Finding Your Soul by David Anderson
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Inoculated Against Faith
In some ways, I had a traditional ‘old South’ upbringing, meaning that I spent some time in a military school, and acquired an inoculum of the military ethic that is still with me today: honor, duty, loyalty. -E. O. Wilson I ran across those words this week and stopped. Inoculum is the substance used…
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A Lump in the Throat
I sat last night by an open window, and a cool breeze swept suddenly across my face. I heard the orange leaves rustled in the Maple. The papers on the desk levitated momentarily and the hair on my arms stood up. I felt suddenly as if I were out of doors, but the outside had…
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Fear of Falling
Watching Felix Baumgartner’s jump from 24 miles up at the edge of space I’m reminded of how basic is that fear of falling. As I watched the video I had two, opposite reactions. What must it be like to leap from such magisterial heights? (What is it that makes us back away from precarious heights…
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The Broken Pot
Many of the people who come to me with a problem or difficulty are struggling with their own imperfection, their own brokenness. We are so hard on ourselves. We can perhaps forgive others, but we cannot forgive ourselves. I know this problem from the inside. I’m a recovering perfectionist. I want things to be perfect…
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“Exhaustion is Not a Status Symbol”
I’m a big fan of University of Houston professor Brené Brown. I first saw her on Ted Talks. Brown does research on vulnerability, and how it leads to a more fulfilling personal and professional life. In her column “On Leadership” at the Washington Post, Lillian Cunningham recently interviewed Brené Brown, who shares her thoughts on…
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A Teaspoon of Sand
Ted Ryan, a friend of mine, told me about an experience that goes under the category of “the things a child can imagine.” He was giving his four year-old son breakfast before he went off to work, but the boy was just sitting there. He wasn’t touching his cereal. So Ted says to his son,…
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Elevator Rules
Everybody knows the Elevator Rules. Rule #1 Stand facing the door. Rule #2 Space yourself evenly in the elevator car. Rule #3 Stand still. Rule #4 Don’t talk to strangers. Rule #5 Keep your eyes on the floor indicator lights. There’s some wisdom in elevator etiquette, how to conduct yourself when you’re locked into a…
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The Smile of Faith
I read this week that a typical small child smiles six hundred times a day, and old men smile two and a half times a day. That tells you all you need to know about the course of human life. As we get older, we get more “serious.” I put that in quotes, because mostly…
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You Are Loved
It’s hard to believe, but in the first part of the twentieth century, psychologists and doctors were suspicious of nurses who wanted to pick up newborn infants in the hospital nursery and hold them. Some doctors observed that infants who were picked up by nurses got sick, and concluded that the close contact had transmitted…