• Fred's Blog

    Tom Swift

    I have been watching the SyFy channel during the holidays for some reason. One of the things that is obvious is the apocalyptic nature of so much science fiction today. It’s all about the end of the world as we know it with either invasions or self-destruction. Being 65 I started thinking about what science fiction was like when I was growing up. It was NOT apocalyptic at all. It was futurist and optimistic – even a bit naïve. However I much prefer that to the unending stream of dark and violent special effects. Even someone as sophisticated and innovative as Peter Thiel one of the founders of PayPal and…

  • Fred's Blog

    Begging to Differ

    I posted an article on the shrinking of the middle class as an increasing number of people are falling into the category of low-income. “Squeezed by rising living costs a record number of Americans – nearly 1 in 2 – have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.” While I did not say much about the article I did say “Is it un-Christian of me to doubt these numbers?” A Facebook friend responded to me with a private message to voice his disagreement with my obvious bias. Out of that has come an interesting exchange from our different – but not opposite…

  • Fred's Blog

    Christ's Mass

    My friend asked me why I was not writing a piece on Christmas. Well for all the reasons so many use to support their own reservations about Christmas – crass commercialism mind-numbing jingles exhausting rounds of parties and social events and yes a proliferation of blogs about the true meaning of Christmas I have taken the easy way out. I don’t like that but it’s easier – until this year. Leigh Vickery our editor at The Gathering published one of Luci Shaw’s poems and I’ve read and reread it because for me it captures the essence and the riddle of Christmas. How can One who “hurled a universe” be compressed…

  • Fred's Blog

    Ask Fred – Getting started with a foundation.

    Question: Fred we are just getting started with our foundation. I am interested in learning how other foundations meeting the IRS requirements of obtaining statements of good standing and the most recent letter of determination with the organizations the foundation chooses to support. What steps do others take to make sure they are always in compliance? Is there any way to verify this information? Thank you for your time and effort to reply. It is appreciated.   Thank you for responding to “Ask Fred” on the website.  Here are starting points:  1.  Proposal cover letter from the Chief Executive Officer to include:  endorsement of the proposal explaining how it relates to…

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  • Bible Studies

    Quail From The Lord: Numbers 11

    Numbers 9:18-23: 18 At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted,…

  • Fred's Blog

    Believing is Seeing

    One of my favorite books is Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I’m sure that’s so because I like his premise that some decisions and appraisals made quickly are more accurate than those made after deliberation. Having said that I don’t like to find books that challenge that! Unfortunately that is what Daniel Kahneman does in Thinking Fast and Slow. Most of us (and especially those of us who consider ourselves intuitive) have what he calls “cognitive illusions”. This is a false belief that we intuitively accept as true. While we think we make good decisions on our own experience or our ability to judge situations we actually have a poor record…

  • Fred's Blog

    Sad Sells

    The Boston Globe article “Why We Give” I wrote about in the previous blog made me curious about Deborah Small at The Wharton School. It turns out she has done quite a bit of research on charity and why people give…or don’t. One of her papers is titled, “The Face of Need: Facial Emotion Expression on Charity Advertisements.” Maybe it’s just me but I found the results fascinating. Did you know: Pictures showing sad faces are far more capable of producing similar states of sympathetic sadness than pictures of happy faces can create happiness on the part of the viewer. A phenomenon known as “emotion contagion” occurs when people pick…

  • Fred's Blog

    Why We Give

    An article titled “Why we give to charity” in the Boston Globe caught my eye last week.     “What we find is that when people are thinking more deliberatively . . . they end up being less generous overall ” said Deborah Small an associate professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Is it possible to be both generous and smart about it? A lot of donors would like to think so but new research suggests that it may be harder than we realize. And while there may be things we can do to make sure our money doesn’t end up wasted charity appears to be one area where…

  • Bible Studies

    Israel Asks For A King: 1 Samuel 8

    It’s not uncommon for the children of the anointed to fail. Cain, the son of Adam is the first murderer. Two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu fall dead when they make an unauthorized offering. Earlier in the book of 1 Samuel, Eli’s sons are corrupt and wicked priests who are killed after making themselves contemptible. David’s son, Absalom, turns on his father and commits treason. So, it is not a complete surprise when Samuel’s sons do not live up to the standards of either the Lord or their father. They “turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.” God does not often create dynasties, does he?…

  • Fred's Blog

    Sitting Loose

    Part of my Dad’s ability to communicate with people was his use of aphorisms. When I was a young man I thought he either read them heard them from others or they just appeared spontaneously as he spoke. “Wait to worry” “Only criticize as much as the person can correct” and “It’s unfortunate when money accumulates faster than wisdom” were among the hundreds of one-liners we heard growing up. I never thought about the real source of those one-liners until late in his life. We were sorting through his papers and found a stock certificate for 100 shares that were practically worthless. They were all that was left of what…