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Candy Capitalism

Halloween. Ah yes, that magical time of year when I get to teach my kids about America and the power of Capitalism! What's that? You don't use Halloween as an object lesson to teach your kids the same principles on wealth distribution and profit? Well, allow me to enlighten you on my teaching method. You see, just before the neighborhood opens up to the ritual taunting of "trick-or-treat" on the evening of Halloween, every child has a choice. They can choose to stay home and eat the candy their parents purchased or they can go out into the neighborhood. If they choose to sit at home and eat the candy given them by their parents then they will not need to exert any energy at all and they will have some candy immediately at their fingertips. However, this option also requires that they share their candy with other children who knock on the door and they will soon discover a rapidly diminishing supply of sugary sweets in their bucket. If they choose to go out in

Take Off Your Shoes

I came home from teaching piano lessons tonight right as the kids were brushing their teeth in the bathroom. After setting down my things, I immediately went upstairs to help with the bedtime routine. I was promptly greeted at the top of the stairs by the twins' warm smiles and exaggerated hugs. When I asked Isaiah if he was ready for bed his only response was, "Dada, I think you should take off your shoes." This is not the first time he has instructed me in this. Especially if I am upstairs on the carpet, Isaiah is the first to remind me to take my shoes off. While on the surface level one could deduce that Isaiah is concerned for the well being of our luxuriously thread bare flooring area, I see a much more prominent statement that he is making. Dada, won't you stay a while? And it cuts me to the quick every time. Maybe much like your family, we only wear shoes when we are headed outside. And that means that there is only one logical explanation for wearin

False Altruism (Prayers)

I've seen a disturbing trend among prayer circles within the Christian Church.  It goes something like this: -The group leader asks if there are any prayer requests we need to be considering. -Someone in the circle raises a hand and mentions a dear friend of theirs (whom no one else in the circle knows) who is without a job, and could we please pray for them to get a job. -Another person in the circle raises a hand and mentions their neighbor whose mother-in-law is battling cancer. Could we please pray for her. -Another person asks for prayer for an unspoken request. ...and on and on it goes. There are 3 things about these prayer circles that have me concerned: 1. We have a tendency to only mention prayer requests that are not personal (to us, anyway). We are more than willing to share what is going on in someone else's life, but not vulnerable enough to share what is going on in our own lives. (Now I realize there are a couple reasons for this. One is that it