Ali Johnson

I don't know many of you have been involved in a well reasoned debate and it has gotten incredibly heated. I love arguing, its in veins and at the very heart of who I am. The only problem is I also can't be wrong, both of these together cause me untold issues. I find myself, when debating, arguing too the point that I forget to listen to the other person. Or even accept that this person has different life experience than I and brings a whole different outlook on life that is no less or more valid than mine. I have been reflecting been reflecting much on stories and the power they yield. If we look at a number occasions where ...

Stories are as old as humankind. Cave paintings going back 25,000 years or more dramatically portray the story of the great Paleolithic hunts undertaken by our earliest ancestors. Glyphs recovered from Mayan pyramids and tombs of the Pharaohs tell a symbolic story of how the view of our place in the cosmos evolved over time. Throughout Celtic Europe, the bards held a place of the highest esteem for their disciplined talent of maintaining and passing on the stories of tribes and clans. The scriptures of our great religions take the form of parable and story, instructing and inspiring us to a higher good. Each of these is an example of ...

To be a human being is have a story. Story is the vehicle that give structure and order to our lives. Instead of trying to make sense of the literally millions of independent events that comprise our lives, we intuitively organize them into an orderly sequence of events. We have a past, a sense of where we came from; a middle, who we are now; and a future, what we aspire to become. This is essentially the same structure - beginning, middle, end - that makes up a story. Stories are how we convey our deepest emotions and talk about those things that we value the most. It is through the stories we ...

This video from Ok Go is a great example of my faith journey. It's messy and one thing after another leads to connect a lot of dots. I really like this as an example of my journey of faith. Hope you all enjoy it and get as much out of it as I do.

Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar — a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist. McLuhan's work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. Marshall McLuhan in my mind is nothing short of a genius. A prophet and prodigal. This is taken from a brilliant short book called the Medium is the Massage. All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal,political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered. The medium is the massage. Any understanding of social and cultural change is impossible without ...

We have confidence in Jesus Who healed the sick, the blind, and the paralyzed. And even raised the dead. He cast out evil powers and Confronted corrupt leaders. He cleansed the temple. He favored the poor. He turned water into wine, Walked on water, calmed storms. He died for the sins of the world, Rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father, Sent the Holy Spirit. We have confidence in Jesus Who taught in word and example, Sign and wonder. He preached parables of the kingdom of God On hillsides, from boats, in the temple, in homes, At banquets and parties, along the road, on beaches, in towns, By day and by night. He taught the way of love for God and neighbor, For stranger and enemy, for outcast and alien. We have confidence in Jesus, Who called disciples, led them, Gave ...