Lynne Baab • Thursday July 3 2025
Last week, I wrote that one of my goals is to help people think critically and pray wisely about the human brain’s love of dichotomies and hierarchies. We often mention two things and link them with BUT, indicating that one of them has priority over the other. Linking them with AND places them side by side with equal emphasis.
After I wrote that post, my friend Rich Morey, a therapist and psychologist, replied:
“AND seems to play an outsized role in my life. I am often struck by how seemingly opposites often present in unison: grief and gratitude, sadness and joy, the sweet and the bitter. ...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Wednesday June 25 2025
The human brain loves dichotomies: this NOT that. One of my goals in my writing is to affirm that the truth often lies in this AND that. Grace AND truth. Righteousness AND peace (Psalm 85:10). Grief AND gratitude. Our brains really want to nurture dichotomies, so we need the help of the Holy Spirit to hold two opposite things in tension. Of course, we access that help through prayer.
An amusing and thought-provoking illustration of this AND that comes from the endings to the four Gospels. We might look to Jesus's last words to his disciples to get an idea of how...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Thursday June 19 2025
Today, I want to praise God for the way the Earth is tipped. If you draw a line from the North to the South Pole and extend that line beyond the Earth, the line is not perpendicular to the path of the Earth around the sun. This website has a motion graphic that illustrates what I’m saying. Scroll down to below the video.
Because of the tipping of the Earth, we have seasons. On Friday this week, at 7:42 p.m. here on the West Coast of the United States, the Northern Hemisphere will be at its closest to the sun. The days are...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Tuesday June 10 2025
In the 1990s, I had quite a bit of contact with Unitarian Universalists. My first exposure to UU folks came through the interviews for my 1997 and 1998 books, which were published by The Alban Institute. That publisher marketed to leaders of Christian and Unitarian congregations, so I needed to get opinions and quotations from members of UU churches in addition to my interviews with Christians from various denominations. Those books are Personality Type in Congregations and Embracing Midlife: Congregations as Support Systems.
I also met UU church members through my involvement with the Association for Psychological Type. When I found myself...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Wednesday January 22 2025
By Lynne M. Baab, author of Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeLynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023
By Lynne M. BaabLynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021
By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021
Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christian spiritual practices. Read more »
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"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
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