Good or bad: How we come to love negative characters
It is as surprising as it is real: negative characters like Dexter Morgan, from the eponymous Dexter, and Walter White, from Breaking Bad, have been cropping up in popular culture more and more often lately. Since when, how, and why have anti-heroes gained so much popularity?
People who face tragedies with eyes wide open
When faced with great tragedies, the most overwhelming feeling is one of helplessness. What can we do to change the lives of the hurting for the better? How can we help when not even the strong can find solutions? The answer is not simple, but it is more accessible than we might believe if it includes empathy, courage, and the faith that any...
Children’s finances
Mel Rees, a contemporary Christian author, observed that “money [...] is life [...] in a tangible form.” He reasoned that life is “an expenditure of time and talent,” while money is “the result of the use of time and talent.”
“Courting controversy”: When taking a stand can risk it all
Naomi Osaka has forever tarnished the sanctity of the great game of tennis... at least, according to the media.
COVID-19: Helping children (and others) with viral anxiety
Even in difficult times there are many things we can do at home to help children as well as teenagers to feel less worried.
The gospel of consumerism: How shopping became our church
"When I could not decide between two shirts, they encouraged me to buy both." This is a line from the postmodernist novel "White Noise", written by Don DeLillo. This way of thinking encapsulates one of the defining features of consumerism: the idea that more is better.
When one cries, the other tastes salt
Right at the start of the political thriller, The Post, a scene portrays military analyst Daniel Ellsberg with an empty gaze and a soul burdened by the horrors of the Vietnam war he was forced to document for the United States Department of Defense.
Depression, a disease of civilisation
Five decades ago, when the World Organization for Social Psychiatry was established, many thought it was a joke. Others, being more analytical, tried to prove that mental illness can only be an individual experience; that the problem always exists only in an individual and never in a group.
From me to us | Friendship and reciprocity
The wisdom of friendship consists in finding those who do not require a price, or ask you to change.
Freedom of expression: from use to abuse
I clearly remember the days following the Revolution of 1989 in Romania. Whoever you met would speak about freedom: “Now we can say what we think out loud. We no longer have to whisper. We are free!”
How old is sadness?
“My sadness hears the unborn dogs / barking at the unborn people.” (Romanian poet Nichita Stănescu)
Small changes and their remarkable impact
Changing habits is like tightrope walking: an exercise in which the balance is always fragile, but it is the small changes that pave the way to truly remarkable results.
The angry Christian: How can we free ourselves from destructive anger?
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry – Winston Churchill
Plight of a refugee
He was only seven when the war started. He used to spend his time “running around and playing with my mates,” and then one day, the houses in his town started burning down and neighbours would go missing. His parents told him to stay indoors.
Shame and its traps
I must admit, I was a shy child. Shame is a lesson well learned. However, I don’t know if it is always correctly learned.