Mark McMinn
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...
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Grace Swirls Blog
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...
Mark McMinn
- Apr 12, 2022
- 2 min
Kindness Comes to Mind
Some nights don't turn out as well as others. I'm not a psychologist who makes much of dream interpretation, but every now and then a...
Mark McMinn
- Apr 9, 2022
- 2 min
Loneliness Alert
When our parents had us eat our vegetables, they probably weren't thinking of French fries. But here are a couple findings from some...
Mark McMinn
- Apr 1, 2022
- 4 min
Chasing Wisdom
Paul showed up in my office a dozen years ago to tell me he wanted to do a dissertation on wisdom. Nodding politely, I tried to break the...
Mark McMinn
- Mar 6, 2022
- 3 min
Lost in Odesa
I’ve never been so lost as in the summer of 1999. Brent (a doctoral student) and I visited Odesa, Ukraine to teach classes on pastoral...
Mark McMinn
- Nov 18, 2021
- 3 min
On Polymaths, Luddite Spreadsheets, and Virtue
I learned a new word while researching Benjamin Franklin. A polymath is a person with wide-ranging knowledge who is able to solve...
Mark McMinn
- Oct 28, 2021
- 3 min
Why I'm Right and You're an Expletive (in 3 easy steps)
Some have likened writing a book to giving birth, but I fear this metaphor trivializes what it's like to actually have a baby. Writing a...
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