The Life of Virtue

As I try to stay abreast of the latest pop culture news and phenomena, I check the daily headlines in my news feed.  Every now and then, a headline catches my attention and inspires a blog post.  Just a few days ago, I happened upon the following headline from Forbes Magazine : "5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM." I was especially drawn to this article because I'm a morning person.  So, I perused the author's thoughts, which were in list form.  I thought the list of five things was appropriate, but I had a qualm with one thing that was excluded.  The thing that ought to have been on the list, but was omitted, is prayer. An important realization came to me upon brief reflection.  I realized that prayer probably wouldn't be considered by the author or editors, since  Forbes is not a magazine dedicated to spiritual formation and progress.  Forbes is completely dedicated to helping readers achieve success as the secular world define...

Recently, my family and I took a long road trip.  Along the way, a couple of bumper stickers caused me to take a second look.  These weren't the average automobile decor, such as "Honor Student at _____ Elementary School" or "[Insert Favorite Sports Team Here]" or "I'd Rather Be [insert favorite hobby]."  I realized in just a split second that these bumper stickers were trying to say something profound.  Immediately, I also realized that they were quite wrong, and that bumper sticker theology can lead people far astray in their thought processes.  For brevity's sake, one example of bad bumper sticker theology will suffice. Imagine my angst when I saw the following: A quick search on Google Images reveals that this quote, or some similar version of it, is attributed to a Catholic priest.  Not only is this simply wrong, but it is quite disconcerting that a Catholic priest might say something akin.  This quote flies directly in the face of ...