Published in Thoughts And Ideas·PinnedMember-only11 Wise Books to Read Before You DieWhat would you add? — More than 80 years ago, the poet T.S. Eliot wrote these lines, destined to become a maxim: “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” They’re questions that are more urgent than ever, as today’s digital landscape often feels further…Reading10 min readReading10 min read
Jul 19, 2022Is Mormonism Sustainable for Today’s Kids?One day I was walking home from church with my then six-year-old son when he told me that his class had talked about how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. I would have thought nothing of it — except that the topic had caused me grief as a young…Mormon6 min readMormon6 min read
Jul 3, 2022Member-only“Keep Sweet” Unveils the Hidden Horror of PolitenessUtah still has a “keep sweet” problem — “Politeness doesn’t care about morality, and vice versa. If a Nazi is polite, does that change anything about Nazism or the horrors of Nazism? No. It changes nothing, and this nothing is the very hallmark of politeness. A virtue of pure form, of etiquette and ceremony! A show of virtue…Mormon4 min readMormon4 min read
Published in Backyard Church·Mar 8, 2022Member-onlyDiscomfort Is Christlike, Even When Christians Don’t Want to Admit ItOne evening at a church event some years ago, I was cornered by a leader in my congregation who wanted my advice. My spouse had led a lesson for the women at church and in the process made some of them uncomfortable. Why were these women uncomfortable? It wasn’t clear…Religion4 min readReligion4 min read
Jan 24, 2022My Story of Pterygium, a Chronic Eye ProblemUnknown Causes, Attempted Cures — Have you ever been tested for dry eyes? The eye doctor inserts a thin strip of paper in each eye and leaves you to sit, eyes closed, for ten minutes. Then they return and see how wet the paper is. The wetter the paper, the better.Medical4 min readMedical4 min read
Jan 17, 2022Member-onlyMLK’s Faith Crisis Sparked His Fight For Justice“More and more I could see a gap between what I had learned in Sunday school and what I was learning in college.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. went to college at the young age of 15 and was immediately enthralled with the conversations he encountered there. “My days in college were very exciting ones,” he writes. “There was a free atmosphere.” It was there he found Henry David Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience…MLK4 min readMLK4 min read
Published in Interfaith Now·Jan 4, 2022Member-only“Spiritual But Not Religious” Is Not EnoughToo many are falling prey to conspirituality — Ram Dass, famed author of Be Here Now, fell for a con-artist. It was the early 1970s, and Dass longed for a new spiritual instructor after his former guru named Maharaj-ji passed away. One day a friend took him to the basement of her Brooklyn home to meet a woman…Spirituality5 min readSpirituality5 min read
Nov 12, 2021An Open Letter to Charles Eisenstein About Covid and VaccinesDear Charles — First off, I’m a fan. For years, I’ve listened to your interviews, followed your articles, read your book Sacred Economics, and more. I admire your thoughtfulness, the way you envision new ways of being in the world. Like you, I’m disillusioned with current systems in wealthy countries…Charles Eisenstein5 min readCharles Eisenstein5 min read
Published in Age of Awareness·Oct 14, 2021Member-onlyOne to Zero: What Capitalism Ignores, and How to Build the FutureIn his book Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, Facebook investor Peter Thiel argues that founders should build startups that are so innovative they don’t have competitors. It’s best, as the title indicates, to go from zero (nothing) to one (something original). If you…Environment5 min readEnvironment5 min read
Published in Backyard Church·Sep 23, 2021Member-onlyBelief in Sad Christian Heaven Hurts Your RelationshipsForget a future “solemn separation.” Choose each other now. — Heaven is broken, at least as it’s currently envisioned by many Christians around the world. We could look at any number of denominational creeds to see why. For instance, the National Baptist Convention declares that on judgment day “the wicked will be adjudged to endless punishment and the righteous to…Spritiuality4 min readSpritiuality4 min read
