Posts tagged Ralph Waldo Emerson
Day 17 The Science of Enmity; or, The Terrors of the Invisible

My homiletics professor said it on the first day of class. “Every sermon must find a common enemy. It doesn’t matter what it is: sin, death, taxes, sex, politics. For a sermon to be effective, you need an enemy.” A marketing guru I’ve recently unfollowed said the same really. “Find their pain—and poke it!” It’s certainly a theme in the historical rendering of the behavior of the United States during World War II. A meme for WWII: “We had a common enemy that made us come together.” The question I wish to ask today isn’t about our common enemy. A six year old could tell us it’s the coronavirus.

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Day 14: The Spin-Doctoring of Need & The Power of Story

Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson was known for claiming, “The first wealth is health.” Today I’m sure deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine Jessica Lustig agrees with him. In her article “What I Learned When My Husband Got Sick with Coronavirus,” she describes taking care of her beloved spouse as he is ravaged by COVID--19.

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