Tag Archives: peer pressure

The Importance of Belonging: Repairing the Foundational Rupture in Relationships

Posted on February 25, 2023 by salooper57

Picture eight or so sixth-grade boys, playing football on a narrow strip of grass between two houses. A laundry pole marks one end zone and the sidewalk marks the other. The football has gone into the busy street repeatedly, worrying … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Peace with God, relationships | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Stay Christian After Graduation

Posted on May 29, 2021 by salooper57

In a study of peer influence, psychologists displayed three charts, each with three lines of different lengths, to groups of ten teens. The teens were asked to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on each chart. The teens in each group, minus one, had been secretly instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the second longest line. 75 percent of the time, the lone teen, wanting to blend in, joined the others in casting a wrong vote. Blending in can be deadly to the spiritual life. Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Faith | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

You Aren’t From Around Here, Are You?

Posted on September 14, 2019 by salooper57

“How y’all doin?”
On a trip to Tennessee and North Carolina, my wife and I heard that line again and again. It reminded me of being in Boston, only there it was “How-ah-ya?” or “How-ya-doin?”
I love languages and dialects and so, while we were in Boston, I told my wife I just had to try “How-ah-ya?” on somebody. It took me awhile to work up the nerve – I was afraid of ruffling some New England feathers – but finally tried it out on a clerk in a store. “How-ah-ya?” I asked. My son, who was living in Boston, said I got it wrong. It sounded like I was from the Bronx.
In North Carolina I never did get up the nerve to try “How y’all doin?” I wasn’t sure what the penalty is for impersonating a Southerner and I didn’t want to find out. I certainly didn’t want people thinking I was making fun of them.
Continue reading →

Posted in Lifestyle, Spiritual life | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments