Happy Friday
Jesus instructs us to love our enemies. This does not mean we must turn them into friends – which is what we are inclined to do (principally by trying to persuade them to think and act more like us). Instead, we are instructed to become the kind of people who treat an enemy as if they were a friend. How? Whatever else is required, we must pray for them (Mt 5:44b). I have found it very difficult to pray for “an enemy” and not have my heart soften towards them.
Reviewing Self-Leadership Classics: Two weeks ago I led a doctoral seminar for pastors. The course married spiritual formation with management theory – think the church fathers/Puritan theologians/Catholic mystics meet Peter Drucker/Jim Collins/Steven Covey. I opened the class by telling the students they were unlikely to learn anything new, but they were very likely to be reminded of a lot of important practices they’d pushed aside. I’ll share a few in the weeks ahead. Here are two: 1) focus on the important not the urgent – even if you only get an hour or two to do so, you are going to take ground; and 2) understand that self-care is often a form of self-denial – i.e., stopping to exercise (or for Sabbath rest) may keep us from checking things off our list, but it’s the right thing to do.
Moral Injury: One of the students is a military chaplain focusing on Moral Injury. While those who suffer from PTSD need to learn how to process fear, those with a moral injury are paralyzed by guilt, shame and anger, either from what they’ve done or seen. The path forward pivots around learning to trust in “good.” When it happens, recovery from a moral injury happens in a caring community. I was tempted to write, “I am thankful I’ve avoided serious moral injury to my soul.” But I have not. So I will say, I’m thankful I have been spared the hardships and unthinkable choices forced on many, and I am very thankful for the grace of God that covers all my sin.
Visual > Print: We hardly need more evidence that pictures are eclipsing words, but more arrived: one of the nominees for this year’s Man Booker prize is a graphic novel.
Quotes Worth Requoting:
- If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped. Evelyn Underhill
- If you want me to believe in your redeemer, you are going to have to look a lot more redeemed.Friedrich Nietzsche
Table Tennis?: The NFL dominates the American fall. Whether it continues to do so depends a great deal on the concussion challenge it faces. The fact is, it may soon drop out of the top ten most watched sports. According to www.mostpopularsports.net, the global list unfolds as follows: 1) Soccer; 2) Cricket; 3) Field Hockey; 4) Tennis; 5) Volleyball; 6) Table Tennis; 7) Baseball; and 8) golf. American football is tied with basketball for #9.
Articles for Reflection:
- In Futureview, I argued that we are only beginning to understand the full cost of the 60s sexual revolution. I also suggested that most of the cost is borne by women. (See University of Texas sociologists, Mark Regnerus’s book, Cheap Sex, for more on that). In the July 12, issue of the NYT, Adam Kirsch argues that many men lose out as well – or at least some feel that they are.Click here to read “A French Novelist Imagined Sexual Dystopia. Now It’s Arrived.”
- Second Thoughts on that Bucket List: In the July 20 issue of The WSJ, Joe Queenan notes that Americans have become obsessed with “transformative experiences.” He then wonders if “bungee-jumping in Madagascar is really what makes life complete?” To read, It’s Time to Kick the Bucket List, click here.
Closing Prayer: God, I want your guidance and direction in all I do. Let your wisdom counsel me, your hand lead me, and your arm support me. I put myself into your hands. Breathe into my soul holy and heavenly desires. Conform me to your own image. Make me like my Savior. Enable me in some measure to live here on earth as he lived, and to act in all things as he would have acted. Ashton Oxenden (1808 – 1892)