Podcast appearances and mentions of tyler vanderweele

This lecture is entitled How Can We Flourish? It was presented by Tyler VanderWeele of Harvard University on January 22, 2024, at the University of Chicago's Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery.

"Flourishing for me does not mean suffering for you." In this chat, we're unpacking how flourishing after loss is possible and SPOILER ALERT: It's not through the restriction and control of others around you. Links + Resources from this episode: Tyler VanderWeele's work on flourishing Dr. Carol Dweck's growth mindset book Become a Patron & get the episode workbook Join the Restorative Grief Project

Dr. VanderWeele is the Director of Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion. He holds degrees in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics from the University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. Tyler's research spans epidemiology, the science of happiness and human flourishing, and the study of religion and health. Tyler's latest book, A Theology of Health: Wholeness and Human Flourishing, explores the concept of health and well-being from a more holistic perspective, including the physical, mental, social, and spiritual dimensions of humanity. Tyler joins the podcast to explain what it means to be healthy, and the difference between the health of the human body and the health of a whole person. Could our spiritual and religious practices be as critical to our health as diet and exercise? Find out in our story “When Therapists Prescribe Prayer” Join our growing community of 45,000+ listeners and be notified of new episodes of Templeton Ideas. Subscribe today. Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Episode 18: 17 September 2024All the things mentioned in this episode:Emma Wilkins' articles on AI deep fakes.Justine's Thinking Out Loud on Social Media algorithms.Tyler VanderWeele on the secrets to a flourishing life on Life & Faith.Get tickets to the Richard Johnson Lecture.Instagram: Check out Simon on Instagram at @simonsmartcpxProducer: Allan Dowthwaite Assistant Producer: Clare Potts

Research uncovers the secrets to thriving as individuals and communities. What are the ingredients of a life that will help us to thrive as people? How do we go about cultivating those ingredients? What does it mean to truly flourish as a person?Policy makers are interested in these questions. So are educationalists. And as individuals it's a topic that we increasingly seek answers to. People these days are very focused on wellbeing and what will aid or hinder that.Tyler VanderWeele's research in this area engages huge data sets and deep analysis. He is Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director of the Human Flourishing Program.Professor VanderWeele's many insights into what makes for human flourishing are worth hearing. Some might come as a surprise!

En este programa de la serie dedicada a «El ser humano y las ideologías modernas», la Dra. Luisa María González Pérez, anestesista y vicepresidente del Colegio de Médicos de Madrid, nos habla de cómo Tyler VanderWeele está revolucionando el concepto de salud. La definición clásica de la OMS para el concepto de salud es un estado de bienestar físico y mental, es decir, una perfecta armonía que se da entre el cuerpo y la mente. Ahora desde Harvard se está promoviendo un nuevo concepto que se llama Human Flourishing, que incorpora la salud física y mental como uno de los dominios que impactan en las personas, pero habla de cinco dominios más: 1. Nivel de satisfacción y felicidad en la vida; 2. ¿Cuál es el sentido de mi vida? (han demostrado que si tengo uno, mi salud mejora); 3. ¿Cómo está mi situación económica-financiera?; Y los dos últimos tratan sobre las relaciones personales, la calidad de las mismas, pues observan que van en proporción a mi salud. Por último, habla del carácter y los hábitos buenos o virtudes que hayamos sido capaces de desarrollar.

We've all held a grudge. As humans, we've all been hurt — and have hurt others. Forgiveness can be a way to release those negative emotions. What's more, recent research shows forgiveness is linked to better health outcomes. So why is it so difficult? In this episode, host Samantha Laine Perfas speaks with Christian theologian Matt Potts, public health expert Tyler VanderWeele, and psychologist Laura Thompson to discuss forgiving when you can't forget.

This episode is an edited version of a live event held at WBUR's Cityspace on May 15, 2023. A full-length video of the event is available here. For decades, studies from around the globe showed that happiness followed a U-shaped curve across the lifespan. For many people, the teens and twenties were some of the happiest and most carefree times of life — a period to be enjoyed before happiness began to drop and hit its low point around 50. BUT, over the past 10 years, a seismic change has taken place. The front end of the happiness curve collapsed, meaning that teens and twenties are now the most unhappy time of life. From the increasing use of social media, to being isolated from friends during the pandemic, to the academic pressures of applying to college, to growing up in a world that feels threatened from climate change, gun violence, and political strife, the reasons for this crisis in mental health are many. The solutions, however, have been few. But there's a growing sense (and data) that when it comes to finding a way through challenging times, looking back at ancient wisdom for strategies on how to thrive — how to find joy, peace, empathy, and meaning — can help. Join Dave and a panel of experts and voices from Gen Z to explore the science behind when and how secular and spiritual practices might help young adults (and really any of us) deal with the stresses and disconnection of modern life, whatever our spiritual beliefs (including none at all). Guests: Dr. Laurie Santos is the Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She hosts The Happiness Lab Podcast and created the record-breaking courses “The Science of Wellbeing” (the most popular course at Yale) and “The Science of Wellbeing for Teens.” Greg M. Epstein serves as the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and at MIT — a role in which he supports the ethical and communal lives of nonreligious students. He's also the author of the New York Times bestseller Good Without God, and recently served as president of Harvard University's 40+ chaplains. Tyler VanderWeele is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he directs the Human Flourishing Program. His work has been internationally recognized for illuminating the factors that underlie health and wellbeing in adolescents and adults.

Today is the second in a two-part series that explores the subject of forgiveness. We hear more about the ground-breaking, six-site, five-country, four-continent study of Dr. Everett Worthington's REACH forgiveness method's effectiveness. We're joined in conversation with Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, project Research Director; Principal Investigator Dr. Man Yee Ho; and site directors Andrea Ortega Bechara (Columbia) and Dr. Shaun Joynt (South Africa). They describe the impact of the study on individual participants and their communities, how they hope to scale the study, and who they consider an exemplar of forgiveness.    Read the transcript of this episode Listen to Part 1 of our Forgiveness series Subscribe to Stories of Impact wherever you listen to podcasts Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube Share your comments, questions and suggestions at info@storiesofimpact.org Supported by Templeton World Charity Foundation

This program was recorded at the annual Veritas Weekend 2022 event in Boston. The original title was, "Is Christianity Good for the Scientific University?" and featured Cullen Buie, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, Karin Öberg, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard, and Tyler VanderWeele, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And, if you're interested in more content from Veritas, check out our Beyond the Forum podcast. Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives.

The bible tells us God designed the family and the local church to be the primary sustaining institutions for human flourishing. The bible also teaches that a flourishing faith is a belonging faith. That real faith not only believes, it also belongs!  But what does a belonging faith look like? It was a great privilege for us to host Dr. Curt Thompson at Christ Community recently. As a devoted apprentice of Jesus and practicing psychiatrist, Curt brought great insight from theology and interpersonal neurobiology as it relates to God's design for our flourishing.  Curt highlighted how each one of us as image bearers of God need relationships and community where we are Seen, Soothed, Safe, and Secure. To be seen means we are seen as we really are.  To be soothed is to experience empathy from others. To be safe is to be comfortable in our relationships with others. To be secure means others are trustworthy and won't abandon us when things get hard. I think these four S's are a good picture of what the New Testament writers like James describe as Agape love, the binding glue that holds a local church together and fuels a flourishing faith. As fellow Christians, we have a window of opportunity to be the church, the gracious and truth telling mouthpiece, the loving hands and feet of Jesus who laid down his life for others. 21.11.14

Challey Institute's director, John Bitzan, is in studio on Afternoons Live with Tyler Axness. Harvard professor Tyler VanderWeele will give a virtual presentation at North Dakota State University at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9 and John is here to tell you all about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

COMPETITION!We're celebrating our 500,000th download this month - half a million! And so, with the help of our major sponsor, Zondervan, we are giving away a book pack of five of Zondervan's newest titles. We'll throw in a copy of my new book Bullies and Saints AND an Undeceptions T-Shirt. To WIN, all you have to do is leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (what used to be called iTunes), take a pic of the review and send it to Producer Kaley at kaley@undeceptions.com. We'll pick the best-written review on October 25 (and I mean ‘best-written' not necessarily most glowing). So be quick, you've got two weeks! LINKS Read the CNN report about the happiest country in the world for 2021. Watch the full report from VICE News on whether Finland is actually  that happy. This one's from 2019 - Finland has been the happiest country in the world for four years running. Read a little more from 20th Century philosopher Bertrand Russell on the conquest of happiness from Brain Pickings (one of those websites you'll get lost in ... see you next Tuesday). Meet our guest, Miroslav Volf. Read more about one his courses at Yale, 'Christ and the Good Life' here. And check out the centre he helped set up, the Yale Centre of Faith and Culture Watch this video chat between Volf and his teacher, Jürgen Moltmann (who John calls "one of the great theologians of the 20th Century) Read Flourishing by Miroslav Volf. Read this New York Times article, 'The other side of languishing is flourishing. Here's how to get there.' Languishing, by the way, is the emotion that the NYT reckons may just be the dominant emotion of 2021. Good thing you've listened to this episode, then. If you want to read more about Asceticism, go here. Other Undeceptions episodes mentioned in this ep are:  Everyday Sacred (Ep 47), where we talk to Andrew Wilson and Tish Harrison Warren about finding God in "stuff".  Guilty Conscience  (Ep 39), where we speak to Tyler VanderWeele towards the end about the health benefits of forgiveness. Mental Health (Ep 38), where we speak to Tyler VanderWeele on the impact of religious communities on mental health. Social Capital (Ep 5), where we to Andrew Leigh about the benefits of religious communities not just on individuals but society more generally. More on Francis of Assisi here. Or read his writings for yourself, here. The Michel Onfray quote, "Religions' glorification of a fictional beyond prevents full enjoyment of the real here below. They establish death on earth for the sake of eternity in heaven and seek to promote self hatred to the detriment of the body" is from The Atheist Manifesto.  More on Dionysus, here. Meet our next guest, Tyler VanderWeele. Tyler heads up Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program. His latest book was published in 2021, called Measuring Well-Being You can find most of Tyler's research on religion, health and flourishing here. For an introduction on Aristotle, the Oxford Very Short Introduction series is good. Read (or re-read) Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.

You can check out our new podcast, Beyond the Forum, wherever you listen to podcasts. • Dr. Tia Powell, Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, Dr. Richard Sloan, and Dr. Lydia Dugdale all discuss the power and peril of mixing religion and medicine at The Harvard Medical School Veritas Forum: Religion and Medicine: Should they Mix? • Please like, share, subscribe to, and review this podcast. Thanks!

We know a lot about what makes us healthier. But what about what makes us happier? In this episode, we interview Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, an epidemiologist and the Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. He and his research team are working towards identifying the behaviors that make our lives better — not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and relationally, too. Our conversation centers around one of his data's main findings: regularly attending religious services can help you live seven years longer. Like what you heard? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, join the conversation on our Instagram, @veritasforum. Learn more about us and the work of The Veritas Forum at veritas.org, and subscribe to our newsletter here.

We know a lot about what makes us healthier. But what about what makes us happier? In this episode, we interview Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, an epidemiologist and the Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. He and his research team are working towards identifying the behaviors that make our lives better — not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and relationally, too. Our conversation centers around one of his data's main findings: regularly attending religious services can help you live seven years longer. Like what you heard? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, join the conversation on our Instagram, @veritasforum. Learn more about us and the work of The Veritas Forum at veritas.org.

PART OF A SPECIAL 6-WEEK SERIES | We know a lot about what makes us healthier. But what about what makes us happier? In this episode, we interview Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, an epidemiologist and the Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. He and his research team are working towards identifying the behaviors that make our lives better — not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and relationally, too. Our conversation centers around one of his data's main findings: regularly attending religious services can help you live seven years longer. Like what you heard? Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts to help more people discover our episodes. And, join the conversation on our Instagram, @veritasforum. You can see our full slate of speakers and learn more about our production team and co-sponsors at beyondtheforum.org

Yesterday, we talked about forgiveness and its power to free us, and its necessity for following closer to God. Now, have you forgiven someone yet? Does your heart have any dark corners? And it's not just the good book folks. Consider the following from Harvard Health: "Forgiving a person who has wronged you is never easy, but dwelling on those events and reliving them over and over can fill your mind with negative thoughts and suppressed anger," says Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, co-director of the Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "Yet, when you learn to forgive, you are no longer trapped by the past actions of others and can finally feel free." There are two sides to forgiveness: decisional and emotional. Decisional forgiveness involves a conscious choice to replace ill will with good will. "You no longer wish bad things to happen to that individual," says Dr. VanderWeele. "This is often quicker and easier to accomplish." For emotional forgiveness, you move away from those negative feelings and no longer dwell on the wrongdoing. "Emotional forgiveness is much harder and takes longer, as it's common for those feelings to return on a regular basis," says Dr. VanderWeele. "This often happens when you think about the offender, or something triggers the memory, or you still suffer from the adverse consequences of the action." Practicing forgiveness can have powerful health benefits. Observational studies, and even some randomized trials, suggest that forgiveness is associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and hostility; reduced substance abuse; higher self-esteem; and greater life satisfaction. Yet, forgiving people is not always easy. How do forgive people you don't think you can? The good book has some advice. Pray. Mark 11:25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Dr. Louise Lambert is joined by Dr. Tim Lomas, Senior Researcher, Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation and Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, to discuss general wellbeing. Learn about the connection between positive psychology and physical health and how we must broaden our understanding of wellbeing to be more globally inclusive.Get more information at https://www.globalwellbeinginitiative.org/Reach the podcast at worldofwellbeing@gallup.com

Dr. Louise Lambert is joined by Dr. Tim Lomas, Senior Researcher, Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation and Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, to discuss general wellbeing. Learn about the connection between positive psychology and physical health and how we must broaden our understanding of wellbeing to be more globally inclusive. Get more information at https://www.globalwellbeinginitiative.org/ Reach the podcast at worldofwellbeing@gallup.com

Dr. Louise Lambert is joined by Dr. Tim Lomas, Senior Researcher, Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation and Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, to discuss general wellbeing. Learn about the connection between positive psychology and physical health and how we must broaden our understanding of wellbeing to be more globally inclusive. Get more information at https://www.globalwellbeinginitiative.org/ Reach the podcast at worldofwellbeing@gallup.com

In this episode Joanne Williams, LCSW discusses How this year Christmas is more for giving forgiveness than for giving gifts. Summary of today Podcast:  Ways to celebrate this Christmas with more love and forgiveness in your heart How stress indicates that we are not letting go and how resiliency can help 8 Tools for simply forgiving self or others Question for today is? Why should forgiveness be part of Christmas? In this episode Joanne Williams, LCSW discusses How this year Christmas can be more for Giving forgiveness and finding resiliency than other for giving gifts. Oprah says, “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different, it's accepting the past for what it was, and using this moment and this time to help yourself move forward.”  We have had a year like no other.  An election that some don’t want to let go of with authoritarian roots being exposed against our Democracy, a Pandemic that seems like it will never end.  Families with sick or dying family members, who may have just had a birthday party or wedding and never thought people might die from Covid 19 from coming to a party. Social unrest that has thrown the blanket off a long history of persistent and ugly battering of human rights in our America. Now we have one of the most stressful months of the year with expectation of giving gifts and being merry, with businesses dying, unemployment soaring and a supportive government nowhere to be found. Where is the hope? The joys of the Holiday Season? Can Christmas Music cheer us up? We do have a choice to focus on all the bad that has happened this year or choose to look at ways to let go of the hurt and heartache and bounce forward into a new year with or without Covid in the rear-view mirror. Christmas in my childhood was a complex time, happy and sad.  My family traveled 2 hours to stay with my grandparents and cousins for a traditional Christmas. My father would turn up the car radio on the way to hear the Santa report of sightings and we 4 kids would look out the station wagon windows to look for Santa’s sleigh in the sky, as we drive past the smell of crude oil from the oil fields of Oklahoma.  The Cousins played the piano and would sing carols.  There was a warm fire in the living room fireplace.  We shared and opened gifts on Christmas eve in the German Tradition and had one present from Santa to open on Christmas morning. Sometimes all the Children would sleep on the floor of the dining room in sleeping bags and peep to see if Santa had come yet.  I remember an old saying, my grandfather would say, so that we wouldn’t get to close to the fire.  “Silly Willy curls and sashes, fell in the fire and burned to ashes, by and by the room grew chilly, but no one came to stir up Willy.”  That is such a troubling image for a child. Why would a sweet grandfather recite that saying to young children?  But that was the worry, or the fear of bad things can happen at any moment, instead of hearing reassuring and comforting thoughts, that your family will always be there for you. We remember things very vividly from our childhood.  How are the children of this year going to remember it? Will they remember it with pleasant memories or of fear and hearing their parents fighting over an election, or financial struggles or of unity, forgiveness and finding ways to bounce back with resiliency and compassion, with their reassurance and hope. Christmas is a tradition around the story of the birth of Jesus, the head of the Christian church and believed to be the son of God.  His last words on the cross that killed him were. “Please Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” So, when is forgiveness the focus of His Holiday celebration? I think we are confused like Silly Willy and somehow, we fell in the fire, of remembering those last word to be sharing around forgiving. Not FOR Giving gifts.  But forgiving ourselves and each other, as the gift of the season.  This year we need it more than ever. What are some ways to forgive from an Article the Power of Forgiving Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, co-director of the Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and from Robert Enrights “8 Keys to Forgiveness” The power of Forgiveness teaches how to overcome lingering bad feelings toward someone who did you wrong. Almost everyone has experienced being wronged by someone. It could be a former co-worker, friend, or family member. But hanging on to those negative feelings can do great harm to Your health. "Forgiving a person who has wronged you is never easy but dwelling on those events and reliving them over and over can fill your mind with negative thoughts and suppressed anger," says Dr. Tyler VanderWeele. "Yet, when you learn to forgive, you are no longer trapped by the past actions of others and can finally feel free." Learning to let go There are two sides to forgiveness: decisional and emotional. Decisional forgiveness involves a conscious choice to replace ill will with good will. Replace that thought will a forgiving thought. "You no longer wish bad things to happen to that individual," says Dr. VanderWeele. "This is often quicker and easier to accomplish." Than emotional forgiveness, For emotional forgiveness, you move away from those negative feelings and no longer dwell on the emotions of the wrongdoing. "Emotional forgiveness is much harder and takes longer, as it's common for those feelings to return on a regular basis," says Dr. VanderWeele. "This often happens when you think about the offender, or something triggers the emotional memory, or you still suffer from the adverse consequences of the action." This may need professional help, it there was trauma from this event.  Please reach out to learn some letting go skills for PTSD.  In podcast 26, I cover some of those skills. Practicing forgiveness can have powerful health benefits. Observational studies, and even some randomized trials, suggest that when you forgive you can have lower levels of depression, anxiety, and hostility; reduced substance abuse; higher self-esteem; and greater life satisfaction. Yet, forgiving people is not always easy. "It's not that men can't forgive, but for some it's more of a struggle," says Dr. VanderWeele. It's not clear why, but perhaps men have learned to suppress certain emotions. "It also can be difficult for men to admit to themselves that there was this great offense that still bothers them," says Dr. VanderWeele. Or if it is PTSD avoidance is one of the symptoms. So, please reach out. Practice small acts of forgiveness One way to get more comfortable with forgiveness is to practice small acts in everyday life, says Dr. Tyler VanderWeele.  For example, if someone is rude or cuts you off in traffic, use that moment to recognize the wrong, realize it wasn't directed at you personally, and forgive him or her on the spot. "This way you also can learn to immediately stop the negative reaction from progressing into stronger emotions that can ruin your day. Reaching for a solutions Here are 8 Keys to Forgiveness by Robert Enright  When another person hurts us, it can upend our lives. Sometimes the hurt is very deep, such as when a spouse or a parent betrays our trust, or when we are victims of crime or other traumas, or when we’ve been harshly bullied. Especially for a long time. Anyone who has suffered a grievous hurt knows that when our inner world is badly disrupted, it’s difficult to concentrate on anything other than our turmoil or pain. When we hold on to hurt, we are emotionally and cognitively hobbled, and our relationships suffer. This is why with PTSD disorder; we need help to get out of our heads to think clearer on a emotional direction to let go or feel better. Forgiveness is strong medicine for this. When life hits us hard, there is nothing as effective as forgiveness for healing deep wounds. I would not have spent the last 30 years of my life studying forgiveness if I were not convinced of this. Many people have misconceptions about what forgiveness really means—and they may misunderstand it. Others may want to forgive but wonder whether or not they truly can. Forgiveness does not necessarily come easily; but it is possible for many of us to achieve it if we have the right tools and are willing to put in the effort. Below is an outline of the basic steps involved in following a path of forgiveness, adapted from Robert Enright’s book, 8 Keys to Forgiveness. As you listen to these steps, think about how you might adapt them to your own life. Know what Forgiveness is and Why it Matters Forgiveness is about goodness, about extending mercy to those who’ve harmed us, even if they don’t “deserve” it. Does any family member come to mind this Christmas? That you could practice on?  A person that doesn’t even know that they harmed or offended you and you wouldn’t fear, hurting their feelings, trying some of the skills on them. It is not about finding excuses for the offending person’s behavior or pretending it didn’t happen. Nor is there a quick formula you can follow. Forgiveness is a process with many steps that often proceeds in a non-linear fashion. But it’s well worth the effort. Working on forgiveness can help us increase our self-esteem and give us a sense of inner strength and safety. It can reverse the lies that we often tell ourselves when someone has hurt us deeply—lies like, I am defeated or I’m not worthy. Forgiveness can heal us and allow us to move on in life with meaning and purpose. Forgiveness matters, and we will be its primary beneficiary. A skill you can try on That person this Christmas is to imagine, him or her with a clown nose on their face every time they speak.  It will change the emotional reaction to them and in that moment. Chose to see them differently, such as, his so pitiful, he didn’t even have the brains to hurt me.  I interpreted that situations like he meant to.  He just runs his mouth and it is all gibberish.  Or agree to next time, say something to stick up for yourself, like you don’t know what you are talking about I see it this way.  Almost saying anything, show you can for your self and you will feel better. Studies have shown that forgiving others produces strong psychological benefits for the one who forgives. It has been shown to decrease depression, anxiety, unhealthy anger, and the symptoms of PTSD. But we don’t just forgive to help ourselves. Forgiveness can lead to psychological healing, yes; but, in its essence, it is not something about you or done for you. It is something you extend toward another person, because you recognize, over time, that it is the best response to the situation.  It is a choice.  Become “forgivingly Fit” Practice forgiveness, it helps if you have worked on positively changing your inner world by learning to be what I call “forgivingly fit.” Just as you would start slowly with a new physical exercise routine, it helps if you build up your forgiving heart muscles slowly, incorporating regular “workouts” into your everyday life. You can start becoming more fit by making a commitment to do no harm—in other words, making a conscious effort not to talk disparagingly about those who’ve hurt you after the fact. You don’t have to say good things; but, if you refrain from talking negatively, it will feed the more forgiving side of your mind and heart. You can also make a practice of recognizing that every person is unique, special, and irreplaceable. You may come to this through religious beliefs or a humanist philosophy or even through your belief in compassion. It’s important to cultivate this mindset of valuing our common humanity, so that it becomes harder to discount someone who has harmed you as unworthy. You can show love in small ways in everyday encounters—like smiling at a harried grocery cashier or taking time to listen to a child. Giving love when it’s unnecessary helps to build the love muscle, making it easier to show compassion toward everyone. Perhaps you can refrain from honking when someone cuts you off in traffic or hold your tongue when your spouse snaps at you and extend a hug instead. Sometimes pride and power can weaken your efforts to forgive by making you feel entitled and inflated, so that you hang onto your resentment as a noble cause. Try to catch yourself when you are acting from that place, and choose forgiveness or mercy, instead. Forgiveness Institute website: www.internationalforgiveness.com. Address your Inner Pain- It’s important to figure out who has hurt you and how. This may seem obvious; but not every action that causes you suffering is unjust. To become clearer, you can look carefully at the people in your life—your parents, siblings, peers, spouse, coworkers, children, and even yourself—and rate how much they have hurt you. Perhaps they have exercised power over you or withheld love; or maybe they have physically harmed you. These hurts have contributed to your inner pain and need to be acknowledged. Doing this will give you an idea of who needs forgiveness in your life and provide a place to start. There are many forms of emotional pain; but the common forms are anxiety, depression, unhealthy anger, lack of trust, self-loathing or low self-esteem, an overall negative worldview, and a lack of confidence in one’s ability to change. All of these harms can be addressed by forgiveness; so it’s important to identify the kind of pain you are suffering from and to acknowledge it. The more hurt you have incurred, the more important it is to forgive, at least for the purpose of experiencing emotional healing. You may be able to do this accounting on your own, or you may need the help of a therapist. However, you approach looking at your pain be sure you do it in an environment that feels safe and supportive. Please reach out to me, If needed, I can give you guidance where to find a therapist you insurance will pay for or become a client, to work on that specific stumbling block to your peace of mind. Develop a Forgiving Mind through Empathy Scientists have studied what happens in the brain when we think about forgiving and have discovered that, when people successfully imagine forgiving someone (in a hypothetical situation), they show increased activity in the neural circuits responsible for empathy. This tells us that empathy is connected to forgiveness and is an important step in the process. If you examine some of the details in the life of the person who harmed you, you can often see more clearly what wounds he carries and start to develop empathy of compassion for him. First, try to imagine him as an innocent child, needing love and support. Did he get that from the parents? Research has shown that if an infant does not receive attention and love from primary caregivers, then he will have a weak attachment, which can damage trust. It may prevent him from ever getting close to others and set a trajectory of loneliness and conflict for the rest of his life. You may be able to put an entire narrative together for the person who hurt you—from early child through adulthood—or just imagine it from what you know. You may be able to see her physical frailties and psychological suffering and begin to understand the common humanity that you share. Recognizing that we all carry wounds in our hearts can help open the door to forgiveness. Find Meaning in Your Suffering When we suffer a great deal, it is important that we find meaning in what we have endured. Without seeing meaning, a person can lose a sense of purpose, which can lead to hopelessness and a despairing conclusion that there is no meaning to life itself. Instead, try to see how our suffering has changed us in a positive way. Some people begin to think about how they can use their suffering to cope, because they’ve become more resilient or brave.  They may also realize that their suffering has altered their perspective regarding what is important in life, changing their long-range goals for themselves. Or see it as it made you the person that you are today because of it. To find meaning is not to diminish your pain or to say, I’ll just make the best of it or All things happen for a reason. Still, there are many ways to find meaning in our suffering. Some may choose to focus more on the beauty of the world or decide to give service to others in need. Some may find meaning by speaking their truth or by strengthening their inner resolve. If I were to give one answer, it would be that we should use our suffering to become more loving and to pass that love onto others. Finding meaning, in and of itself, is helpful for finding direction in forgiveness. When forgiveness is hard, call upon other strengths you have from faith to beliefs in old sayings. Forgiveness is always hard when we are dealing with deep injustices from others. I have known people who refuse to use the word forgiveness because it just makes them so angry. That’s OK—we all have our own timelines for when we can be merciful. But if you want to forgive and are finding it hard, it might help to call upon other resources. First remember that if you are struggling with forgiveness, that doesn’t mean you’re a failure at forgiveness. Forgiveness is a process that takes time, patience, and determination. Try not to be harsh on yourself but be gentle and foster a sense of quiet within, an inner acceptance of yourself. Try to respond to yourself as you would to someone whom you love deeply. Surround yourself with good and wise people who support you and who have the patience to allow you time to heal in your own way. Also, practice humility—not in the sense of putting yourself down, but in realizing that we are all capable of imperfection and suffering. Try to develop courage and patience in yourself to help you in the journey. Also, if you practice bearing small slights against you without lashing out, you give a gift to everyone—not only to the other person, but to everyone whom that person may harm in the future because of your anger. You can help end the cycle of inflicting pain on others. If you are still finding it hard to forgive, you can choose to practice with someone who is easier to forgive. OR Alternatively, it can be better to focus on forgiving the person who is at the root of your pain—maybe a parent who was abusive, or a spouse who betrayed you. If these initial hurt impacts other parts of your life and other relationships, it may be necessary to start there. Forgive Yourself Most of us tend to be harder on ourselves than we are on others and we struggle to love ourselves. Or continue with self-abusive statement or act or continue the abuse that the other person started. If you are not feeling lovable because of actions you’ve taken, you may need to work on self-forgiveness and offer to yourself what you offer to others who have hurt you: a sense of inherent worth, despite your actions. In self-forgiveness, you honor yourself as a person, even if you are imperfect. If you’ve broken your personal standards in a serious way, there is a danger of sliding into self-loathing. When this happens, you may not take good care of yourself—you might overeat or oversleep or start smoking or engage in other forms of “self-punishment.” You need to recognize this and move toward self-compassion. Soften your heart toward yourself. Develop a forgiving heart When we overcome suffering, we gain a more mature understanding of what it means to be humble, courageous, and loving in the world. We may be moved to create an atmosphere of forgiveness in our homes and workplaces, to help others who’ve been harmed overcome their suffering, or to protect our communities from a cycle of hatred and violence. All of these choices can lighten the heart and bring joy to one’s life. Some people may believe that love for another who’s harmed you is not possible. But, I’ve found that many people who forgive eventually find a way to open their hearts. This kind of transformation can create a legacy of love that will live on long after you’re gone. And be one of the greatest gifts you can give for this Holiday Season. Happy Holidays Join the Conversation Our favorite part of recording is answering your questions, from Facebook at AnxietySimplified5.  Leave comments in the comment section, we will answer on a Podcast on that subject.  So, listen for your question.  Or share it with someone who may be helped with that answer.  Our next podcast: New Year’s Goals in a Brave new time See other podcasts at AnxietySimplified.net    

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Good morning. My name is Andy. Welcome to all of you who are here in person and those of you who are online. I'm just thrilled to be here. I'm one of the pastors here at Mosaic, along with pastor Jan and pastor Shane. I just want to plug it as we always do. If you just arrived and you're new, or you're just chiming in online, you can fill out a connection card. This is the best way for us to get to know you and for you to get more information about us.You can fill that out in person, put it in the white collection box in the back here, or fill it out online, or on our connection card on our app. Today, we are continuing our Advent series. This is a time of the year where we spend extra time meditating on what Christ's first coming means for us: his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, and ascension, and how it gives us hope in him as we await his second coming.We're going to continue in the book of Matthew and I'm going to be reading from Matthew 2:1-12 12 today. Matthew 2:1-12. And I just want to start off by jumping right into the text. And then I'll jump into my message today. Please follow along as I read the word of God. Matthew 2:1-12. "Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, 'Where is he who has been born, King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.""When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet. And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.""Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.' After listening the King, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.""When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." This is the word of God. Please join me in prayer.Heavenly father, we just praise you that we live in a day where we are less prone to turn to follow signs, to seek stars, to seek messages from you that are given to us by nature, by the whims of the world. Lord, we come in a day where we have seen that Jesus Christ has come into this world. He has revealed your true nature. He was the exact imprint of your nature in this life. He was the man, the God man to whom all the scriptures pointed and in whom all of them are fulfilled.Lord, we praise you that we get to be in this day where we get to look back. The victory is secured. We're just waiting till you come and you consummate your kingdom. You establish it in its entirety in our bodies, in our souls, in the world. And Lord, we pray right now, meet us in the way that you came and met us in the form of the baby, Jesus. Lord, meet us right now. Give us wisdom to be able to discern the ways that the world wants to deceive us and give us wisdom to walk forward in a way that's faithful you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.I shouldn't have closed my Bible after I read it. Number one rule to break, according to my seminary preaching professor. I will be preaching from the Bible this whole sermon. So for all those who were forced to be in Christmas pageants with the three wise men as children and loathed it, this one's for you. I've waited for this day my whole life. I was the shyest kid. I hated those things. To all those who loved the pageants, I'm sorry not sorry to give you this message.To all those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's okay. You didn't miss out on much. I'm joking. Those dramatic displays of the birth of Christ can be beneficial, especially for a child. This is a passage that's really well-known. Christians and even non-Christians, people outside of the church will have a lot of familiarity with it. And it has a lot of details that are just really important to cover. I think many of you probably know a lot less about this passage than you think.For example, I want to begin with a question, how many wise are mentioned in the text? It's three, right? No. The text mentions three gifts given by the wise man, but it does not say that there were three of them present. Next, were the wise men kings? What does the text say? It calls them wise men. They're not called kings. Baltazar, Melchor, Gaspar. The song We Three Kings, I love it. One of my favorites to sing in this season. It's crushed. These are wise men.What is meant by wise men? The Greek word could be magi. These men were astrologers. They were magicians, diviners. They're interpreters of the sky, interpreters of dreams, most likely from Persia. And they were doing exactly what God told the Jews not to do that. They were trying to find a way, find guidance through life on just the whims of their thoughts, the whims of their flesh, apart from him.Next question, were are these men believers? Some people insert into this text that these men at the beginning of the story are believers. They know who this King of the Jews is, what he represents. They kind of have an understanding of the theology of the Messiah that they are going to see. The text says they come and they're looking for the king, the one who has been born King of the Jews. There's something right about that. He was born king.The text says that they want to worship him, but that doesn't mean that they're believers coming to worship their savior and Lord with a humble and contrite heart. The word used for worship might better be translated here as pay homage, pay honor to this king in the same way that they would show reverence to a man of honor. You have to think, it was literally the business of the magi to try to get to know the kings, the rulers, get their foot in the door of the courts of the troyal and ruling classes, find a source of income, get that per diem.And one can only imagine just the extra favor you might get when you stumble upon and you find a ruler and are the first to pay homage to a king. We can't really insert into the text that these guys were believers of Jesus as the Christ. So at this point, many people might begin to ask, so why can we trust this account? Why would scriptures mention pegging men from the East coming to pay homage to the King of the Jews?And why does Matthew present them in such a positive light. Old Testament scriptures, New Testament scriptures, they would have blatantly condemned the magi for their practices, for their beliefs, probably for some of their cultic ceremonies that were immoral. So why is this a part of the revelation of God? These are reasonable questions to ask. And I just want to speed through some of the details that tap into the details of the text.There's a lot of reasons to make it plausible that this is actual history that Matthew is chronicling. First, no Christian writer could have made this up. This story would have triggered a negative response to the Jewish or a Christian reader of Matthew's day. And if Matthew is really trying to convince this Jewish audiences, as we touched on primarily in the past couple of weeks. Pastor Jan's first sermon in the series.Matthew is writing to Jews. Why would he put it in the text unless it actually happened? If he were trying to fabricate a story to try to convince Jews to believe, why would he incorporate these guys into the story and put them in a positive light over Jews? Second, just the star stuff. I just want to tap into it. In many places of the ancient world, the intellectuals were astrologers. They believed astrology.Did you know that in history, it's preserved that in 44 BC during the funeral Julius Caesar, there was actually a supernova that appeared in the sky, some form of sudden star-like brightness that appeared. And this was great for the business of astrology. For a long time it lead to a belief that the birth and death of great kings, great leaders were marked by appearances of stars in the sky. Also history has preserved and modern science has confirmed that a conjunction of planets Jupiter and Saturn, they aligned in the sky at three different times to the naked eye, given the appearance of a really bright, single light in the year leading up to Christ's birth.We mark the year of Christ's birth and tie that to King Herod's death. That's preserved throughout history. And the 5 BC, beginning of 4 BC. There are a couple of dates, the specific dates that are thrown around, but May 29th, October 3rd, December 4th, and the year leading up to Christ's birth are the most popular dates. This could explain why the magi had to make the final call for where to go once they entered Israel.They might've had this natural phenomena in the sky that triggered them. There's this unique light in the sky. There's these rumors of a king born that would come out of Judea. And just to elaborate, there was a widespread rumor and first century BC in the Mediterranean region that a great ruler would come out of the region of Judea. Tacitus, Suetonius, Roman historians, Josephus, a Jewish Roman historian, all of the first century AD, they mentioned that these were common rumors. These were common expectations.This rumor was proven influential when Vespasian, a Roman who actually put down a rebellion in Judea in AD 66, part of his platform for his campaign while running for the office of Roman emperor, and he won, was his claim that he was the great leader that was anticipated in this day. And so you have these phenomena in the sky. The non-believing world has these expectations for a leader that would come out of Judea.Perhaps the astrologers of the day, they would have been studying different ancient texts, different ancient scriptures as part of their vocation. Perhaps they had exposure to Numbers 24:7. Remember, Israel was exiled to Babylon, who then came on control of Persia. The prophet Daniel was alive and very influential in Babylon and Persia. During the exile, it's likely that the magi, the astrologers, the intellectual elites of that day would have been talking, had exposure to multiple scriptures.Number 24:7 says, "A star shall come out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel." Just this kind of randomly placed prophecy in the Old Testament, spoken under the spirit of God by a Gentile prophet, Balam. There's a chance that these astrologers of the day were influenced by this text. So you have all the rumors flying around amongst the astrologers. You have actual phenomenon in the sky, maybe some influence from this Numbers text. And there's a lot of reason to believe that this actually happened.That magi guy from the East, a caravan of them showed up saying, 'Where is the King? Where's the King of the Jews? Where is he?" With assurance that he was born or that he was about to be born. There's a lot of reason to believe the credibility of Matthew's texts from the scripture, from outside of it. All of this information is really intriguing. You can just get lost in this text and in the history, the resources that come out.But in order to get something from this text, we have to stay focused. Matthew is not a true historian. He's a pastor. Scripture talks about there's not enough space to talk about the miraculous, the amazing things that Jesus Christ came and did in his life. So why does Matthew, most likely writing with a pastoral perspective to engage his Jewish audience, primarily Jewish audience, why does he include this specific story of the magi traveling, saying, "Where is he? Where is this king born of the Jews?"And today, by focusing on these actions, the story of the magi, I want to suggest that Matthew is making a comment to his audience about the wisdom of that age. Taken further, Matthew is making a comment about the wisdom of any age. So why is that? The wise men were the intellectuals. They're the leading thinkers. The intelligence here. Thank you AP European History for giving me a chance to use that for the first time in 15 years.The wise men were the lead thinkers of their day. They would have been appointed to presidential councils, overseeing the life and worship of their respective countries and kingdoms. These are people who would have been writing the textbooks while having tenured positions at the top universities. These are the people who would give the most stimulating Ted Talks as well. And Matthew, in this episode, during the events leading up to Christ, he puts their knowledge, their wisdom to the test.It's in their pursuit of the poor baby King of the Jews that their wisdom is turned upside down. The apostle Paul once said in 1st Corinthians 20 and 21, "Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world, for since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. It please God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe."This text from Matthew has that same message. Paul's question to the philosophers, the learned, the top thinkers of the day. Remember he goes into the talk of the logos, how the Greeks looked for the principle that guided everything and explained everything in life. Matthews chipping into that for his audience. So I want to make the claim, this passage teaches us about the wisdom of the world. It shows us that Christmas puts to shame the wisdom of any age.From Matthew 2:1-12, we can say that the wisdom of the world is cyclical, superficial, and insufficient. Those are going to be my three main points. The wisdom of the world is cyclical, superficial and insufficient. I'll explain the big vocabulary words. Point one, the wisdom of the world as cyclical. What do I mean by cyclical? It's prone to change due to circumstances, discoveries, innovations, needs, trends. Many times it repeats itself.I get this simply from the text by meditating on the fact that the wise men, the magi, the astrologers, the lead thinkers of large powerful countries for likely a couple of centuries derived their wisdom and knowledge and counsel from phenomena and the stars. That's a laughable to us. That's something that we scoff at in this day. But how many of you know your sign? How many of you when you come across a horoscope you can't help. You're tempted to look into what it says.What's on your agenda? What's coming up for you? It's laughable. It seems superstitious. And as Christians, you should not be doing that. I'm going to say that plainly. We don't have to dig into that. That is just dabbling with idolatry. But it's laughable. This is something that is rooted in beliefs of 2000 years ago. But at some point it came back. It influenced our age. It influenced our society, especially in the 20th century.I still remember seeing horoscopes in the newspaper growing up. I don't really know where people go to get it today. You can just find a million websites, I'm sure. But there's a cyclical aspect. It's the wisdom of the world is dated, it's trait. It repeats itself. Let me give you another example. In the mid 19th century, what were all the academics and elite saying was going to solve man's problems? In the fifties, sixties, seventies, the thought of Sigmund Freud reigned.People would go to cycle analysts multiple times a week, for years, spending hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars to figure out their conscience with little results. This was actually horrible for the church, just FYI. After millennia of Christians going to the scripture for wisdom, instead of talking to their brothers and sisters in Christ who are pastors, who were guided by the Holy spirit, people needed an expert to solve their problems.Freud had his day in secular society. Freud infiltrated the church. But by the 1980s, he was ruled obsolete. What do these examples suggest about other systems of thought by the elites, the academics, the thought experts of our day, supposed thought experts of our day? What does it say about the previous ages and their experts? Think about the fluctuations in what universities have said about gender and sexual identity and desire.They're once genetically not fixed. They were learned. And then a decade or so later they were fixed. Is there ever anything proposed to solve and deal with the problems of man by the world? Are any ideas ever new? Do any of them last? Just wait five, 10, 15, 20 years and our kids and grandkids will be laughing at us for many of the things that we believed in our day. My grandmother... Just a couple of practical examples of how this can happen.My grandmother went to the grave thinking that smoking was not detrimental to her health. She started smoking as a teenager, probably went 40 years or so. I think she had another health problem that caused her to drop smoking. But for the rest of her life, when she went out with her friends, she was sneaking cigarettes. We just laughed at that. She insisted. She went to the grave believing that because that's what they impressed upon her in her day.And football fans think of the option offense. It apparently rose to prominence in the 1970s. It's gone in and out of fashion. Bring in Tim Tebow, bring in Michael Vick, it rises to prominence again. That's how wisdom and philosophy of this world has fluctuated throughout history. C.S. Lewis once said, "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." All that is not eternal is eternally out date.What does this mean? And he thought principles, ideas that are not rooted in the revelation of God and the inspired scriptures given to man are worn out. Once an idea has its day, it is immediately kicked out the door. Immediately on its way to be kicked out the door. That's how the wisdom of the world works. The reality is that every generation of elite thinkers believe that they know best. C.S. Lewis taps into this in this talk of chronological snobbery.Every generation thinks that man has ascended to greater knowledge, evolved beyond its shortcomings. We know better about the differences between men and women. We know best how to treat racial and ethic differences. We know best how to talk about sexuality and relational dynamics. We understand the self better than there rest. But where is the evidence of ascent to greater understanding? Where's the evidence of emerging consensus of thought?In 2020, do you see that evidence? The world says, "Christians, you have to get with it now." And yes, we should have a heart to learn. We should be able to admit that we just might personally have blind spots. Science is figuring out how some things work. But do we follow the philosophies, the teachings of this world and its imperatives when they contradict scripture? God's special revelation. As a church, do we follow them, as individuals?And just thinking about those answers, let me ask you what has happened in your own life when you've blended the teachings of scripture with the teachings of the world? I did that for about five years, four years of college, one year out before I found Mosaic in August 2011. It's only by the grace of God that brought me out of the darkness in which I was walking and the despair. What has happened when churches that you're a part of blended the instruction of God word and the world?Some of you come from great churches, great hometown churches that are faithful to the word. And I'm jealous of you. A lot of you come from these churches. Their intentions, they mean well, but in order to try to attract people, they've watered down the word of God. And the reality is that they're laughable. It's painful to think about it. Pulling from the world and picking and choosing from the Bible.Life apart from the word of God or life in which one blends the word of God with the wisdom of the world, it correctly leads one to confer with Ecclesiastes that all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:8-11 says, "All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. And there's nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new.' It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after."We do forget, and that's why we repeat a lot of the worldly wisdom. Christmas tells us, where is the wise man? Where is the philosopher? Where is the debater? He's already received a boot in the rear end out the door. He might be let in again for a little while, but then he'll be booted back out again. The wisdom of Christianity is different than that of the world. It is eternal. Isaiah 48 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever."Believe this or just the abide in me, the song, the prayer. That was perfect. That's where our life is. That's where wisdom comes from, day-to-day wisdom to March forward in faithfulness. Abide in God's word. It's sufficient for your situation. It's sufficient for the church. The beauty of Christianity is you can read the Bible. You can read the greats from the past 2000 years: Agustin, Luther, Calvin. There's universal appeal because they're pulling from the word of God that appeals to all of us as image bearers of God.Adam and Eve were created not just to walk the garden and tend to it alone, they were supposed to do it with God instructing them and guiding them along the process. Point two, Christmas teaches us that the wisdom of the world is superficial. What do I mean by superficial? It's shallow. It leads one to the same path, saying that prosperity will satisfy. Prosperity, power, closeness to the nobility will heal.Go to the centers of power to find what you're looking forward, to make a difference, get access to the resources that you need. But God set up Christ's life so that he didn't have access to any of those things that worldly wisdom says we need. Verse one and two, "Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wiseman from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews, for we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."Based on the magi's own study, on their own volition, the influence of the wisdom of the world on them, of course Jerusalem is where the King of Jews will be. "Where is he?" They say when they show up with confidence. They're thinking it's superficial, it's shallow. A town like Bethlehem, any other small town, insignificant place, doesn't cross their mind. Furthermore, we get a sense that they're not really going there to truly worship him. They're going there to honor him.Their motives are questionable at this point in the text. The study and volition of the wiseman led them to Jerusalem. They were probably going in their best dress. So maybe those three wise men pictures with them in the very colorful robes and head dresses. There might be some accuracy, just there might be more than three of them. They show up only to be redirected to a birthday party. This is where the wisdom of God begins to supplant the shallowness of the wisdom of the world."Where's the party? In the courts of the king? In an area like the Back Bay, with chef Salt Bae serving the lamb?" No, they don't land in Jerusalem. That's not where the party is. It's in Bethlehem in a barn or probably more of a crowded house at this point. At a party with who? A super poor family, shepherds. These guys where the social outcasts, the unlearned of society and sheep. Do you see the wisdom of God bringing to light and undermining the shallowness of the wisdom of man? It really should cause us to laugh.1st Corinthians 1:25, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men." That's what the Christmas story shows us. Everything about the Christmas story is wrong according to the wise men, according to the prideful Jews, who Matthew is writing to. The people are outcasts. The magi themselves were just ethnically not the right people. They shouldn't have been there. The people from the right bloodlines, social background, economic background, they're not there.Jesus' family, Joseph and Mary, are the poorest of the poor. When they go to the temple, probably after they use the money from the gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh to flee to Egypt, they go to the temple to dedicate Christ. They pay the poorest fee for the sacrificed. They offer a sacrifice allowed for the poorest of the poor. Other parts of the gospels tell us that Christ was raised in Nazareth, a place of ill repute.He went on to work as a carpenter. When he began his ministry, most of his followers were not just the leaders in the region, but an eclectic mix of misfits, rejects. Scripture talks about how there is nothing special about the appearance of Jesus Christ. As you read this, you have to really ask yourself, how would you have planned for Jesus to become what he became in the eyes of the world?I don't want to say campaign manager or hearing and say election trauma. But what if you were the campaign manager of Jesus Christ? Would you have really come up with what is in scripture to put Jesus Christ to the place of prominence, where he is in the history of the world? God's plan is radically different than what any of us could come up with. All the things of the world that the wisdom of the world tells us that we need, Christ didn't have.Power, influence riches, political authority, academic positions, Christ avoided all of them. With his Christmas presentation, the Holy spirit, through Matthew, is teaching us the shallowness, the superficial reality of all things that the wisdom of the world says we need. The king, the son of God, the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of all the scriptures is born in a stable, surrounded by a bunch of misfits with all the smells around. And that is why is worthy of our worship. He is altogether wise, wholly different, sovereign.God's power is glorified in how he can work through such a circumstance. In the context of Matthew, this is the specific point that Matthew is trying to make to his Jewish audience. Don't be like Herod, who was a professed Jew. The priests, the scribes, they missed this when the magi came into town. Those Jews, they were able to quote the scriptures about where Jesus was to be born. They were able to even say that this Jesus, this king would be a shepherd of his people.He would rule with righteousness. He would be just, gentle, kind. They're able to say that while under the reign of Herod the great, a powerful tyrant who sucked the money in life out of the people, yet they missed it. Matthew's audience, they're Jews. They're looking for Christ, for God to reveal himself in a profound worldly way. And Matthew is saying don't miss it. He came. He was born in a manger. And that is why he is more worthy to worship than any other king you can think of.We have to shed our earthly expectations. For us, the command is to be aware of the grip of the world's wisdom on our hearts. Now, we don't realize it when we come to Christianity just how strong it is. It took me to go to seminary to just see the influence of the thinking of the world on my heart. You don't have to do that. You can just abide and every step of life appeal to God's word, fend it off with prayer.When you start thinking about the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of the way of God, the wisdom of God working through these broken hopeless circumstances, just simply believing in a God who works like this. You might think you'll be laughed at or mocked in pursuing faithfulness to him. The reality of this text is that it's not might. You will be laughed at and mocked by the world in following God's wisdom and not the worlds.But we have to heed the wisdom that Matthew used to expound upon these teachings in chapter two. Chapter five, we're going to continue in Matthew. After the admin season, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, a teaching of Christ that blatantly turned the wisdom of the world upside down, says, "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.""Blessed are those who mourn so they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.""Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets before you." We have to trust the Lord's wisdom, his ways, his commands. And that is the means to blessedness and fullness in this life. Point three, Christmas teaches us the wisdom of the world is not just cyclical, superficial, but it's also insufficient.What are the wise men of the world supposed to do? They tell us how life works in its entirety. They're the ones who are supposed to find things and explain things for us, find that principle, that thing that explains everything. But scripture in this story from Matthew, it tells us that the wisdom of the world can only take us part of the way. How is that shown? The magi can't quite make it to the destination that they seek, the location of the King of the Jews.By their own knowledge and volition, they make it pretty far. They get to Jerusalem, but they don't quite make it. The wisdom of the world is insufficient. We have longings for something that cannot be found in this world, longings for a sovereign, righteous, glorious king on our hearts. But the wisdom of the world can't take us there. Romans one. Romans is called Paul's gospel. He begins his gospel with... It's really an epistle.But he begins, what's perceived as his gospel, with unaided reason, we know that God exists. We can look at the world. We can look within ourselves and know that there is a creator. But without special revelation to us from God through his word, through the preaching of the gospel primarily. The gospel is the power an through righteousness to the Jew first. The power of God and through righteousness to the Jew first and also the agree that we can't gain access to God apart from the preaching of the gospel, apart from special revelation from God.Science captures this. A Harvard School of Public Health professor, Tyler VanderWeele, and a journalist John Siniff, they wrote a USA Today op-ed entitled Religion May Be a Miracle Drug. They outline mental and physical benefits correlated with religious participation for most Americans who go to church. Just some of the benefits. Mortality rates are reduced by 20% to 30% over a 15 year period for those who go to church.Those who regularly attend services are more optimistic. They have lower rates of depression. They're less likely to commit suicide, have greater purpose in life, are less likely to divorce, and more self-controlled. Science and research in our day, they can quantify the value of religion, quantify the value of Christianity, but they can't take us to the Lord Jesus Christ, who brings us those benefits. The peace of heart, the experience of the love of God, the peace with the father that we get through Christ.Man by his wisdom could not find God. That's the point of Christmas. God comes to us. How do the wise men find Jesus in the story? It's not until God gives them the specific paths through the reading of the scripture, by the scribes know. To begin their journey, maybe they had this background where they heard Numbers 24:7-17, this text that a star and Sceptre shall come from Israel. And that would be the special revelation from God given to them.But we can't really discern where they just fall in the suspicions of the magi of their day. We can't discern that. But in this text, it's the quoting of the scriptures that redirects the magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. It's what gets them to their destination, where the king, whom they desire to see and to meet wise. This is in Matthew 2:3-6. Furthermore, in verse nine, we get the sense that the final appearance of a star was of a different sort of appearance.It says that the star appeared for a short time. It came and stood over the house. Is this a supernatural star, a special star, or just a special act of providence arranged by God for them in that moment? We don't know. But verse 10 talks about how they felt at that moment. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. There is no elation about them because they know that they're being guided by God himself.They've been looking for wisdom their whole lives, and they know that they have found it. It's coming from the source of all wisdom of true wisdom. They haven't seen Christ in physical form yet, but they know that they're being guided by the right spirit because God has spoken to them. The scripture that this brings to mind is 1st Peter 1:8-9. It says, "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."This is Peter writing to people walking with assurance that wonder is under the care, the guidance of God who has sealed their salvation even though they can't see him. And the magi have that. Before they see Jesus Christ, you get this through the language, through their response. When they go to Christ, they worship him. They lay down. They bow. They worship him. They offer him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh that would have been gifts fit for a king.And the word offer is used primarily in a sacrificial way. This is what Matthew is trying to tell his audience. You, first century Jew, you might not see him. In your circumstances, you might not see God at work in your day to day life and your toils and your troubles dealing with the vines, the thorns and thistles of life. You might not see him. But in order to get there, read his word. You have it, just like the scribes, the priests.He's speaking to you directly. You have the source of wisdom and you can rejoice. He has spoken to you through his word in the person of Jesus Christ. There's assurance that God is with us, that God is guiding us, that he will always be with us, regardless of our circumstances. There's a knowledge that we have that separates us from non-believers. It's the source of our hope that we will persevere to the end of our journey as the magi I did.This knowledge, it's only given to us God. True faith that God loves one, is guiding one, is what drives us to true and sacrificial worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what gives us the ability to endure the hardship. Do you want to worship God? Do you want this assurance that is the Holy Spirit who is guiding you instead of the whims of the wisdom of the world? Do you see the cyclical nature of the wisdom of the world, the shallowness of it, the insufficiency of it?If this is your position, the apostle Paul instructs you look to the cross of Jesus Christ. For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. It's at the cross that a holy God wisely retains perfect justice by shedding his wrath for man's sin on his own son, while also exhibiting infinite mercy and love to those who are saved by such an act. It's there that you'll find the nuanced, glorious wisdom that will satisfy your heart. It's there where you'll stop clinging to the shallow wisdom of the world.You'll lose the rigidity of mind that comes with it. It's where your sins will be forgiven. It's where you'll truly know God and yourself. Let bow in prayer. Lord, we praise you that we are not people who have just seek desperately for you. It is by your grace that you have called us your children. It's by your grace that you have revealed yourself to us while we are wandering; not just wandering, we're enemies against you. We did not desire a relationship with you, but you called us, you spoke to us, you showed us your holiness.You gave us a taste of your spirit. We know it's different than the wisdom of the world, the spirit of the world. And Lord, I pray, give us faith that we may trust you going forward. That your word is sufficient to guide us. That we don't have to look for the church to rise to earthly prominence. We don't have to rise to earthly prominence ourselves, but we can be made complete and whole in you. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

At SER 2019, the Cassel lecture was delivered by Miguel Hernán and Sandro Galea on the topic of  reconciling social epidemiology and causal inference. Their talk was turned into a paper in the American Journal of Epidemiology, and in March 2020, was published along with a series of responses by Drs. Enrique Schisterman, Whitney Robinson and Zinzi Bailey, Tyler VanderWeele, and John Jackson and Onyebuchi Arah.  In this SERious Epi bonus journal club episode, we had conversation with Dr. John Jackson and Dr. Onyebuchi Arah about their commentary and had the opportunity to ask their thoughts on the other topics published in that issue. Links: Win-Win: Reconciling Social Epidemiology and Causal Inference by Sandro Galea and Miguel A Hernán https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwz158 Editorial: Let’s Be Causally Social by Enrique F Schisterman https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwz237 Invited Commentary: What Social Epidemiology Brings to the Table—Reconciling Social Epidemiology and Causal Inference by Whitney R Robinson, Zinzi D Bailey https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwz197 Invited Commentary: Counterfactuals in Social Epidemiology—Thinking Outside of “the Box” https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwz198 Invited Commentary: Making Causal Inference More Social and (Social) Epidemiology More Causal by John W Jackson and Onyebuchi A Arah https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwz199 Galea and Hernán Respond to “Brings to the Table,” “Differential Measurement Error,” and “Causal Inference in Social Epidemiology” https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwz201  

What does it mean for someone to flourish? Flourishing is more than just being happy—although that’s a part of it. But the idea of flourishing expands beyond happiness to look at a person’s overall well-being, taking into account things like life satisfaction or someone’s sense of purpose. That’s why studying flourishing is an interdisciplinary science drawing on public health, philosophy, psychology, and more. In this week’s episode we’re talking to two researchers from Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University who are tackling big questions about flourishing: What does it mean for people to flourish? How do we measure it? And are there things that make people more or less likely to flourish? Our guests are Tyler VanderWeele, director of the Human Flourishing Program and John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard Chan School, and Matthew Wilson, associate director of the Human Flourishing Program and a research associate at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. Full Transcript: https://hsph.me/flourishingpod

What does it mean for someone to flourish? Flourishing is more than just being happy—although that’s a part of it. But the idea of flourishing expands beyond happiness to look at a person’s overall well-being, taking into account things like life satisfaction or someone’s sense of purpose. That’s why studying flourishing is an interdisciplinary science drawing on public health, philosophy, psychology, and more. In this week’s episode we’re talking to two researchers from Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University who are tackling big questions about flourishing: What does it mean for people to flourish? How do we measure it? And are there things that make people more or less likely to flourish? Our guests are Tyler VanderWeele, director of the Human Flourishing Program and John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard Chan School, and Matthew Wilson, associate director of the Human Flourishing Program and a research associate at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. You can sign up here for a monthly research e-mail from the Human Flourishing Program, or click here to follow them on Twitter. You can also check out the Human Flourishing Blog, hosted by Psychology Today. You can subscribe to Harvard Chan: This Week in Health by visiting iTunes or Google Play and you can listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app or on Spotify. If you’re a fan, we’d appreciate you leaving a rating and review wherever you listen.

The complete July 2019 issue of Christian Doctor's Digest with guests Tyler VanderWeele (research on the effects of Religious Upbringing & Health) and Ron Bryce, MD (discussing his book Fingerprint of God) and hosted by CMDA CEO David Stevens, MD.

Tyler VanderWeele, director of Harvard's Human Flourishing Project, joins me to discuss their work, including what human flourishing is, the state of society today, what factors produce a more flourishing life, and how we can individual can maximize our chances of finding it.

A multifaith team of guest editors, led by Ellen Idler, and comprising Anwar Khan, Jeff Levin, and Tyler VanderWeele, has assembled a set of articles illustrating how faith-based organizations have contributed to public health at the local, state, or global levels. I further discuss if the mission of public health is compatible with views expressed by some religious congregations that appear to contradict the fundamental principles of equity and health. My interviewees are Ellen Idler (Emory), Bill Foege (Emory), Rob, Pyne (St Norbert) , and Mimi Kiser (Emory).

Yes! You read that right. Religion helps you stay healthy! What else should we discuss on Christmas Day, but religion? Dr. Jim Brown discusses the benefits of going to church with me on this Christmas special, and they aren't all just spiritual. He is a university professor teaching Technology and Psychology (that's a weird mix…right?) and is currently the pastor of The Lake Church. Dr. Jim Brown has been a principal, superintendent, department chair at three different universities. He also served several churches and various roles from music pastor to senior pastor. Did you know that there are benefits in the faith community to our mind, body, and spirit? Although we still report ourselves to be a “Christian Nation”, 17% of Americans are regularly attending services (including all religions) weekly. That's about 1 in every 5 Americans go to (church/synagogue/mosque/etc.) on a regular basis. It doesn't mean that the 83% doesn't go to church at all, they just don't go on a regular basis. Here are some of the benefits of going to church and how religion helps you stay healthy : * Churchgoers live longer and enjoy better overall health in the general population.  Why is this?  Does this surprise you? * According to Dr. Lynda Powell, Preventive Medicine Specialist at Rush University Medical Center, the answer may lie at least in part in the positive lifestyle choices that churches promote. Most religious organizations discourage negative habits like smoking, drugs, etc. * Frequent churchgoers are happier than those who do not attend services.  Of course, there is always the exception, and right now churchgoers might have a particular reputation of being…well…judgmental or “churchie” for lack of a better word…  But according to research on religion, it's true.  Why is this? * We learn (over time) to accept life as it comes. * We learn (also over time) to love and accept one another.  No matter what the flaws are.  This can be one of the most difficult things to learn. * A support system is built in for those hard times that we all must face. * Regular attendance may increase lifespan. * Many Americans go to church because it helps them stay grounded and gives them spiritual guidance. * Tyler VanderWeele of Harvard said, “Church attendance promotes self-discipline and sense of meaning and purpose.” * Dr. Blazer, a professor of Psychiatry at Duke University said, “The one aspect that is significant of good health is religious service attendance.” * Couples who attend church services are less likely to divorce and have happier marriages than those who don't attend. To get Dr. Brown's 11 Good Reasons to Attend Church, go to http://rockyourretirement.com/ReasonsToAttendChurch Do you have any comments about today's episode?  Post them in the comments section below! Contact information for Lake Church at Lake San Marcos: * The Lake Church – Official Website * The Lake Church – Facebook Page This post about retirement and Retirement Lifestyle first appeared on http://RockYourRetirement.com

Tyler VanderWeele shares the link he uncovered in research about church attendance and positive health outcomes.

Morning Prayers service with speaker Tyler Vanderweele PhD ’06 on Wednesday, February 3, 2016.