Category Archives: Living My Life

New Life, New Categories

Posted on September 28, 2016 by hessd

The time it takes me to go from “having an experience” to “having “a kind of experience” has gotten perilously short. I don’t think I have put anyone in danger yet, but the transition from the one to the other … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Paying Attention | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

An inadequate joke

Posted on August 24, 2016 by hessd

I have a joke in mind. My mind produced it one night recently when I was sleeping. So far, no one has liked it, which makes it a really unfunny joke, and the experience has turned me to thinking about … Continue reading →

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The Muppet Musicians of Bremen

Posted on August 10, 2016 by hessd

In 1972, when The Muppet Musicians of Bremen was broadcast, my children were 12, 10, and 8, so I am pretty sure we watched it together. But somehow, the family got a CD of the show, and my kids were … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Fitting in

Posted on August 2, 2016 by hessd

It isn’t always what you want to do, of course, but it is probably something you always want to be able to do. In Abraham Maslow’s well-known hierarchy of needs, “fitting in” and “not fitting in” are adjacent goals. My … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

How to be seen and heard

Posted on June 21, 2016 by hessd

Much to my surprise, I discover that I am not quite finished with the movie, The Intern. In my earlier post [“The Intern as a Theological Prop,” on March 11] I considered the whole plot and let my theological sensitivities … Continue reading →

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Generosity and the Discipline of the Market

Posted on June 12, 2016 by hessd

This is another celebration of a remarkable Starbucks discussion. That is why I chose such an academic-sounding title for it; all that formality sounds like a celebration to me.  It was the kind of discussion from which the participants leave … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Living My Life, Society, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

When fathers are teachers

Posted on June 5, 2016 by hessd

I’ve decided this year to celebrate my experiences of being a father. Not all of them deserve to be celebrated, of course. I still regret the time I punished one of my kids for an offense another kid later confessed … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Living My Life, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

My blog is 6 years old today

Posted on May 30, 2016 by hessd

Today is May 30, 2016. It is the sixth anniversary of my birth as a blogger. Or six years after I gave birth to the blog.  It’s a question of perspective, I guess.  And after six years of this, I’d … Continue reading →

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“It’s in the Book”

Posted on May 24, 2016 by hessd

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Matthew 7:6, KJV. As you can almost tell, even with the … Continue reading →

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Autonomous Christians

Posted on April 17, 2016 by hessd

Can Christian persons be autonomous? I have three settings where I would like to place that question. In those three settings, the answers are: absolutely not, of course, and “you’re going to have to be more specific.” Setting 1: Living … Continue reading →

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