Aristotle in The Art of Rhetoric analyzes the most important subjects of deliberative oratory (one of his three genres of rhetorical speech). He narrows deliberation to five main categories: revenue, war and peace, the defense of the realm, imports and exports, and legislation. Not a thrilling list at first glance, but reading through the…
Some people are naturally drawn to narcissists. Coincidentally, narcissists are drawn to people who are drawn to them. Like a Kardashian unable to walk past a mirror, never did a narcissist pass up a chance to be admired. Indeed, if you didn’t already know, the greatest torture for a true narcissist is to be treated…
It’s long been thought that talking to oneself is a mark of psychosis. The opposite is in fact true. If used right talking to oneself is a mark of a properly developing personality. C.G. Jung was one of the first of the modern psychologists to discover that talking to oneself can, if used right,…
Dear Self-E Nation Magazine: Last night I was at the movies with my new girlfriend. Just before the movie started she hit the restroom which gave me a chance to prepare for our first kiss. All this last week I’ve planned to use this night for my ‘big move.’ Anyway, when she returned I grabbed…
How many hours of peace did you experience over the last week? I’ve asked several people this question over the years and I’m always amazed how many answer “none.” How is it possible that in a full week – 168 hours – a person is unable to experience even one hour of peace? Well, it’s…
Selfies do not capture the moments we lived, but the moments we sacrificed. They capture moments of people being profoundly non-present in whatever they were supposedly doing at the time: walking the beach, riding a bike, getting married. They catch people in the very act of disassociation – unwitting disassociation, but disassociation all the same.…
What is the future of Christianity and religion as a whole? A reader of my blog posed this question to me yesterday. It’s funny I didn’t even consider writing back. The second I read it I knew it would be my next article. I have been a religious seeker from the earliest age I can…
My relationship to religion and spirituality has developed out of something like a 30 year wrestling match—a wrestling match with an angel trained in Jiu-Jitsu. And it seems like nothing has come easy. I was raised in an irreligious home (though my extended family was Mormon) by a single parent mother who basically lived the…
Is the Bible a book which each person should read and decide for himself what it means, or is the Bible a book whose meaning is given by the Church? The former idea appears to contain perfect liberty to allow the Bible to speak to the individual unhindered by man’s tradition; the latter idea appears…
Almost there. Tonight is the last night of the Akathist services for the Orthodox churches around the world. I am home solo tonight with the kids so there was no chance for me to make it. This has been my experience throughout Lent this year. I’ve only attended a single Lenten service besides Sundays. Kind…
I’m an Orthodox Christian. We fast like it’s going out of style. In a former life, for almost 20 years, I was an Evangelical Protestant of the Word of Faith persuasion. We fasted like… never. Back then the churches I attended did not encourage fasting, still I was always dabbling with it from time to…
All my life I’ve admired mastery. It doesn’t even matter what sort of mastery. You could be anything from a virtuoso violinist to a champion marble player; if you’re one of the best in the world you’ve got my respect. Save me the higher degrees and titles and whatnot, I couldn’t give a hoot. I…
