Category Archives: Lifestyle

Alexa, Stop Creeping Me Out

Posted on March 17, 2018 by salooper57

Yet another reason why I don’t own a smartphone or tablet. Alexa, Amazon’s artificial intelligence-based personal assistant, has been laughing at her masters, and it is creeping them out. According to Amazon, it just a voice recognition flaw, but when … Continue reading →

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The Key to the Good Life

Posted on February 17, 2018 by salooper57

The good life is all about good relationships. Our most serious problems and our greatest accomplishments involve relationships. Studies have repeatedly shown that good relationships contribute more to happiness than success, and bad relationships contribute more to unhappiness than failure. … Continue reading →

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The Strange History of St. Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 10, 2018 by salooper57

It’s almost Valentine’s Day. The pressure is on. Forget to buy a gift, and you might be in the doghouse. Forget to send a card, and you’ll be lucky to get the doghouse key. I almost always remember to buy … Continue reading →

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Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide?

Posted on February 3, 2018 by salooper57

The U.S. Department of the Treasury maintains three gift funds, one of which is known as the “Conscience Fund,” established in 1811. The name stuck after the Civil War when a former Army quartermaster who had misappropriated funds sent a … Continue reading →

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Churches as Contempt-free and Condemnation-free Zones

Posted on January 27, 2018 by salooper57

It is generally acknowledged that our society has become increasingly mean-spirited. Unless today’s politician is chronically incensed and habitually scornful, no one will take him or her seriously. The so-called “liberal elite” are famously contemptuous: that conservatives are morally-challenged dimwits … Continue reading →

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Common Ways – and One Uncommon Way – to Handle Conflict

Posted on January 6, 2018 by salooper57

The beginning of a new year can serve as a catalyst for dealing with old problems, including long-standing relational conflicts. Every family – every person – experiences conflict. Two people are all that it takes to set the stage and … Continue reading →

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Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?

Posted on December 30, 2017 by salooper57

People who make New Year’s resolutions overwhelmingly fail to keep them. Dan Diamond, writing in Forbes, reports that researchers at the University of Scranton found that only 8 percent of people actually keep their resolutions. A failure rate that exceeds … Continue reading →

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e-Christianity and the e-Christians it Produces

Posted on December 16, 2017 by salooper57

Work schedule getting in the way of church? Don’t like the preacher? Out too late on Saturday night and unable to get up for Sunday service? No worries. There’s always e-Church. You can do church online: stream services, listen to … Continue reading →

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America Needs a Workable Sexual Ethic

Posted on December 2, 2017 by salooper57

Not Matt Lauer too. I liked Matt Lauer. He seemed like a down-to-earth guy, someone who enjoyed his work and was good at it. Unlike some of the people on television, I never felt like Matt Lauer thought he was … Continue reading →

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If I Could Change One Thing, It Would Be Me

Posted on November 11, 2017 by salooper57

My wife and I recently traveled to Texas to visit our son and daughter-in-law and to do a little hiking in the Hill Country. For many weeks before our trip, I researched flights, car rentals, lodging and hiking trails. I … Continue reading →

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