Robert Safian, the Editor of Fast Company, has coined a term that he has used in a few articles: generation flux. The attraction of this term is that it is not confined to a particular age group, such as a term like Generation X would be. It's beyond Generations X, Y, and Z. It's beyond any age specific group. Safian describes Generation Flux as the group of people best positioned to thrive in today's era of high-velocity change."...
It used to be only God knew you were pregnant before you did; it turns out, now Target does too. Using software to track a woman's purchases and buying habits, Target can guess whether she is pregnant, and (scarier still) estimate her due date. Google can predict when and where the winter flu will hit -- down to the state and local level -- all based on web searches about health. Amazon recommends books you will like, while Walmart records the purchases you make -- along with one million other purchases tracked every hour.This article originally appeared in The Jesuit Post (thejesuitpost.org) on March 9, 2015....
About three hundred Jesuit men in formation from the United States of America, Canada and Haiti gathered at California's Loyola Marymount University for five days to discuss the Jesuit Global Mission in a Digital Age. Under that succinct title, the conference featured talks by experts like America Magazine's Matt Malone, SJ, the Vatican's assistant spokesperson, Tom Rosica, OSB, and the former international director for the Jesuit Refugee Service, Peter Balleis, SJ....
Today is Labour Day and tomorrow - well, tomorrow is the day most schools start up again - tomorrow is the unofficial start of fall and a reminder that winter is not far behind. How do we deal with all of this?...
Some thought I was daft to head off to Lusaka, Zambia, in January 1988. They may have been right, of course. When I arrived nothing had been arranged for me: no teaching, no parish ministry, nothing, and that despite assurances from the Jesuit authorities there that considerable work awaited me....
It seemed like a long time ago since I left Toronto to spend most of my summer in Regina, working at Mother Teresa Middle School. Indeed, three months have come and gone and I soon will depart Regina to return to Toronto (although by the time that this blog is published, I will be back in Toronto). This experience has been fulfilling in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I have grown in many aspects of my life and discovered things about me that I could have never done had I not gone away....
Do we make judgements based on race and ethnicity? Lucas Shama asks: "How do we address a problem so large, when, we ourselves don't seem to harbor racist views or know racist people?" This article is reprinted with permission from The Jesuit Post (thejesuitpost,org) April 20, 2015....
Ho-hum. Another day, another prophet of doom. Today's Cassandra du Jour is someone named Benjamin Strauss from something called Climate Central. Benjamin concludes that without an immediate deep reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 1700 US cities will be under water by the end of this century....
I do, at times, consider leaving the Society of Jesus. Like when I hear a baby cry right at the end of the Eucharistic prayer, or unlock the doors of a neglected community car that isn't mine, or wake up alone. In today's post, reprinted from The Jesuit Post (thejesuitpost.org), Eric Immel, SJ, speaks of what it means to him to be a Jesuit....
I've posted before about ideas that are covered by Fast Company magazine. The June 2015 issue looks at some of the most creative people in business. Robert Saflan, the Editor, offers twenty lessons of creativity. They aren't restricted to the business world. I offer them and add my own reflections, adapting them for a Christian-based approach to creative energy. That's a slight challenge in a few cases. Perhaps you can use your own creativity to apply some of his lessons to your world....
