Rotundus.com

When people see death approaching, no one yet has said that they wished they had worked longer hours or amassed more goods. A colleague of mine was trying to motivate another colleague to write more books. He was saying, "At the end of your life, what do you really want? Lots of people at your funeral or a shelf full of books?" The one speaking, as you can imagine was a bit full of himself. He had never really considered the end of life. But when he heard the words come out of his mouth, he realized that people were more important than productivity. Talk to someone with wisdom and you will hear that friends and family are what's important.

- Ed Welch, Running Scared: Fear, Worry & the God of Rest, p. 122/123

This quote I'm going to disagree with.

In the first place, the author seems somewhat confused. Is he talking about writing books - the argument that I'd like to take on - or about collecting books that others have written (i.e. amassing more goods ... AKA materialism)? Then there's the bad rhetoric labeling each of those who agree with his argument as "someone with wisdom".

Secondly, the argument seems both experientially and Biblically false. That's not to say that time with friends and family is a bad thing, but that it's not unambiguously better. You need to find a balance somewhere. Is it a bad idea to have a "life's work" that you're assembling? (Can you ever make a case for moving anywhere anytime - in search of a job or whatever - using this logic?). Sometimes people have had a bigger impact on the world after their death than before - although those are anomalies. Where does it put people like Abraham, who set out - admittedly with some (but not all) - of his family from Ur of the Chaldeans way back when? Where does it leave a lot of missionaries?

Try The Decade in News Photos

I took a season and a half off watching House but over the last month while I've gotten back into it and gotten caught up. It's got the usual interesting social commentary - and the sensible position of regarding the "cafeteria religion" that some advocate (although the linked talk is still interesting to listen to).

Cuddy: Well, I was hoping you might available for Rachel’s Simchat Bat. It's a…

House: Jewish baby-naming ceremony, a time-honored tradition dating all the way back to the 1960s.

Cuddy: My house at 7:00. It'll just be the rabbi and a few friends and some family.

[They have reached the elevator. House pushes the button]

House: Nothing like welcoming a baby into the world with a completely naked display of hypocrisy.

... [later on in the episode in a later encounter]

House: Let's see… How do I keep House from ruining my precious display of religious hypocrisy? I know, I'll pressure him to attend, knowing that he'll never agree to anything I actually want him to do.

Cuddy: I didn't pressure you. I invited you. And there's nothing hypocritical about recognizing your heritage.

House: So you keeping kosher now, wearing four-cornered garments, slaughtering heifers to the god Ra? Wait, is that one your people? Do it all, do nothing, or option "C" — you're a liar and a hypocrite.

- Excerpted from the transcript of House MD season 5, episode 15 - Unfaithful

(Note: for the Apple fanatics amongst you, this post was composed on a Mac.)

When asked that question in a chat hosted by the Washington Post, here's what Mike Horton had to say:

Norfolk, Va.: What do you consider to be the greatest threat to Orthodox (biblical) Christianity today?

Rev. Dr. Michael S. Horton: Shallowness. It is far worse than heresy. At least heretics take the gospel seriously enough to distort and deny it. And heresy always makes the church think more deeply about what it believes and why it believes it. However, shallowness is deadly for the Christian Faith.