Author Archives: jackpelham

She never learned to manage her own emotions, as adults are capable of doing. She never learned to regulate her feelings or to cope with disappointment. She never learned that she can craft her own emotional life somewhat, and develop … Continue reading →

The behaviors that now get one labeled as a “narcissist” Bear a striking resemblance to those for which Certain toddlers used to earn efficacious spankings.

What a pitiful thing—That good convictionSpouted from the lips of a fool—Defiled by association,And less likely than before To be pondered fairlyBy those competing foolsWho do not happen To hold it already.

She dutifully admits to error,But assumes it to beMuch smaller in scopeThan it is. And while she has an inkling of this,She cannot bring herselfTo see it As an error in its own right—As equally in needOf admissionAs the first.

The one man, Faced with the prospect of an existing God, Cannot help himself But to cast offIn a voyage of the imagination,As if to decide by fiat What this God must be like.

It is a make-believe love,In which he pretendsThat pretending to loveIs the actual essence Of loving itself.

Start it now! He is undoneIn his argumentBut too blind to see it. He has lost touch with this realityEven as he pounds away at others—His affect screamingThat reality mattersAnd that if they know what’s good for them,They had all … Continue reading →

Let us carefully choose From among theseMyriad gems of virtueBut a few tokens—That we might hollow them outTo a mere shell of what they were,So as to more easily carry them aboutWherever we go,As a signal to all that We … Continue reading →

Not all weirdness comes from messed-up church doctrine, but I’m having a hard time thinking of any messed-up church doctrine that doesn’t lead eventually to some sort of weird behavior, however large or small it may be.

There is in many an assumptionThat conversion to ChristIs but a short process,Involving little more Than the adoption Of a new axiom or two,Such as that Jesus is Lord—Or in the case of the particularly eager,Jesus is my personal Lord … Continue reading →