Among his many virtues, [St. Francis of Assisi] is known for his passionate embrace of poverty. Not only did he forbid his emerging Order to own property, he added this discipline for each of the brothers: "Let none of the brothers … wherever he may be or go, carry, receive, or have received in any way coin or money, whether for clothing, books, or payment for work."

There were few exceptions. ...

Pachomius was an Egyptian soldier won to Christ by the kindness of Christians in Thebes. After his release from the military around A.D. 315, he was baptized. Serious about his new faith and determined to grow, Pachomius became a disciple of Palamon, an ascetic who taught him the self-denial and solitary life of a religious hermit.

In early Christianity, the model of devotion was the recluse dedicated ...

In a 2007 article for Christianity Today, Jenell Williams Paris, a mother to infant twins, explained how motherhood cultivates the spiritual discipline of self-denial every single day. Naps for little ones dictate the reality of a nap for the caretaker. A baby's cry for milk tears a carefully constructed schedule to pieces. Sickness demands a steady healing hand. The challenge for the mother, Paris ...

America is swimming in a sea of Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil! In 2006 alone, over 190 million prescriptions were given for antidepressants. The swim is a little expensive, though. On average, each pill costs between $2-3 for the patient. To add to the burden, the side effects of antidepressants can sometimes be negative.

Researchers at Britain's Essex University have found a much cheaper alternative with ...

Throughout his life, Pablo Picasso is estimated to have produced about 13,500 paintings or designs, 100,000 prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations, and 300 sculptures or ceramics. Thanks to casino magnate Steve Wynn, however, one oil painting will enjoy a greater level of infamy than all of these works.

The painting is titled The Dream, and Picasso completed it in 1932. In 1997, at an art ...

The cover story of the September 18, 2006, edition of Time magazine asked, "Does God Want You to Be Rich?" In researching for that article, Time phoned 770 self-reporting Christians across the United States and asked them to agree or disagree with the following statements:

Obtaining wealth…
God wants people to be financially prosperous.
Agree: 61 percent
Disagree: 26 percent

Material wealth ...

Amount the U.S. spends annually on imported toys: $23,631,000,000

Amount spent by the next 10 highest toy-importing countries combined: $21,729,000,000

Average number of credit cards per U.S. household: 12.7

Peggy Noonan describes an encounter with an American CEO in her book John Paul the Great:

I am talking with the head of a mighty American corporation. We're in his window-lined office, high in midtown Manhattan. The view—silver sky-scrapers stacked one against another, dense, fine-lined, sparkling in the sun—is so perfect, so theatrical, it's like a scrim, like a fake backdrop for a 1930s ...

British style writer Neil Boorman has decided to burn every branded thing in his possession. "I am addicted to brands," he confessed in a magazine article:

From an early age, I have been taught that to be accepted, to be loveable, to be cool, one must have the right stuff. At junior school, I tried to make friends with the popular kids, only to be ridiculed for the lack of stripes on my trainers. ...

Comfort is dangerous, and we should constantly be re-examining our lifestyle. The New Testament is beautifully balanced on this. Paul avoids both extremes, not least in 1 Timothy 4 and 6. Asceticism is a rejection of the good gifts of the good Creator. Its opposite is materialism—not just possessing material things, but becoming preoccupied with them. In between asceticism and materialism is simplicity, ...