What is shame? A small voice whispers, “something is wrong with you; you should be better; you should have it all together.” Many of us have heard this whisper of insufficiency whether it concerns our appearance, emotions, or behavior. At the core of these whispers, there are lies that tell us we are unworthy of […]
Busyness: Where Thoreau and the Bible Meet
American society extols the virtues of being busy. Busyness has now become a status symbol, to the extent that people grant higher status to those who use items such as bluetooth headsets (linked to multitasking) instead of headphones (associated with leisure).1 Whereas certain cultures and historical eras valued leisure time as a signal of wealth […]
Post-Election 2020: Where do we go from here?
The general sentiment on this college campus after Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election has been one of relief and celebration. Soon after major news networks called the election, dance parties and fireworks lit up parts of the city, and yet, on the steps of the Tennessee State Capitol, over a hundred Trump supporters […]
Dr. Douglas Heimburger: An Interview on Faith, Health, and Healthcare during the Pandemic
Transcribed and edited by Grace Liu, Andrew Warren, & Yuhang Zhang What can the COVID-19 pandemic teach us about health and healthcare? What deeper realities have been uncovered about the nature of suffering and true flourishing? How can the Christian worldview offer insight and hope in this current public health crisis? We recently spoke with […]
What We Can Learn from Christian Responses to Past Outbreaks
The word “unprecedented” has been thrown around so frequently that it is easy to think the world has never experienced disease before. However, historical outbreaks and the response of contemporary church leaders provide a remarkable precedent for us to follow. From third century plagues of the Roman Empire to the recent Ebola outbreak, spiritual leaders […]
Gratitude in the Face of Suffering
The outbreak of the coronavirus is likely the most life-altering event most of us can remember. We are generally too young to remember 9/11, and the 2008 financial crisis did not affect daily life to this extreme. It has single-handedly brought the seemingly imperturbable flow of daily life to a grinding halt. Such an event […]