Jason Albertson

A few weeks ago, I bought a little bag of mint lifesavers. I love those things. When I opened the bag, the thought crossed my mind, "Maybe I should check how many are in the bag so I can decide how many to eat each week to make them last for a while." I didn't want to do that, though. I didn't want to acknowledge how limited the quantity of lifesavers was. So I didn't. And now the mints are almost gone. There really weren't many in that bag. They're probably going to run out sooner because I didn't count them. I didn't count them, but they are still numbered. That's true about days, too—and miles, steps, pages and classes. How do we respond to the limitations? I want to respond with simplicity and trust . Simplicity means doing what I want to do, not what I don't want to do: my actions consistent with what I believe. Trust involves remembering that God is my shepherd, and I do not lack. No, not even when the mints d...

My retelling of the legend of Sisyphus in the last post said a few things about how the world works. These are the ones that stood out to me, but there might be more that I overlooked. 1. Justice comes out in the end In my version of the story, Sisyphus’s punishment from the gods matched his crimes against people. The goddess’s judgment highlights the match-up: “In life you stole by trickery . So shall your life in death be an empty trick .” The repetition of “trick” and the comparison-word, “so,” show that the judgment matches the crimes. 2. There is an ultimate authority When he died, Sisyphus was subject to the judgment of the gods. In the story, that’s just how it is. There’s no suggestion of him resisting the gods--they are the ultimate authority in this story. 3. We need our work to be meaningful Sisyphus was condemned to eternal, meaningless labor. That’s a worse punishment than eternal but meaning ful labor. How well do you think these assertions match up to reality...

There’s a legend about a man named Sisyphus. He angered the Greek gods somehow, so they sentenced him to roll a huge stone to the top of a mountain. But each time he attempted to roll it to the top, he would slip, trip, lose his grip, and the stone would roll back down, and he would have to begin again the next day. As it turns out, he had to roll the stone, day after day, for eternity. From the way I just told that story, it’s hard to tell if I am saying something about how life works by telling it. The story itself is ambiguous--it could mean a number of things, but you don’t know whether I mean any of those things. Here’s a retelling. I’m using the same basic story, but emphasizing or adding things to make a few points. What does this story say about the way life works? Once, there was a man named Sisyphus, infamous for his quick wits, quick fingers and hard heart. Through deception, he became king of a large city. He used his power to become wealthy, and then he died. H...