The self and gratitude
Giving thanks involves being grateful. Being grateful requires self-awareness—self-definition. Traditionally, the Thanksgiving holiday provides each of us with opportunities to express our gratitude to those around us and to God for his grace, his many mercies, his loving care, his
Home
We put the building blocks of life together in the home. There, we carefully initiate the process of establishing our identity, shaping our self-esteem, building our belief system, exploring our expectancies, and learning how to behave in various situations. Parents
Empathic compassion
His rheumy eyes seemed on the verge of imminent discharge—without spark, listless, lacking in spirit—within ill fitting, almost hollow cavities in a tight, hard living face. He stood before me in the partially lit hallway, unkempt, unclean—unloved. Brown skin stretched
Economic justice
Right from the beginning, William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, was concerned with poverty and all it brought with it. It simply didn’t seem just that this sizeable population should be marginalized to such an extent. Today, we think
Habits, compulsions and addictions
There is a direct, potentially progressive relationship between habits, compulsions and addictions that grow more harmful. Here are some definitions with a little help from Mr. Webster. Habits: a customary practice or tendency acquired over time that becomes almost involuntary. Habits reveal
Building people
Everyone believes that they know what and how children should become educated, and act unafraid in sharing that information. That includes me. Yet differing educational philosophies promote widely diverging means and ends. As education became more nationalized, it imposed a philosophy based
Compassionate relationships
I’ve heard it said that The Salvation Army is “compassion in action.” I think it fits and makes a good slogan. I hope it’s still true. I worry about that. I also hope it’s part of officer training along with regular
Compassionate empathy
Except I am moved with compassion, How dwellest thy Spirit in me? Albert Orsborn asked that question for Salvationists a few decades ago, and it’s one we need to ask ourselves every day. Empathy, the process of “understanding a person’s subjective experience while
Generosity of spirit
Generosity is a spiritual word. It speaks of the type of relationship between a giver and a receiver. It synthesizes the “fruit of the spirit” listed by Paul for the Galatians—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Each
It’s all in the modeling
Most people have a difficult time explaining character. It does have several different meanings. Some immediately think of an actor playing a particular part in a play; others might think of it as a specific written or printed figure representing a
The future of Salvation Army social work
I tend to live in the present—the here and now—not the there and then of the past nor the “sometime-maybe” of the future. But life demands that we look ahead, see what’s coming, understand trends, even make a few predictions. Some
Values imposition
We’re in the values education business. Our goal is to teach people to live God’s way as revealed in the life of Jesus—the Christ. If we live God’s way: He brings gifts into our lives much the same way that fruit