God’s mercies are new every morning.
Jeremiah, Lamentations 3:23
The beginning of a new day, a new week – and especially of a new year – reminds us how deeply we value a fresh start. How amazing of God to renew His mercies every morning!
Without Comment: In The Descent of Man (1871), Charles Darwin criticized compassion, writing, “With Savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination… Thus, the weak members of civilized society propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man.”
Homeschooling Trends: After years of rapid growth, the homeschooling movement has leveled off, grown more racially diverse, and become less religiously motivated.
The Division Lies Below: Progressives typically want the state to restrain capitalism, redistribute wealth, ensure equality and free the individual (from traditional forms of family, marriage, sex, etc.). Conservatives generally want the opposite – i.e., the state to free the markets, protect property rights, promote inherited values and focus on equality of opportunity. Both claim they want humans to flourish. Why such disagreement? It seems as though those on the right are more skeptical of human nature and more inclined to think solutions lie with family, faith and the markets. Meanwhile, those on the left are more optimistic about human nature and more inclined to think a path forward is best engineered by the government.
It’s All About the Court: Twenty years ago, the left overlooked Bill Clinton’s sexcapades because they liked his court appointments. Today the right (including many evangelicals) are doing a similar thing for similar reasons. It’s all about The Court. I share this having recently heard that Justice Ginsburg is not expected to live long. The DC insider who told me this expects “blood in the streets” during the next appointment proceedings.
Antonin Scalia: I recently skimmed Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived. What intrigued me most was the forward, which was by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She praised him, as he did her. They disagreed on most matters, but were great friends. As one observer noted, they apparently decided not just to “agree to disagree,” but “to disagree and still care for each other.”
Quotes worth ReQuoting: When we begin to glimpse the reality of God, the natural reaction is to worship him. Not to have that reaction is a fairly sure sign that we haven’t yet really understood who he is or what he’s done. N.T. Wright
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Publications have been reviewing the decade. A few – Kristof, Ridley, et al – are proclaiming “the best of times.” Most are lamenting the “Terrible Tens”/“Decade of Disillusionment.” I’ll spare you my thoughts other than to say: 1) we can learn from these reviews; 2) whether we feel positive or negative is affected by our temperament and our focus; and 3) how odd that both the market and anxiety have spiked at the same time.
The World in Charts: Another way to gain a bigger perspective is by looking at charts like these.
Shaping our Heart: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs us to not “store up our treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal.” But instead “to store our treasure in heaven.” He then says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Some believe Jesus is saying that our spending reveals our heart. Yes, but His bigger point is that our spending shapes our heart. If you want to love the true, good and beautiful, give away your stuff to the true, good and beautiful.
Closing Prayer: Loving and tender providence of my God, into your hands I commend my spirit; to you I abandon my hope and fears, my desires and repugnances, my temporal and eternal prospects. Though temptations should assail me, I will hope in you… You are my kind, compassionate, and indulgent Father, and I am your devoted child who casts myself into your arms and begs your blessing. Amen. Claude Le Colombiére (1641-1682)