Author: LAH

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The Very Best Christmas Cookie

“Here, you will need to learn these recipes!” My future mother-in-law pressed the cookbook into my hands. She was smiling, but I knew that she was serious. Pete’s mom was 100% Finnish, and now she expected me to help carry on her family traditions.

Finnish cookbookThe Finnish Cookbook, by Beatrice A Ojakangas, was published in 1964, and to a great extent, the contents reflected that era. There were numerous casseroles and few vegetable dishes. Almost half the book was devoted to the “coffee table”—a spread of cookies, cakes, breads, tarts, and tortes all containing huge quantities of butter, cream, and sugar. It all looked delicious—and really, really bad for you. I quickly realized that while I might learn to make these things, I was going to have to ration them carefully!

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Jigsaw Conversation

Leslie finishing 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle_DSCF0628Ah, Christmas. We’ve looked forward to it all year. There’s a crackling fire in the fireplace while snow softly carpets the ground outside. Stockings are hung, presents are wrapped, cookies are baked. Carols play quietly in the background while the succulent turkey browns in the oven. Best of all, the family is gathered together, perhaps for the first time all year.

And everyone is staring at their smart phone.

Not quite the family moment you’d envisioned? I have the perfect solution. It costs under $20 (sometimes half that), requires no batteries, and is guaranteed to bring the family together around the table. No, It’s not the turkey. It’s a jigsaw puzzle.

Did I mention some assembly is required?

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Good Answers for Hard Questions

You’ve heard it before:

  • All religions are the same.
  • Suffering is proof that God doesn’t exist.
  • Christians are so narrow minded!
  • Religion does more harm than good.
  • A loving God would never send anyone to hell.
  • Science has disproved Christianity.
  • The Bible isn’t a reliable document.

You’ve run into these ideas in books or articles. They’ve issued from the mouths of friends or family members. You might even agree with some, or all, of them. Skepticism and atheism are oh, so trendy. Entire networks of blogs are devoted to dissing God and religion, usually with plenty of snide comments and a great degree of sarcasm. (I’ve often wondered why people get so snarky when it comes to criticizing other people’s beliefs.)

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One Way to Alleviate Poverty

It’s that time of year again. The Salvation Army bell ringers are stationed in front of stores, markets, and malls, soliciting donations. My email inbox is full of requests for funds from organizations as diverse as World Vision and National Audubon. Our small group has “adopted” a single mom and her three kids—we’re helping with decorations, gifts, and special meals. We’re all familiar with the idea of donating food and clothing, or perhaps simply cash, especially during the holiday season.

But do these donations really help?

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Does Religion Create Bad Kids?

Have you heard the news? According to the Los Angeles Times, “Religion doesn’t make kids more generous or altruistic, study finds.” The Guardian chose a more negative headline: “Religious children are meaner than their secular counterparts, study finds.”

Could this possibly be true? What study is this? How was it designed? Who ran the experiment? When something this counter-intuitive makes headlines, my brain immediately starts flashing a “caution” sign. In this case, my brain was right. There are a number of issues that make me cry “foul!”

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Red Cups, Seasons Greetings, and Jesus

Starbucks-Red-Cup

(I was going to post something about microenterprise, but I wanted to get this up while it was still timely. You’ll have to wait a few weeks for the microenterprise post.)

Here we go again. Christmas is coming. And in the spirit of the season, Christians are getting angry.

  • We’re angry when someone says “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
  • We’re angry that our kids are on winter break instead of Christmas vacation.
  • We’re angry that Starbucks has plain red cups.

Seriously? Do we have nothing better on which to spend our time and energy?

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Helping the Poor, Part 3

(This is the third article in a series on poverty. If you missed the previous two, please back up a few weeks and read those posts.)

What does poverty look like around the world?

Before we get any further, let me clarify some terminology. It turns out that sociologists use the terms absolute poverty and relative poverty, and it’s important to know the difference. According to the UNESCO website,

Absolute poverty measures poverty in relation to the amount of money necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. The concept of absolute poverty is not concerned with broader quality of life issues or with the overall level of inequality in society. The concept therefore fails to recognise that individuals have important social and cultural needs. This, and similar criticisms, led to the development of the concept of relative poverty. Relative poverty defines poverty in relation to the economic status of other members of the society: people are poor if they fall below prevailing standards of living in a given societal context.

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Ghastly Gargoyles

gargoyle over Paris

Notre Dame gargoyle overlooking Paris.

Have you visited a medieval cathedral such as Notre Dame, Westminster Abbey, or the incredibly tall cathedral in Cologne, Germany? I love the soaring arches, ornate architecture, stained glass windows, and the quiet, contemplative spirit inside. In fact, I think they’re altogether lovely, except for one thing: the gargoyles. It just makes no sense. Why in the world would the Christians of the Middle Ages put such evil-looking monstrosities on the very buildings they were dedicating to the worship of God?

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