody's has a good analysis of what these numbers mean according to their views. They go into great detail, and they have published their views in an article that you can access HERE. Read it and see if you agree with their assessment. Blessings!

Balance

Life is a balancing act. Every thing we do can be perceived as one thing or the other. Even the good things we do can be perceived in a negative way. It is all about balance. I use the word "balance" here instead of whole or complete because we are part of a stack that requires balance, much like the rocks in the picture. I could use complete or whole if I were "it" in the world, but the reality is that we all have to live in unison with others on this unique celestial ball floating through space.

Each day we walk through our lives interacting with others as we make decisions according to a set of presuppositions. We decide to do something out of our character, and then, are disappointed at the results and revert back to who we were. Others do what is out of character for us and get great results... why?

I think it has to do with balance, remember the spirit with which I use the word. Our lives are balanced by the consistency of our actions. When we act outside of our normal actions, it throws us out of balance to others. Out of balance people get poor reactions from others all the time. For example, are you comfortable with that person who is always pretending he/she is something they are not? Why? These people are never consistent. They are always trying to be what the situation demands. They are never consistent in who they are; they are out of balance. Because they are out of balance, they make us feel out of balance, and we do not like that.

Balanced people make us comfortable because we can count on them to be who they have always been. They are consistent, and consistent people put us at ease. That is why most people do not like change. Change is not the same and can not be counted on to be the same. We don't know what is next when we change, and we have to anticipate. Most of us do not like this for many reasons, but one of the most important is that it puts us out of balance too.

Balance is the key to life, and yet more proof for a Holy God. In the picture above, the rocks are stacked in a balanced way so that they will not fall. Someone put those rocks there. They did not form that pile on their own. We are the same way. Someone had to, first, put us in balance, or there would be no such thing as out of balance. In my opinion, if life were random then random would feel comfortable and natural; it does not. What feels natural to everyone I have met is a balanced life. Chaos is not welcome in our home. and, yet, it is there. We spend our days organizing and cleaning in order to rid ourselves of chaos. Why? Chaos is anti-us. It is the antithesis of who we are. Chaos is the epitome of all things out of balance.

There is only one way to balance life and that way has nothing to do with you. It has to do with Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some will snicker, others will laugh and even others with teem with anger at the mere mention of his name, but for what? These same people believe in the power of ... crystals or evolution or something even more bizarre. Balance is the key as the Lord Jesus adds that oar to your boat. He gives you purpose and crutches, if you need them.

Long ago on a dark night in February, the Truth was shared with me, and that Truth was the reality of Jesus Christ. He came into my life and added things I desperately needed... morality, purpose and... balance. How are you doing these days with the balancing act of life?

The Blithedale Romance and Socialism

I do not know if we are sliding toward socialism or not, but I do know that my insurance has gone up... again, so... I may be ready to try anything once.

All joking aside, socialism is not an issue one should consider flippantly. The issue is dealt with by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his excellent novel, The Blithedale Romance. I love Hawthorne's writing, especially The House of Seven Gables, which is one of my all time favorite novels.

There is an excellent article summarizing the issue of socialism as it relates to The Blithedale Romance by Micah Mattix on The Trinity Forum website. I did not know the history behind Hawthorne's experience with a social community in Massachusetts, and how it may have influenced his writing of this novel.

Whether you agree or disagree with socialism, the article is a great read as it is well written and thought provoking. As a Christian, it made me think deeply about several issues related to socialism and me. I hope it does the same for each of you. Blessings!

Are You Kidding...

In the "are you kidding" category, we have a new venture in New Mexico... Spaceport! An airport for outer space, and it just keeps getting better... it is going to be funded by... you guessed it, us!


Read the story for your self. How is this going to help the economy again?


Proverbs 12:11


"Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense."

What comes around...

goes around... quickly! Justice, at times, is swift and final.


"NEW YORK, NY. A man was knocked down by a car and got up uninjured, but lay back down in front of the car when a bystander told him to feign injury in order to collect insurance money. The car rolled forward and crushed him to death."- Associated Press, 1977



I found this on a quote page and was drawn to it. For me, it shows that even way back in 1977, when I was a kid, there was still this self-centered "me" mentality. I was very fortunate to grow up in a very small town in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. There were two hundred people in my small mill town, and we all knew each other and... actually liked each other. I had three boys that were my friends, and we got away with... nothing because everyone looked out for everyone else.

As I think back to those days, it was a great way to grow up. Of course, when I was a kid, I thought I was sentenced to the Russian Front (to borrow a phrase from that old TV show, Hogan's Heroes). I grew up in the woods climbing trees, building forts, and swimming until dark without a care in the world. We rarely locked our doors in those days, but Monroe Bridge was a very different place.

Sadly, I wonder if there are any Monroe Bridges left? My little town is virtually gone as the paper mill closed 20+ years ago. I will never forget the day that the mill closed as it was the day the town started to die. It was the first time I considered living in another place other than Monroe Bridge. And here I sit, in Huntsville, Alabama marvelling at how God works his wonders using mill closings and moves to the south to bring someone like me to Him. How amazing He is! Blessings!

A Glimpse of the Love of Christ...

Every once in a while, you do get a glimpse of the love of Christ at work in the lives of those in the world. Such is the case of a basketball game in DeKalb, Illinois.

It was a Saturday night in February, and DeKalb High School was playing a non-conference game on the road against Milwaukee Madison. The two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry and planned to get together after the game and share some pizza. But, the game almost never happened.

Earlier that day, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior captain Johntel Franklin died at a local hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after a five-year fight with cervical cancer, but that morning, she began to hemorrhage while Johntel was taking his college ACT exam.
Johntel and several of his teammates were at the hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made to turn off the life-support system. Carlitha Franklin died, only 39 years old.

The Milwaukee-Madison Knights coach, Aaron Womack, Jr., was going to cancel the game, but the DeKalb High coach, Dave Rohlman, told him he wanted the teams to play, even though the game would start late and the Milwaukee Madison team would dress only eight players. Early in the second quarter, Womack saw Franklin out of the corner of his eye walking into the gym, He had come directly from the hospital to the game to root his teammates on.

The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time out. His players went over and hugged their grieving teammate. Fans, too, came out of the stands to hug the grieving boy.

"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said during a telephone interview.

"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."

There was just one minor problem. Since Franklin wasn't put on the pre-game roster, putting him now meant a technical foul that would give the DeKalb team two free throws. It was a tight game, but Womack was willing to give up the two points because it was more important to help his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief by playing. Across the court on the other bench, Rohlman wasn't willing to take the two free throws. He told the referees that he was willing to forget the technical, and they could just let Franklin play.

"I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes, saying, `We're not taking it, we're not taking it," Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule. You have to take them."
That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and Darius McNeal's hand went up in the air. He went to the free throw line alone, dribbled the ball a few times. His first free throw went about two feet, and did not even come. The second barely left his hand.

It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to figure out what was taking place. They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and started applauding this gesture of sportsmanship and love. Soon, everybody in the stands did the same.

"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing to do."

It was the right thing to do... what a blessing to hear those words from any athlete today. The children shall lead shall they not. It is very sad to me that we have to go and search for these stories in our high schools because we will never find any of these stories in our professional ranks. There it is... a glimpse of the love of Christ, found in a place and at a time that is least expected. If you care to read the rest of the story, click HERE; it will do your heart good. Blessings!

Research says... we think we're better than we are!

As I was reading the latest Reader's digest, I stumbled on an article titled, Seven Dumb Things We Do. As I read the article I was amazed that the article actually had some validity to it. For instance, the seventh dumb thing that we do is that we think we are better than we are. Sounds like scripture, right?


The article quotes a Princeton University research team and their study. The team asked people "to estimate how susceptible they and the "average person" were to judgemental biases, most people claimed to be less biased than others." Interesting...

The author states that "this should come as no surprise . Most of us hate to think of ourselves as average or, heaven forbid, below average." There are more interesting tidbits from this article.

Stefano Della Vigna, an associate professor of economics at the University of California Berkely states that "overconfidence is, we think, a very general feature of human psychology." He goes on to say that "nearly everyone is overconfident, except people who are depressed. They tend to be realists." Wow!

The article then documents the fact that as tasks get harder, overconfidence goes up and not down. "So strong is our belief in our own abilities that we often believe we can control even chance events, such as flipping a coin or cutting a deck of cards. But it is an illusion of control."

The more we explore our world and who we are in our world the more we discover that the Biblical interpretation is ... most accurate. Without Christ, we are doomed to be addicted to ourselves as scripture clearly teaches. The first shall be last, the meek shall inherit and scripture goes on and on...

I leave you with the following verse. Blessings!


I Peter 5:5
"Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Parents, Under Attack Again...

I am reading Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point. It is a very interesting book, not Christian in any way, but still interesting just the same. Gladwell's premise is that little things are the tipping points to wide scale epidemics and pandemics.


In one section, Gladwell talks about the teen smoking epidemic, and the very real and sad fact that more teens than ever before are smoking. He goes on to offer two possible strategies for stopping the spread of smoking: the first is to prevent the influential teens from smoking so others will not follow this pattern. The other strategy is to convince teens to emulate adults and not their peers on issues like these. Now, here comes the interesting tidbit; Gladwell goes on to say that this is more difficult because parents "simply do not wield that kind of influence over children."


Now, that is a loaded statement! Gladwell goes on to quote from the Judith Harris book, The Nurture Assumption, that "the evidence for this belief is sorely lacking." Yet, the evidence to support this claim provided by Gladwell was also, sorely lacking.


The major study, referenced by Gladwell, is the Colorado Adoption Project. The study measured two groups of children, the first group was composed of children given up for adoption at birth and placed in homes immediately, and the other group was composed of children born and raised by their parents. The results were predictable: the biological children were similar to their parents in intellectual ability and personality, but the adopted children were not. Gladwell goes on to write that the adopted children "are no more similar in personality or intellectual skill to the people who raised them , fed them, clothed them, read to them, taught them and loved them for sixteen years than they are to any two adults taken at random off the street." Gladwell continues to write about these results as "extraordinary" but are they, really?


Let's look at the information provided by Gladwell. We do not know the actual results of the tests; all we know is that, according to his information, the results were not similar. What does that mean? Were the student abilities lower or were they higher than their adopted parents? Gladwell goes on to say that "if nurture matters so much, then why did the adopted kids not resemble their adopted parents at all?" And, the italics are his, for added effect.


The term "similar" can mean many things. It is defined as having characteristics in common, strictly comparable, and alike in substance or essentials. How does this transfer to this study? Were the parents doctors and the kids drop outs? How many kids in their teen years have similar intellectual abilities or personalities to their parents, who are adults? I am the son of a mother and a father who only attended high school, yet I have several college degrees; does this mean that I am not similar in intellectual ability and personality to my parents according to this study? There are so many questions here that must be answered before one jumps to the very serious conclusion that parents "simply do not wield that kind of influence over children."


The study size for this particular test project was 254 for each study group, hardly an adequate size to broadcast any results to the general population. The term "similar" is a weighty term used in a very serious way, yet it is never defined and explained. As a Christian, we must stand and demand intellectual honesty in areas like these, especially when parents and the influence they have on their own children are under attack. The argument Gladwell is making and Harris and others are supporting is this: peers have more influence than parents.


I will agree that when students enter middle school peers do wield great power over other peers, but only if parents are disengaged and allow peer influence to supersede theirs. Gladwell writes later in the section that "our environment plays - as big if not bigger - a role as heredity in shaping personality and intelligence." But, again, there is a slight of hand at work here. At the end of this section on the epidemic of teen smoking, Galdwell writes this: "The children of smokers are more than twice as likely to smoke as children of nonsmokers." What?


As we read books, articles and studies, we must read with the Christian worldview as our foundation and use scripture as our filter. The Tipping Point is a well written book that is very interesting. Malcolm Gladwell is a talented author who looks at the world in a very different way. In some instances in this book, I truly was inspired by the way he looked at the world, and by the way he was able to identify trends and use them to explain more of the world. Is that not what each and everyone of us should be doing? But, as we explain the world, we should be open to questions about our explanations. When we are open to this we will continue to draw closer to the truth; when we are closed... the truth becomes even more distant. Blessings!

Missing Consequences

I became a Believer at the ripe old age of twenty-six, and my life has not been the same since. I wake each morning with a fresh sense of worth and value in my Lord that, in my previous life, I never had. I am comfortable in who I am and have a greater understanding of my strengths and my many weaknesses. But, I am also acutely aware of the vast differences in a life without Christ and a life with Christ, and it is these differences that prickle me more than most. I write this post as an observation and an opinion and not as a fact or as a truth.

I grew up in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts in a primarily Italian community. I am very much Italian as my mother was the daughter of a father, born and raised in Trentino, Italy, and a mother, whose parents were born and raised in Italy. My father, a Frenchman, was raised in this community and with these values as well. As a people, we were raised with an intense honor, traditional values and to be fiercely loyal with our word and our allegiances. With these came a string of immediate consequences to one's actions that served as parameters and accountability to behavior.

One such example is family. We, growing up, would say anything about anyone with the exception of one's mother and father. A word against either brought an immediate response which served as an immediate consequence and a future deterrent to such a poor choice of words. It was this consequence to, what we deemed, a poor action that served as a natural accountability factor to future behavior. And...it worked remarkably well.

What does this have to do with a life in Christ? Well, I have observed, over the years, that there are some missing consequences in western Christianity. We, Christians, in my view, need more natural consequences to our actions than we currently have. I have heard too many stories of Christians taking advantage of other Christians, and, in the name of forgiveness, never having to account for their poor decision or poor actions. I am, in no way, saying Christians should not forgive because they should, every single time.

What I am saying is that if Christians, and I include myself in this equation, had some immediate consequences awaiting our actions, and we knew of them and saw examples of them daily, we would think twice more about our current decisions leading to our current actions. I believe this to be true of general culture, as well. Part of our problem, across this time and culture, is that there are too many missing consequences.

As Believers, is it not all about our Lord? Every action taken, every word spoken and every thought entertained ...are all not for His glory? Someone, and I have long ago forgotten who, once said to me, "God's sovereignty does not negate the Believer's responsibility." And, I believe that to be true as it aligns nicely with what scripture commands each of us, "to work out our salvation with fear and trembling."

As I contemplate my walk with Christ, I seek more accountability to avoid being what I know I am, woefully addicted to myself. Without Christ, I am nothing, but with Christ, the world is possible as long as all that I do, say and think is for His glory. Blessings to all!

The Future is...Flat?

According to Thomas L. Friedman, the world is flat and so is the future. As I read his book, The World is Flat, I am intrigued by his assessment of the future. He writes that "it was never good to be mediocre in your job, but in a world of walls, mediocrity could still earn you a decent wage. You could get by and then some. In a flatter world, you really do not want to be mediocre or lack any passion for what you do."

If Mr. Friedman is right, that the future will be filled with global competition, then we better prepare our students for this future.

Mr. Friedman writes of the advice he gives his own children regarding this flat future:

"Girls, when I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, "Tom, finish your dinner - people ... are starving. My advice to you is this: Girls, finish your homework - people ... are starving for your jobs. And in a flat world, they can have them, because in a flat world there is no such things as an American job. There is just a job, and in more cases than ever before it will go to the best, smartest, most productive, or cheapest worker - wherever he or she resides."

Is he right? At the moment, he seems more right than wrong, but does it really matter to those of us who walk in Christ? I would have to say...absolutely. We are commanded to care and to be the best, smartest most productive workers that there is and all for His glory. Mediocrity should have no place in the Christian or ever be a goal of the Christian for one simple reason: we are to be reflections of Him. He is never mediocre.

Mr. Friedman may be right; we, in America may not be ready for this flat world, but, we, Christians, should, not only, be ready, we should, also, not be surprised. It is as scripture states:

Zechariah 14:9
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.