When a person finds talking about himself so pleasing that he excludes the other person in the conversation, he’s practicing “verbal masturbation.”  Pardon the graphic term, but that’s what it is: it’s a way of pleasing yourself by hearing yourself talk (especially about yourself).  When we practice verbal masturbation the other person’s pleasure is of no consequence or little consideration.  We are using them for our own hedonistic gain. 

The conflation of patriotism and faith is such an important issue that we should not miss any opportunity to speak clearly on the issue.  So here are some thoughts for this Fourth of July: four rules for living as a Christian in our great country (or your great country if you’re not American).

I have mixed feelings about nostalgia.

I suppose nostalgia is a bit like medicinal opioid.  In limited doses it can relieve the malaise brought on by a world that’s too connected, moves too fast, and seems headed nowhere in particular.  Nostalgia feels good.  It feels good to walk old streets, to stare at black and white renderings of big games, and to remember – even if those memories are like a stone wall that’s more cement than stone. 

When my wife and I were buying our first home in 1999, I quickly tired of hearing the real estate and lending professionals tell us that we’d be in the house only three years.  They were going on the statistics and I just hated being thought of as a data point.  After all, we were different, special, captains of our own ship and all of that.

We sold the house in 2001.  So much for being different. 

The relationship between money and happiness is complicated.  We’ve all heard that you can’t buy happiness.  But the research (and our own experience) proves that proverb somewhat incorrect.  The truth is that increased income and greater wealth do move the happiness needle in the positive direction, for a while.