Mark McMinn
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #8: Faith
I've saved the best for last. Inspired by David Brooks's article, "How America Got Mean," I am offering ten challenges for how we might...
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Grace Swirls Blog
Mark McMinn
- Nov 14
- 3 min
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #7: Good Grief
In writing this blog series on how not to be so mean, I keep getting redirected to Charles Schultz, creator of the famed Peanuts comic...
Mark McMinn
- Nov 5
- 4 min
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #6: Meeting Our Inner Narcissist
The Perfunctory Opening Paragraph I'm writing a series of posts prompted by David Brooks's article in The Atlantic titled, "How America...
Mark McMinn
- Oct 26
- 4 min
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #5: Minding Our Social Media Manners
So many internet quotes are just plain wrong. In 1942, Thumper, the fictional Disney rabbit in the animated film Bambi, proclaimed, "If...
Mark McMinn
- Oct 19
- 3 min
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #4: Hermeneutic Humility
I almost aborted this project, but then changed my mind. Inspired by David Brooks's article in The Atlantic, I'm writing ten challenges...
Mark McMinn
- Oct 3
- 3 min
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #3: No, I am NOT Omniscient
I was mean this week. I'm blogging about how not to be mean, but even with this on my mind I fell short. After spending hours crafting an...
Mark McMinn
- Sep 16
- 4 min
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #2: The Other Team Matters
Football season is here, and with it comes my annual moral tension. On one hand, I love the game. Some see it as brutal, but to me it is...
Mark McMinn
- Sep 7
- 3 min
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #1: Vengelessness
A colleague recently said to me, "We all make so many mistakes in life." Something deep inside resonated with both the sadness and...
Mark McMinn
- Sep 1
- 3 min
Why are People So Mean? Ten Challenges
It’s a question I’ve been asking a lot lately, and I hear others asking it, too, in my circle of friends, faith community, and small...
Mark McMinn
- Aug 22
- 2 min
How in the World Are You?
How did you experience life yesterday? Were you angry? Did people treat you with respect? Were you well rested? These are the sorts of...
Mark McMinn
- Jul 31
- 2 min
Period Peace
Sitting at the traffic light on the corner of Villa Road and 99W, I resorted to the well-worn habit of reading stickers on surrounding...
Mark McMinn
- Jun 19
- 3 min
Lassoing Grace
If Ted Lasso, the Apple TV show, is an award winning comedy, then why do I find myself choked up with tears almost every episode? There...
Mark McMinn
- Jan 23
- 2 min
The Path of Descent and the Pool of Tears
Trevor Hudson, a South African pastor and author, recently received the inaugural Richard Foster Award in Spiritual Formation. Though...
Mark McMinn
- Oct 26, 2022
- 2 min
Vote Season is Opening
From what I understand, elk hunting season starts soon in Oregon. That's about all I understand about hunting--the one time I went...
Mark McMinn
- Oct 9, 2022
- 4 min
Thirsty
As a 20-something assistant professor beginning my academic career, I attended a weekly worship service hosted by students in the green...
Mark McMinn
- Sep 2, 2022
- 3 min
A River Called Grace
Lisa and I have a habit of taking our kayaks out on a river many Friday mornings -- either the Yamhill or the Willamette. In the...
Mark McMinn
- Jul 23, 2022
- 4 min
Dexter Goes to Church (Again)
Friends, I have posted and removed this blog entry several times now, demonstrating the deep ambivalence I have about publishing it. If...
Mark McMinn
- Jun 30, 2022
- 2 min
These Four
I'm 2300 miles from home this week, for a couple reasons. The first is to take a brief personal retreat in a part of the country that...
Mark McMinn
- Jun 19, 2022
- 1 min
A Nap in Odessa
I once took a nap in the Odessa Opera Theater, maybe in the box just to the right of where the man in the blue shirt is standing. In my...
Mark McMinn
- Jun 12, 2022
- 3 min
How to Live Longer (and Other Thoughts on Community)
The doctoral students in the back row objected when I showed compelling demographic data that regular church attenders live, on the...
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