This posts takes a look back at my favorite posts from this year. These are the posts, that as I reviewed through my archives, I remembered most clearly. It may be the memory that inspired the post or the conversations that ensued afterwards, but either way these are the ones that stood out to me.
- What Is “Emotional Maturity”? — What does it mean to be “emotionally mature”? To some it would mean being stoic – having mastery of your emotions so that you felt only what you wanted to when you wanted to feel it. To others it would be sentimentality – feeling all there is to be felt in any moment to its fullest extent…
- Oxytocin: The Neurotransmitter of Love — What if you could squirt a little love potion up your nose and recapture that lost spark with your spouse (or anyone else who happened to walk by while you were snorting infatuation)?…
- Placebos: A Case Study in Faith — The neuro-psychologist found this to be odd because studies show that placebos work in 1/3 to 2/3 of cases of depression, pain, and even Parkinson’s disease cases. No other intervention with this degree of a “success” rate gets so little attention in medical circles…
- What You Don’t Need to Forgive –Not everything that bothers or annoys us needs to be forgiven. Forgiveness is only for moral offenses. When we try to use forgiveness as the method to resolve relational irritants that are not moral in nature several bad things happen…
- Transvaluation: A Side Effect of Resentment — It is more common to think of the side effects of medication or bad health choices than it is the side effects of sin. If you take a stimulant, then your thoughts are likely to race and you won’t sleep well. If you eat too much turkey at Thanksgiving, the opposite will happen: your mind will get droggy and you’ll take a long nap…
- Depression: Belief-Behavior and/or Body-Brain? — How can I know if my depression is primarily caused by a malfunctions in my body-brain or wrongs I’m committing in my beliefs-behaviors?…
- Is Personality Hereditary? — This is an interesting question; a question that anyone with multiple children has grappled with. How can my children so instinctively respond just like me or my spouse? But on the other hand, how can two children from the same parents be so different?…
- Special Trip IV: Keeping Rules and Relationship Balanced — One of the things I have found most satisfying as a parent is defining special occasions and major lessons with a memorable trip. This post is about our fourth “special trip” – this is now a technical term in our family referring to a trip I take with one or both of our boys to mark a special occasion or teach a particular lesson.
- The Big Question of Grief: Who Am I Now? — Where should we put grief? To what category of struggles does it belong? To what emotional or relational struggles is grief most akin?…
- The Role of Language in the Stigma of Mental Illness — If counseling is going to be effective, then it must use language that people can understand and readily use. However, if clinical depression (or some other clinical phrase) is going to mean something more than “I’m down,” then counseling needs a language it can define and protect from being confused by common usage. We can’t have both….
- 10 Step Progression for Restoring Broken Trust — The ten step progression provided below begins with a relationship at its most trust-broken point. Not all marriages that experience the betrayal of sexual sin will start at step one. As you read through this progression two key questions to ask are, “Where was I at the darkest point after learning of my spouse’s sin?” and “Where am I now?” The progress you have already made should be a source of encouragement for the journey ahead…
- Initiating and Declining Sex in Marriage — For many married couples initiating sex can be an awkward moment that leads to conflict or hurt feelings. They’re not sure what to say. They fear being rejected. They want sex to be “special” but most of the moments they’re both home together are “normal.” They don’t want to seem demanding. They want their spouse to “just know.” They don’t want to interrupt and their spouse is always doing something else. They’ve tried and been told their attempt was crude or unclear…
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Psychiatry — His father, Karl Bonhoeffer, was a distinguished neurologist. In 1912, he moved the family to Berlin to become a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Berlin and the director of the psychiatric clinic at Charite Hospital…
- Simple Counsel; Complex Counseling — How hard can counseling be? Really, “healthy” doesn’t change that much. Honestly, 90% of counseling problems could probably be remedied with this prescription…
- Do We Pray to Our Sins? — What is so bad about sins of escape? After all, they provide relief from a stressful life and they don’t hurt anybody but ourselves (so we are prone to think). What is the big deal about finding solace in alcohol, pornography, or some mindless video game (I am not implying these are morally equal activities)? If they help me get done the other things that need to be done, why does God care?…
Which was your favorite?