Selfish Empathy…

At first glance, the title above just doesn’t make any sense. How can you be selfish and still focused on the well-being of others? In my opinion, with some explanations, the two interweave nicely together. To me, empathy means being your brother’s keeper, especially those worse off than you are. This attitude is what originally attracted me to Christianity. Helping others just seemed like what … Continue reading Selfish Empathy…

Never Let Anything Supersede This

Christianity is ultimately about loving God and loving others. It should never be co-opted by a political movement, a religious institution, gaining power, obtaining control, spreading influence, enforcing laws, or becoming rich and famous. It’s about a loving relationship with God, and loving all humanity created in God’s divine image—never let anything supersede this — Stephen Mattson If you ask me, one of the worst … Continue reading Never Let Anything Supersede This

Another Benefit Of Personal Journaling

Most of us have personal stories that we wouldn’t share with anyone. They might be a self-perceived character flaw that we don’t want to admit. They could be things that happened to us in the past that permanently scarred us. While I share much of my life here on RJsCorner, I have many of the above that you will never see. If I didn’t have … Continue reading Another Benefit Of Personal Journaling

Calming An Anxious Brain – Part 2

This is a continuation of the post from Monday about a recent New York Times article entitled “5 Ways to Calm Your Anxious Brain“. The first post was about mindfulness. This post will be about journaling and information overload. One I’m pretty good at, and one not so much… Given the fact that I am a lifelong writer, journaling has been a strong part of … Continue reading Calming An Anxious Brain – Part 2

Ambitions Turned Inward – Part 4 – On Becoming Social

Ambitions Turned Inward (ATI) has turned out to be something much more significant that I thought it would at the beginning of this series. The first post was about wrapping my head around the idea of turning my ever present ambitions inward was all about. The second in the series was about discovering what I might want to do with the rest of my life. … Continue reading Ambitions Turned Inward – Part 4 – On Becoming Social

I Am A Frank Loyd Wright Fan

I have been a big Frank Lloyd Wright fan for many years now. One of my early dreams that was too quickly abandoned was to be an architect. I have visited numerous FLW houses and am seriously contemplating making it my 2023 vacation theme. The picture above was one of his Chicago houses that I visited in 2008. I only regret that they don’t allow … Continue reading I Am A Frank Loyd Wright Fan

A Few Thoughts About Christianity – Stephen Mattson

I am not going to “preach” to you, but every Sunday going forward I am going to give you some thoughts from those wiser than me, about what it means to be a Christian. I promise I won’t add any more of my own words than is necessary to get the point across. Today’s post is a Facebook from Stephen Mattson Continue reading A Few Thoughts About Christianity – Stephen Mattson

Why Are Religious People So Afraid Of Humanists

During my years in a Lutheran Bible study group, I can’t tell you how many times the word “humanist” got snarls and sneers whenever it was mentioned. It was as if we were somehow inviting Satan among our midst. There was absolutely nothing even approaching good, said about those despised people. It wouldn’t be until later that I studied humanism to any degree, and discovered … Continue reading Why Are Religious People So Afraid Of Humanists

ATI Part 3 – Forget the Past…

This series is turning out to be deeper than I imagined, so I think it deserves its place among my “Special Projects” and has its own logo. For this, Ambition Turned Inward post, I want to concentrate on the past. Well, sort of. So much of my life’s ambitions were outward. It was all about being successful at helping others. I just didn’t think much … Continue reading ATI Part 3 – Forget the Past…

The Adventures Of Youth… Colorado Mountain Top

I was a single guy of 30 years when I took this adventure. It was on a mountain top in western Colorado, although I don’t remember exactly where now. I spent the year before outfitting my recently purchased Chevy van as a camper. My freshly minted roommate and I left Indiana one morning and were at the 10,000 ft elevation twenty-four hours later. That same … Continue reading The Adventures Of Youth… Colorado Mountain Top

Ambitions Turned Inward – Part 2

This is the second installment about turning inward with my life’s ambitions as suggested by a comment from a recent post. The first post in this series was about wrapping my mind around the concept of inward ambition. This post is about just how to personally do that. Since this series is more than a short-term thing, future posts, however many there are, will be … Continue reading Ambitions Turned Inward – Part 2

Ambitions Turned Inward – Part 1

My recent post about ambition got numerous views and several helpful comments. Thanks for that. Perhaps the most valuable was from my friend Bob Lowry about turning my ambition inward. Bob and I have been friends for more than a decade now, and he has given my invaluable advice over the years. Thanks to my Arizona visit last year, we are no longer just “virtual” … Continue reading Ambitions Turned Inward – Part 1

Faith Should Not Be A Static Thing

Faith should not be a static thing in today’s world, especially since there are so many who are using their version of God to try to shut off your mind to other possibilities. Many very intelligent people have come to view faith as something they don’t want to have any part of because so often it becomes an excuse for lack of thinking or it … Continue reading Faith Should Not Be A Static Thing

“American Aristocracy” Vs “Adversity Builds Character”

All my life I have been stuck between two worlds. As a youth, I didn’t fit in with the in-crowd, but I didn’t fit in with the out-crowd either When I went deaf, I distinctly chose not to be part of the Deaf Culture, but instead, be a deaf man in the hearing world. When I started earning a sizable income from my career, I … Continue reading “American Aristocracy” Vs “Adversity Builds Character”