A civil engineer here in Boise shared a consultant’s advice on how the city should plan for growth. The consultant listed three factors a city needs in order to create and sustain a thriving urban culture. 1) A cool downtown scene. 2) A reputable four-year college. 3)...
You’ve Overcommitted–Now What?
“My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor;...
Bribe your way out
“A gift in secret averts anger, and a concealed bribe, strong wrath.” – Proverbs 21:14 I remember one of my early experiences of getting caught in the gears of church bureaucracy. I wanted to pull off an event and its promotion only a few days beforehand. “We can’t do...
The nuclear family isn’t going away
David Brooks wrote a provocative and fascinating article in the Atlantic around the start of Covid, which could not have emerged at a more poignantly ironic moment, given its title: “The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake”. It classifies the American obsession with nuclear...
A true friend knows how to wound you
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” - Proverbs 27:6 What do you say to your friend who leans in, and whispers: “You have a piece of spinach in your teeth”? I suppose it depends on how long they waited to tell you. Usually, you...
Wearing out your welcome
“Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.” – Proverbs 25:17 I was visiting Nashville a few months before I moved there, and I found myself at an after-church lunch. After chatting with one couple for a while, as they...