A scientist approaches God and says, “Listen, we’ve decided we no longer need you. Nowadays, we can clone people, transplant hearts and do all kinds of things that were once considered miraculous.” God hears the guy out before replying. “All right,” he says. “To see whether or not you still need me, why don’t we have a man-making contest?” “I’m in,” says the scientist. “Now, we’re going to do this just...
Something there is about a list. Its orderly encapsulation of trailing bits of knowledge appeals to our inherent desire to categorize, to contain in neat packages the glut of the world’s information. If we can catalogue it, we can imagine it. To wit, the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, a compilation recently published by an esoteric British publication called The Watkins Review, applies a sense of...
Regret is such an unpleasant emotion. It nibbles at the edges of choice, eroding certainty and filling the mind with uncomfortable contemplations. In full force, it suffocates the spirit, insisting upon a recognition of past decisions whose subsequent second-guessing can leave a soul reeling with remorse. Best to avoid the stuff altogether. A recent study out of the States—Regrets of the Typical American: Findings...
What ill cannot find relief in the wet nose of a Labrador? What question cannot be answered by the irrefutable weight of a lap-curled Tabby? What problem cannot be solved with the undulating song of a budgie? Pets have much to offer the flesh-covered companions with whom they share their lives, all of it gloriously intangible. In their company, we can transcend the surly bonds of our earthly existence and somehow...
“In our daily lives,” said celebrated author Arthur Clarke, “we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” It’s a lesson the world could stand to learn, given the stark absence of gratitude that characterizes the professional landscape most of us occupy. According to a recent Gallup poll, a full 65% of people say they don’t feel appreciated at work. For the...