Here’s where the roving eye of Bob Sitze lands on interesting or important events, trends, discoveries, opinions or research that are part of contemporary life. Sometimes missed in spiritually oriented utterances, the stuff of life consists of all the places where God’s hand stirs, supports or motivates. These blogs may also include links for further information or action.
This entry completes a series of entries about my reactions to the remarkable insights in a *new book about awe. Today: What’s the big deal, anyhow? I owe you an explanation about what lies under my perhaps-dispassionate reporting about awe and wonder. I’ll be direct: As desirable and practiced attitudes, awe and wonder may hold promise as solutions—or at least corrections—to some of theMORE...
This entry continues my reactions to the remarkable insights in a *new book about awe. Today: Congregational worship as awe experiences. Reading the descriptions of social scientist and author Dacher Keltner regarding awe-filled experiences, I’ve realized that worship likely involves awe. When we worship God together with other believers, that experience can invoke, invite and inspire awe in theMORE...
One of my favorite Scriptures has the Holy Spirit interceding “with *sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26b NRSV). The passage has been helpful when I realize that I don’t always know who or what to pray about. I also feel sad about the state of the world, and the difficulties and terrors so many people are facing at this very moment. I’m not sad about myself—I’m grateful to be alive, findingMORE...
(What follows is a summary of the thoughts shared by our pastor this past Sunday. For most congregations this was Good Shepherd Sunday, but Pastor Shelly Satran found something more than that inside the day’s lectionary. Brilliant and inspiring stuff…..) On this Sunday, it’s common—and perhaps expected—that we revisit the familiar analogies embedded in Psalm 23 and Jesus’ musings aboutMORE...
Previously I reviewed a new book about awe. In this entry I share some of the author’s significant observations. Today: His basic framework to describe this phenomenon. Like most fundamental human emotions, awe presents itself in simple terms. UC Berkeley Professor Dacher Keltner and New York University collaborator Jonathan Haidt define awe as “1the feeling of being in the presence ofMORE...
One of my daily prayers revolves around the hope that I can find practical help in alleviating the anxieties that circle my soul like hungry predators. A new book on the subject of awe seems to be an answer to those prayers. (Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. By Dacher Keltner. Copyright © 2023. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-9848-7968-4) ProfessorMORE...
When it comes to end-of-life preparations, I think Chris and I have done a good job. (Wills, trusts, insurance policies, powers-of-attorney, memorial worship services, etc.) One vexing task remains, though: What to do about all the aspects of our estate that are primarily digital? Some writers have dubbed this phenomenon “digital inheritance”, a legacy that may present a problem for those whoMORE...
In my ongoing effort to discover contemporary relevance in Bible stories, I want to devote today’s entry to the story of Isaac’s Blessing of Jacob, which might also be subtitled, “A clever younger brother *fleeces his aging father.” (Genesis 27) You will recall how Jacob (“the Supplanter”) duped his now-blind dad into giving Jacob a powerful blessing actually meant for Esau, Jacob’s brother. TheMORE...
Along with Holy Cross Day (September 14), each Good Friday is a good time to contemplate the meaning of the cross in our lives. That reflection includes remembering with both sorrow and gratitude Jesus’ redemptive death by gruesome torture—nails in his wrists, thirst/hunger, exhaustion and his slow death by asphyxiation. In his suffering and dying we are granted forgiveness and salvation—aMORE...
We live in confusing times—perhaps also vexing, anxious, over-stuffed or dangerous? Two questions dog our days: “What’s going on?” And *“Now what?” (The first one’s too complex for these few lines, so let me concentrate on the second one.) In some situations, our well-being and safety hang in the balance. After divorces, accidents, economic downturns, medical emergencies, disasters orMORE...
BOB SITZE has filled the many years of his lifework in diverse settings around the United States. His calling has included careers as a teacher/principal, church musician, writer/author, denominational executive staff member and meat worker. Bob lives in Wheaton, IL.