Ruth Buchanan's Blog, page 11

Thankfulness 2016

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Thankfulness 2014
Thankfulness 2013

25 Tasks to Accomplish Before Sharing Your Next Snarky Political Meme

For those insistent on sharing snarky political memes, I have a challenge for you.

25 Tasks to Accomplish Before Sharing Your Next Snarky Political Meme:
Shut off your computer for an hour and spend it outside: take a walk; rake leaves; go for a run; kayak downriver; stand in your driveway and watch the sun set while singing "How Great Thou Art" at top voice; climb a tree and yodel over the fence at the neighbors.Read the entire Bible. (If you've never read the Bible, start with the B...

Can We All Stop Dumping on Millennials?

It bothers me to hear so many people dumping on Millennials.
First, let's analyze what makes them so different. 
Most generational differences are a result of over-corrections on the part of the younger generation from the generation that's come before. In that sense, we've actually shaped Millennials.

Think about that. They're partially the way they are because they're over-correcting from our errors. 
Perhaps more Millennials are living at home longer not out of sheer laziness but bec...

Awards I Could Actually Win

I finished a half marathon yesterday. In the weeks leading up to the race, my nieces and nephews kept asking if I thought I'd "win." Anyone who's finished any sort of race knows that finishing is a win. So getting a participation medal is winning enough for me. More than enough. It's practically a miracle. I'm probably the world's most reluctant athlete, and a solid middle-of-the-pack runner.
But that's fine. 
There are plenty of other awards I could win - if anybody gave out awards for th...

Songs Answer Songs: 27 Questions, Who Asked Them, and Who Answered

Question: Birds fly over the rainbow - why can't I? (Judy Garland)
Answer: You can't always get what you want. (The Rolling Stones)

Question: Do you remember when we used to sing sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah? (Van Morrison)
Answer: Those were the best days of my life! (Bryan Adams)

Question: Does anybody really know what time it is? (Chicago)
Answer: Closing time. (Semisonic)

Question: Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated? (Avril Lavigne)
Answer: If I could turn back time...

My Life According to My Phone

My phone probably knows more about me than any living person. I log my exercise with it, stream podcasts and audio books through it, listen to the radio on it, use it as a map, take notes on current projects with it, store photos on it, track my personal and professional schedules in it, and use it to conduct the bulk of my online social interaction.
As a result, my phone knows me pretty well. 
But does it know me well enough to sound like me?
The Theory
Every time I use my phone's keyboard,...

Seven Sticky Theological Questions to Ask Ourselves in the Wake of Hurricane Matthew (or Any Tragedy)

Given the relationship between suffering and Christlikeness, is being spared suffering necessarily a good thing? (1 Peter 2:21-25)
Why would the Father ever spare me suffering--especially considering the fact that he did not spare his own Son? (Romans 8:31-32)
Do I secretly believe that the people who weren't spared deserve to suffer in a way that I do not? (Psalm 103:10)
Have I devoted prayer or resources to relieve the suffering of my brothers and sisters who were not spared? (Galatians 6:10)
I...

10 Song Suggestions for Your Hurricane Prep Playlist

Hurricane Matthew rolled over us last night. Thankfully, reports of a potentially-disastrous impact turned out to have been exaggerated. The storm took a little wobble east and saved us a lot of grief.
As you dig yourselves from your blanket forts this morning and survey the downed power lines and frazzled palm trees, please join me in a prayer of thankfulness that worse did not come to worst.
That done, brew some coffee (if you have power) and enjoy this post.
10 Song Suggestions for Your Hurri...

10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Find Me Intimidating

Yesterday while fellowshipping over lunch with some friends from church, I was surprised when the woman to my left told me that she finds me intimidating. Not sure what to say, I just laughed and told her that considering all the dumb things I do on a regular basis, there's no way anybody should find me intimidating. 
Ever.
Then I came home and slapped together this list. 
10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Find Me Intimidating: 
Reason 10 - I'm useless at clothes. Almost every good outf...

But That's Another Story

The thing about reading is that we only ever see the finished product; therefore, it seems to us that the stories we know and love are the way they are because they were meant to be that way.

But consider this fact: your favorites authors could have taken their stories in vastly different directions. With just a slip of the pen, they could easily have turned comedy to tragedy, tragedy to melodrama, melodrama to horror, or horror to farce.

Observe.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a s...