The Word Worker

Tag: Perspective

  • God Culture

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    wordworkerrussell
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    As an avid devourer of all things historical I have always loved learning about other cultures, both past and present. I am fascinated by all the different ways that humans find to express themselves and to celebrate their unique environments and backgrounds. Whenever I read about any particular culture being destroyed due to invasion or…

  • More

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    wordworkerrussell
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    In an extraordinary act of self-surrender, the Creator and Lord of galaxies and chromosomes bound Himself within the limits of the Earth He formed between His fingers. His tangible presence in our sphere of perception carried the culmination of thousands of years of guidance, the ultimate demonstration that could be absorbed in every physical sensory…

  • Wait

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    wordworkerrussell
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    This morning I found myself reflecting on my husband’s and my history. When I was a teenager my family attended an annual lecture series at the small college he attended. The students were responsible for a lot of logistics as part of their education, so we would have run into each other multiple times over…

  • To Whom Do We Answer?

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    wordworkerrussell
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    A pagan king with a bloated ego set an ultimatum. Pay homage with deep obeisance to his self-monument or burn alive. Three teenage boys stood their ground in a sea of groveling sycophants. They told a rage-maddened king that they didn’t answer to him, knowing full well the mortal consequences of doing so. The petty…

  • We’ve Come So Far?

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    wordworkerrussell
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    2000 years ago, the Romans possessed the skill to build aqueducts using stone blocks shaped by hand and stacked without mortar into columns and arches over thirty feet high, with more layers of arches on top. They laid roads of stone that spanned an empire stretching from India to Great Britain to Africa. Both were…

  • Not Helping

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    wordworkerrussell
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    “Aren’t you on medication? I thought it was helping. Why do you feel so bad?” If you have a chronic illness, you’ve probably heard some variation of this ad nauseum. We live in a culture that expects some version of Star Trek medicine, where every problem can be fixed, every ailment can be cured, with…

  • Enough

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    wordworkerrussell
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    The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about the contrast between those who pursue earthly wealth vs those who are content. His words have been used to justify hatred for those with wealth as well as to excuse laziness and irresponsibility. The popular maxim that money is the root of evil is twisted from this conversation.…

  • The Faith of Free Will

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    wordworkerrussell
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    The story of Abraham and Lot is well known to many. When the herds grew too large to be supported together, Lot moved to the green river valley while Abraham continued to travel in the wilder, less fertile areas. There’s more to this story, however, that we should take the time to consider. Abraham, in…

  • “They”

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    wordworkerrussell
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    We live in a society driven by the concept of “they.” When a problem arises, it’s “their” fault. When disagreements occur, “they” are wrong. When we feel insecure, “they” are oppressive. When we don’t get what we want, “they” are selfish. When dangers appear, “they” cause them. Certainly there is fixed right and wrong, good…

  • Work

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    wordworkerrussell
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    It’s a bad word in our society, a lightning rod that attracts every social argument imaginable. Manual laborers view with contempt those who work with their minds, considering them lazy and out of touch with reality. Those in intellectually focused professions  look down on manual laborers, certain that no one with ambition would waste time…