The Blessing of Solitude

From Justin Taylor's blog, I learned of a series by Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church on the issue of solitude and silence before God. I've sampled it enough to recommend the whole series. How we Americans need silence!

Here are the topics and the links:
1. Four Ways to Live your Life
2. Four Ways to Change Your Life
3. Understanding Silence and Solitude
4. Silence and Solitude Stealers
5. Silence and Solitude Journaling Template

I hope you find some time to be silent during this Advent season.

UPDATE: Pope Benedict XVI opens Advent preparation and speaks of the "joy of waiting." Read it here.

Thanks for reading.

7 Stories Barack Obama Does Not Want Told

Here's a story from Politico today. What are the 7 stories Barack Obama does not want told? Here's the summary:
1. He thinks he's playing with Monopoly money.
2. Too much Leonard Nimoy (i.e., he doesn't feel anyone's pain)
3. That's the Chicago way (i.e., his staff is a bunch of Chicago thugs)
4. He's a pushover.
5. He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe (i.e., he denies American Exceptionalism)
6. President Pelosi (she's the real power in Washington)
7. He's in love with the man in the mirror.

Obama and Diplomatic Weakness

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. So much going on...writing, parenting, grading, teaching. I'll recommend the following article, since it summarizes so well what our president is finding out: the world is not a nice place, and wanting people to like you gets you nowhere in an evil world full of dictators and bullies. Read it here. Here's how the article begins:

When he entered office, US President Barack Obama promised to inject US foreign policy with a new tone of respect and diplomacy. His recent trip to Asia, however, showed that it's not working. A shift to Bush-style bluntness may be coming.