Author: Wes White

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What Will Make Us Truly Happy?

When you think about it, everything we do aims at one thing: happiness. Many things can make us happy to some degree, but we are always looking for that which will truly satisfy us. We want something that will give a lasting joy and peace that leaves no regret.

In spite of the fact that happiness is the goal, happiness generally eludes us. We pour our energy into a variety of things, hoping they will make us happy, but they always disappoint. In the United States, people in the tens of millions turn to anxiety and depression medication to help them cope with life. I am not judging those who choose to do that (it’s sometimes necessary, in my view). I merely point this out to demonstrate that happiness seems to elude us.

So, what is it that makes us truly happy? In spite of the fact that happiness is what we want, it’s surprising how little time we actually spend thinking about it. Ancient philosophers spent a lot of time thinking about this question. They did not want to pursue happiness haphazardly. They wanted to know what would really make people happy and how.

The Christian theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas summarized this ancient thought in his famous book, Summa Theologica, or Summary of Theology. In the second section of the first part of the work, in the second question (yeah, it’s not exactly what we could a “summary”), he discusses the question, what makes people happy? Aquinas helps us think about this question by first helping us see where we will not find happiness. Here’s what he says.

1. We won’t find happiness in money. Why? Because we seek money in order to be able to get something else. If we seek money to purchase something else, then money cannot be that which would make us happy. To discover what happiness is, we would have to ask, what do we want to do with the money? What do we think that it buys us? Continue reading “What Will Make Us Truly Happy?”

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Burns Night

“Have you ever heard of Burns night?” My brother asked me.

“No. I don’t think I have.” I replied.

“It’s a Scottish holiday celebrating the life and poetry of Robert Burns.” He said.

This was December. Burns night was in January. Driving home from visiting my Brother, I thought, I am going to do a party for Burns night. At the time, I had no idea what that meant.

I knew who Robert Burns was. He was and is the Scottish national poet. My brother and I were both interested in him because of our interest in our Scottish heritage. My mother is a Keith. My father is a Lindsey (through his mother). The Lindsey’s and Keith’s played prominent roles in the history of Scotland. Through the Lindsey side, we are descended from the great King Robert the Bruce. So, my brother and I take pride in our Scottish heritage. Burns night sounded like a good way for me to express it.

I started talking about the party with a few friends who also had Scottish heritage or interest. They liked the idea.

So, I began researching what it would take to do a Burns Night celebration. I found a recommended running order for Burns night on the BBC page. Here’s what it included: Continue reading “Burns Night”

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10 Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Help You Live Well

For Halloween this year, my wife decided that I would be Waldo from the Where’s Waldo? series of books. I decided to tell people that I was dressing up as Ralph Waldo Emerson. I thought, I could tell them that I was Ralph Waldo Emerson and then quote him. So, I went to Google and searched for “quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson.” I was astonished! There was wonderful and helpful quote after wonderful and helpful quote.

Now, I didn’t tell many people that I was Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I didn’t remember any of the quotes. What I realized, though, was that I needed to read. I have now read several of his essays, but I love his book The Conduct of Life. Emerson provides so much solid advice for thinking about life well and living well. Here are ten quotes from this book that will help you think and live well.

These quotes are taken from Emerson: Essays and Lectures. You can read this book online here.

1. “To me, however, the question of the times resolved itself into a practical question of the conduct of life. How shall I live? We are incompetent to solve the times” (943). Focus on living well and what you have power over, don’t swamp your brain with worries about the big issues you can’t control.

2. “The first wealth is health. Sickness is poor-spirited, and cannot serve any one; it must husband its own resources to live. But health or fulness (sic) answers its own ends, and has to spare, runs over, and inundates the neighborhoods and creeks of other men’s necessities” (972). If we are not healthy, we cannot push forward. If we are healthy, our life will flow over in blessings to others.

3. “[I]n our flowing affairs a decision must be made,—the best, if you can; but any is better than none. There are twenty ways of going to a point, and one is the shortest; but set out at once on one” (983). Try to do something significant. Don’t get paralyzed by trying to figure out what the exact best is. Continue reading “10 Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Help You Live Well”

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A Theological Framework for Processing Racism

[Note: see my article discussing these ideas at much greater length here]

To talk about race in America is a difficult thing, but it needs to be done. I’ve given a lot of thought to the matter, but I’m by no means an expert. There’s no doubt that some will find this post lacking in a number of ways, but we’ve got to have the conversation.

Let me say right up front that the first thing I want to do in this conversation is listen. I want to hear what others have to say on this matter. I recognize that others may not share my perspective. My goal is to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. I welcome your feedback and thoughts on these matters.

When most people hear the word “racism,” they hear racial resentment, animosity, or hatred. The problem is that we can have prejudice and injustice toward other people without a feeling of conscience hatred. This can occur when we do not positively value others, listen to them, and connect with them.

There’s nothing wrong with loving those closest to us or those who are a part of our own groups. This rooted in the God-given connection to our family. We should take special care of those closest to us. As the Apostle Paul said, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8).

The trouble is that this allegiance exceeds its bounds. Our groups get an allegiance that they don’t deserve, and other groups receive a contempt that they do not deserve. This tendency is captured well by Jesus who said, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (Matthew 5:46–47). Continue reading “A Theological Framework for Processing Racism”

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A Morning Hymn (from Paradise Lost)

A short prayer: Hail universal Lord, be bounteous still [ 205 ]
To give us onely good; and if the night
Have gathered aught of evil or conceald,
Disperse it, as now light dispels the dark.

A longer version: These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
Almightie, thine this universal Frame,
Thus wondrous fair; thy self how wondrous then! [ 155 ]
Unspeakable, who sitst above these Heavens
To us invisible or dimly seen
In these thy lowest works, yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thought, and Power Divine:
Speak yee who best can tell, ye Sons of Light, [ 160 ]
Angels, for yee behold him, and with songs
And choral symphonies, Day without Night,
Circle his Throne rejoycing, yee in Heav’n,
On Earth joyn all ye Creatures to extoll
Him first, him last, him midst, and without end. [ 165 ] Continue reading “A Morning Hymn (from Paradise Lost)”

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