I found the following TED Talk fascinating because it deals with one of the most important topics in the world: education. How do we, that is, prepare an emerging generation to face the challenges that lie ahead, noting that the challenges we know about – global warming, scarce resources, overpopulation – are gargantuan and that there are tons more we can’t even imagine. But it’s not just the emerging generation. How do we educate ourselves? How do we keep learning in an economy where people are likely to change trades – not just particular jobs but trades and professions – six or seven times in a lifetime? Anant Agarwal is a...

I’m always intrigued by how social media is shaping the way we make and share meaning. Usually, that takes the form of thinking about how various elements of social media or the larger digital culture can help us share the good news. But from time to time it’s also fun to “look back” and imagine what our forebears would have done with social media. Last year I found “The Digital Story of the Nativity” quite fun in that regard; this year it’s “A Social Network Christmas.” Without wanting to spoil too much, I think my favorite moment was when 23 people “unfriend” Joseph for...

After a three month sabbatical from this blog, I’m eager to be back. The time away was very helpful with navigating a move and the need to make some sustained progress on a few larger writing projects, but I was surprised at how much I missed the regular discipline of bible study and reflecting on faith and life that this blog has provided me. So tomorrow I’ll start posting daily bible devotions in the morning and share thoughts and resources on connecting faith and life later each day. As I’ve been thinking about jumping back into this daily routine, I’ve realized there are a few things I’d like to focus on a bit more in the...