Phillip Berry | Orient Yourself

And I think if you look at the present state of the world it’s pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistakes. We’re on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on. C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity “Sometimes we have to […]

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” From the United States’ Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. So began our country’s separation from England and our perpetual […]

We’ve been in Ann Arbor, Michigan, since last Thursday. Like most college towns, it has its own vibe…a wildly curious mix of the youthful search for identity and purpose with the eclectic collection of humanity drawn to the many elements surrounding the coming-to-adulthood process of the university setting. From the mass of humanity converging on […]

But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Matthew 13:8 Our Many Gardens Every spring, Sally plants various gardens around our house and on a corner of a large field not too far from us. Each garden is a unique combination of flowers, vegetables, and other plants. […]

Who is the most successful person you know? Yeah, it’s kind of a trick question. The question begs another question: how do you define success? I suspect that most reading this would tend to answer questions about success in terms of a moral ideal. Success is leading a good and moral life. Doing the right […]

We may have become comfortable with deception but we still recognize it as hurtful, particularly when we're on the receiving end. But we often allow ourselves to be deceived. Why is that?

Desire. The truth is that we really want certain things to happen and deception occurs on both sides of our desires. In the midst of our desires, we often struggle to see things as they really are.

The beauty of the world around us is often lost amid its ugliness. We become distracted by the obscene, the discordant, and the marred. Beauty is so often the whisper in the wind, passing us unnoticed as we focus on the demanding ugliness confronting us. Bound thus, we forget our connection to that same beauty.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 1 There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. 2 A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to […]

Sometimes our best wins the race and sometimes it’s not enough. Sometimes our best gets us what we want and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, our best is just showing up and surviving to fight another day.  Perhaps you have an absolute measure of your best; a moment in which you reached some peak of performance. […]

Cliche. Platitude. Bromide. Nuggets of wisdom that have been used so often that they have become meaningless. Some phrases that Google classifies as “platitudes” include: We’ve got many, many versions of these phrases. They are often used as “fillers,” expressions to be inserted into moments in which we really don’t have anything to offer or […]