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My besetting sin is to think, If I try just a little harder, I can get this right. Well, that's also Washington, DC's problem: People here think they just need to try harder and they can make the thing work. Washington is a great town because you don't have to be a blueblood. You can come here from anywhere and make something of yourself as long as you're willing to work hard. But that is also why this is a dangerous town. It is easy to get confused about who the Savior is.
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At every university where I've lectured, the intellectual questions eventually turn into questions of meaning. Often behind a difficult or angry question is a hurting heart; the intellect is intertwined with the heart. I always try to rescue a question from mere academic connotations.
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Ashleigh Brilliant, that odd vestige of the 70s who scribbled his offbeat humor on hippie postcards, once penned: "All I ask of life is a constant and exaggerated sense of my own importance." People chortled at that observation 30 years ago. People absolutely live by it today
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This past week was rough. Last night I attended a banquet honoring the young people who will confirm their baptismal vows and become adult members of the congregation. The previous night I had a late afternoon visitation and an early evening funeral followed by dinner. The night before that, the executive committee held its monthly meeting over pizza. I was home for dinner the night before that, but the previous four days, I was out of town at a seminary board meeting.
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Occasionally I ask my children to "spot the lie" when we're watching a TV commercial. A sleek red sports car will get you a tall brunette. Lie! The right microbrew will deliver happiness and companionship. Lie! Wearing the right brand of clothes will give you an edge over your competition. Lie! Television commercials often skew reality in their attempt to lure us into buying a product. They promise more than they can deliver. And all the news in commercials is good—no mention of the harm some products can inflict (those alluring microbrews, for example).
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