What to Make of MMA Fighting

Managing Time Management

This is the time of year to reform how we manage our time. But beware, it could be that "all our efforts to be more productive backfire—and only make us feel busier and more stressed." Or so argues an article titled "Why Time Management Is Ruining Our Lives." I found it persuasive anyway. It's a long read, so put aside thoughts of efficiency for a few minutes and enjoy.

Maybe the Poor Will Not Always Be with Us This trend—"the eradication of poverty is becoming a reality"—has been a slowly developing news story for a few years now. CT has reported on it here. But the trend continues, and it's good to take stock now and then. Not that any one analysis explains it all; nor should it lull us into thinking all is well in the world. But it is a trend for which one is surprised—and grateful to God.

What to Make of MMA Fighting Here are two recent articles that touch on mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting. The first is about "How an MMA fighter found Jesus—and discovered his calling in the Congo." The second is "How we should think about watching women fight women?" The second makes me ask, Why do some women think it's an advance for their gender to act like men at their worst? The first makes me ask, Does anyone not think we've crossed a line with this sport, whether it's men or women fighting? One person who has thought about it, with some wisdom and angst, is philosopher and boxing trainer Gordon Marino in CT, "Why it may (or may not) be okay to watch adults beat up on one another."

Barth Quote of the Week I've no doubt just set myself up for failure, because I will likely fail at this New Year's resolution of introducing readers to one of the great theologians of the 20th century, Karl Barth. Sometimes one quote just won't do, so this week there are two, which work better together than alone. The truth of the one God—as opposed to all the divinities invented by men—is seen in Jesus Christ in the fact that he is free not only to be exalted but also to be lowly, not only to be remote but also to be near, not only to be God in himself in his majesty but also to be God outside himself as this One who is infinitely less than God, yet in this One who is infinitely less than God to be God himself in his majesty, as the One who is near to be remote, in his lowliness to be truly exalted …. The error of man concerning God is that the God he wants to be like is obviously only a self-sufficient, self-affirming, self-desiring supreme being, self-centered and rotating about himself. Such a being is not God. —Church Dogmatics IV I, pp. 417 and 422.

Grace and peace,

Mark Galli Editor, Christianity Today