Last week, I shared that a 2005 StatsCan study revealed 61 per cent of rural residents knew all of their neighbours, but only 16 per cent of those living in major urban centres did.

This isn’t terribly surprising.  Do you have a hard time remembering names in the first place?  I certainly do, even though I know I shouldn’t.  Sometimes I forget the moment someone tells me…I was too busy thinking about what to say next!

But names are important.  According to a Lifehacker blog post, “a person’s own name is the single most important word to him/her; it is intimately tied to his/her identity as an individual. How you deal with people’s names can have a profound effect on their impressions of you: Think about the times you’ve felt special when someone you admired addressed you by your name in a sincere tone; or think about the times when you’ve felt belittled when someone negligently called you by the wrong name, or worse, maliciously made fun of your name in front of you.”

But something so important is also so easily forgotten.  Sometimes it’s physiology, since “names are among the first things to go as our brains begin shrinking — by about half of one per cent annually — starting as early as our thirties.”

People come up with all kinds of strategies for remembering names.  Personally, I write the name down as soon as I can, since it helps me most to see the name in print somewhere.   It works for me, but maybe not you.

Question: How well do you remember names?  What strategies help you?

Ryan Sim - June 5, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Judgement

People often quote Jesus to escape judging anything as right and wrong. But he meant the opposite, it’s a command to judge! But to judge based on God's standards and not our own. It's not a call to be blind, but generous and caring. We've included a fun short film that illustrates this humourously. Look for the "Short Film" link on the web, or the second video in the app menu, or at https://vimeo.com/66753575 Jesus wants us to first become aware of our own situation, then another’s. If we pretend to be judges by our own standards, we can’t plead ignorance of the law we administer. Are you prepared to judge someone by the same standards? Pretend you arrive at heaven. You've had a recording device hanging around your neck all your life, and God says "I will go easy on you, I’ll judge you by your own standards, instead of godly standards." So he plays back all the times you set a standard: Listen to me, don’t talk behind my back, don’t use that tone of voice, etc. How would that go? Jesus doesn't want us to cease to be human – we were created with reason. He just wants us to cease trying to be God. He puts all humans on a level playing field, where we can together explore how God’s standard is much better than any we’d make up. Be a brother…that’s the language used here. Question: Go through the last week’s interactions with your colleagues, family, friends and even strangers. What standards do you set up for others? Then go back through the list and check off those you’ve kept yourself.

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From Series: "Sermon on the Mount"

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