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Tag: JIm Cantelon

April 16, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

Jonathan Haidt, author of the culture challenging book, “The Anxious Generation” was interviewed recently by Katty Kay of the BBC about the negative influence of smart phones on children. It’s an insightful and revealing interview (worth googling). He observes the various downsides of smartphones, one of them being that they are providing refuge of a sort for parents “over parenting” in what’s seen as an increasingly dangerous world. Parents don’t want to allow their kids out into that danger. They’d rather see them alone in house with their phones. Says Haidt, “We’re not going to restore trust in our neighbors such that we can let our kids out. That’s not going to happen. In fact, it’s likely to get a lot worse as we go into the era of Artificial Intelligence, when we have no idea of what’s true. We’re never going to know what’s true again for a long time, if ever.”

Whoa! As I read this, I thought of Pontius Pilate’s rhetorical question as Jesus was brought before him for judgement, “What is truth?” This question resonates throughout history. Truth is the foundation for life. If that foundation is shaken who can build a life?

Now, more than ever before, we need to hear and believe Jesus when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”. His words are truly relevant today.

In our western culture where the buzz words have been “your truth…my truth…our truth” (all relative terms) it’s time to rediscover THE truth. Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and forever”.

March 05, 2025

Written by Jim Cantelon on . Posted in Blog.

Most of us may not want to admit it but we like being in control. Overlooking the constant impact of that which we can’t control (like our autonomic nervous system, our internal organ function, our general genetic makeup, etc, etc) we flatter ourselves with our self discipline, fitness and diet values, money management, social interactions, and on and on. We think we’re in control but, of course, we’re not.

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible reminds us that pretty much every circumstance in our lives is “seasonal”:

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.”
(Eccl.3:1-8).

Much can be seen in these words but one key truth is that we don’t control the seasonal dynamics of life but we “participate” in the broader scheme of things. Ultimately we’re under the control of the heavenly order, where our Father “works everything for our good”. We are not called to control but to trust his loving and sovereign care. Indeed a most excellent slogan for our lives is,” In God We Trust”.