Why did Paul send Tychicus to Ephesis? This was one of the questions that we were supposed to answer before meting together in a small group (after reading Ephesians 6 in the Bible). The passage discusses Paul wanting to send Tychicus to give news of their work. When we got together as…
Correcting The Details
When I was a teenager, my dad received a special bonus to take his family out for dinner and so we headed for a fancy French restaurant in our town called The Catacombs. I don’t remember much of the actual meal, but instead one of the conversations. I don’t think…
When Life Breaks Relationships
Relationships are a complicated mix of expectations, communication and growth. In the short-term, relationships grow quickly with people whose life situation is the same as ours. Over time people’s circumstances change. Sometimes it’s us, sometimes it’s the other person, either way it can destroy the relationship. When something life-changing happens,…
Bending The Golden Rule
Sometimes we need to bend the golden rule — we should NOT treat others as we would want to be treated by them. The Golden Rule provides a simple heuristic for empathy. Our actions affect others usually in the same way that the action would affect us. This rule of…
The Cult Of Busy
There was a time when the question, “How are you doing?” was given the non-answer: “Fine”. Lately though, I hear myself giving the answer: “Busy” or perhaps to cover my bases: “Fine… Busy!”. Do I really think I’m more busy than everyone else? And what does that even mean? We…
The Unreasonable Response : Avoid Too Little, Too Late
“We’re under a lot of pressure internally and the decision has not yet been made, but unfortunately it looks like it’s only 40% likely that we’ll be moving forward with you.” Sounds bad, but it could be worse. At least the decision hasn’t been made yet. This is what we…
The Search For Complicity
A cult in the Chicago area believed the world was going to come to an end. They didn’t seem too concerned for others going into that date. They gathered in a home and waited for the end. It didn’t come. After they were proved wrong, you might think that the…
Lipitor – “80% of Heart Attack Victims Have High Cholesterol”
80% of Heart Attack Victims Have High Cholesterol -Lipitor Television Ad If you had high cholesterol, would you start feeling worried? Lipitor is lying. Not in a factual sense, but in an emotional one. This is an example of a great statistical lie. One that we have a hard time…
My Failure To Communicate
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw Ann and I were sitting at a Starbucks having a Define-The-Relationship conversation. Like so many others falling in love, I wanted to define our relationship without needing to use the standard terms –…
The 50/50 Fallacy
The ability to distinguish sensations resulting from our own actions from those with an external cause is a fundamental aspect of human behaviour. This distinction is in some cases reflected directly in perception: for example, tickling oneself produces a less intense sensation than being tickled by someone else. – Predictive…