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Grace Swirls Blog
Mark McMinn
Dec 20, 20233 min read
Why Are People So Mean? (and the Grace of the World)
Lisa Graham McMinn and I are each memorizing poems this Advent season, trying to push against the inevitable cognitive slippage of life...
Mark McMinn
Dec 9, 20234 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #10: Love
I loved his Bostonian accent. Amidst a crowd of tall people, I was just 9 years old on May 17, 1968 when I listened to Robert F. Kennedy...
Mark McMinn
Nov 30, 20234 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #9: Hope
I started this series because of David Brooks. His article, "How America Got Mean" reflects the pulse of contemporary society, and while...
Mark McMinn
Nov 25, 20233 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #8: Faith
I've saved the best for last. Inspired by David Brooks's article, "How America Got Mean," I am offering ten challenges for how we might...
Mark McMinn
Nov 14, 20233 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #7: Good Grief
In writing this blog series on how not to be so mean, I keep getting redirected to Charles Schultz, creator of the famed Peanuts comic...
Mark McMinn
Nov 5, 20234 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #6: Meeting Our Inner Narcissist
The Perfunctory Opening Paragraph I'm writing a series of posts prompted by David Brooks's article in The Atlantic titled, "How America...
Mark McMinn
Oct 26, 20234 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #5: Minding Our Social Media Manners
So many internet quotes are just plain wrong. In 1942, Thumper, the fictional Disney rabbit in the animated film Bambi, proclaimed, "If...
Mark McMinn
Oct 19, 20233 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #4: Hermeneutic Humility
I almost aborted this project, but then changed my mind. Inspired by David Brooks's article in The Atlantic, I'm writing ten challenges...
Mark McMinn
Oct 3, 20233 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #3: No, I am NOT Omniscient
I was mean this week. I'm blogging about how not to be mean, but even with this on my mind I fell short. After spending hours crafting an...
Mark McMinn
Sep 16, 20234 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #2: The Other Team Matters
Football season is here, and with it comes my annual moral tension. On one hand, I love the game. Some see it as brutal, but to me it is...
Mark McMinn
Sep 7, 20233 min read
Why are People So Mean? Challenge #1: Vengelessness
A colleague recently said to me, "We all make so many mistakes in life." Something deep inside resonated with both the sadness and...
Mark McMinn
Sep 1, 20233 min read
Why are People So Mean? Ten Challenges
It’s a question I’ve been asking a lot lately, and I hear others asking it, too, in my circle of friends, faith community, and small...
Mark McMinn
Aug 22, 20232 min read
How in the World Are You?
How did you experience life yesterday? Were you angry? Did people treat you with respect? Were you well rested? These are the sorts of...
Mark McMinn
Jul 31, 20232 min read
Period Peace
Sitting at the traffic light on the corner of Villa Road and 99W, I resorted to the well-worn habit of reading stickers on surrounding...
Mark McMinn
Jun 19, 20233 min read
Lassoing Grace
If Ted Lasso, the Apple TV show, is an award winning comedy, then why do I find myself choked up with tears almost every episode? There...
Mark McMinn
Jan 23, 20232 min read
The Path of Descent and the Pool of Tears
Trevor Hudson, a South African pastor and author, recently received the inaugural Richard Foster Award in Spiritual Formation. Though...
Mark McMinn
Oct 26, 20222 min read
Vote Season is Opening
From what I understand, elk hunting season starts soon in Oregon. That's about all I understand about hunting--the one time I went...
Mark McMinn
Oct 9, 20224 min read
Thirsty
As a 20-something assistant professor beginning my academic career, I attended a weekly worship service hosted by students in the green...
Mark McMinn
Sep 2, 20223 min read
A River Called Grace
Lisa and I have a habit of taking our kayaks out on a river many Friday mornings -- either the Yamhill or the Willamette. In the...
Mark McMinn
Jul 23, 20224 min read
Dexter Goes to Church (Again)
Friends, I have posted and removed this blog entry several times now, demonstrating the deep ambivalence I have about publishing it. If...
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