"We want the past to persist, because the past gives us permanence. It tells us who we are and where we belong. But what if your most cherished recollections are also the most ephemeral thing in your head?" Jonah Lehrer, in his Wired article about the way memory works--and the efforts to develop pharmaceuticals that can erase traumatic memories.
“Christianity gives me a very strong basis for my faith. I don’t think that democracy can be a faith. Only a more ultimate goal would allow me to withstand all the difficulties I’ve gone through.” Read this fascinating NYT article about Chinese dissident Yu Jie, who works for democracy in China but only under a "more ultimate goal." He's starting a book on the history of Christianity in China.
Your clothing is hazardous to your health.
"People who like to write in cafes are onto something, it seems: A moderate level of noise—the equivalent of the background buzz of conversation — prompts more-creative thought, according to a study." (WSJ)
"It's not something that we like to talk about, but doctors die, too. What's unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared with most Americans, but how little. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care that they could want. But they tend to go serenely and gently." The WSJ has an article on why doctors die differently than the general public.
The easier a name is to pronounce, the easier it is to find the person likeable.
I had to laugh at the author's reference to Judas as the "alleged betrayer" and to Simon Peter's "un-Christian flourish" of (claims the author) calling for the death of Ananias and Sapphira. Still, you should read the latest National Geographic story on the Apostles. Once the Apostles walked off the pages of the New Testament, what happened to them? Where did they go? The NG piece explores the accounts (history? legend?) that survive in pilgrimage sites today. It's interesting, and yet the report reinforces my Baptist convictions that what counts is the authoritative message (captured in the New Testament) and not doubtful claims about the messengers. Cherish and live the message, but be suspicious of those who profit from superstitions about the messengers.
"Poor sleep patterns are linked to stress, depression, memory loss, weight gain, lower attention, increased accidents. Good sleep habits, on the other hand, are associated with longer life, weight loss, increased creativity, athletic stamina, and higher grades in school. No wonder Shakespeare called sleep 'Nature’s soft nurse.' We know all this, yet as a culture, many of us continue to lead sleep-deprived lives." Karen Swallow Prior explains why good sleep is important to believers.
Scientists have been able to grow a new plant from a 32,000 year-old seed. Pastors looking for sermon illustrations: You're welcome.
"What do you call those soft rolls of dust that collect on the floor under your bed? Many people know them as dust bunnies. But in parts of the Northeast, you'd call them dust kitties; in the South, house moss; in Pennsylvania, you might call them woolies. There are, in fact, at least 174 names by which Americans call these bits of fluff, including bunny tails, frog hair, cussywop, woofinpoofs and—perhaps most evocatively—ghost manure." This is the opening of an article about the just-completed Dictionary of American Regional English (known as DARE). Very cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment