Happy Friday.
He has done it.
Psalm 22:31
Christ’s work on the cross is so amazing it is celebrated in advance. Psalm 22 anticipates John 19. Tetelestai. “It is finished,” or “Paid in full.” Jesus did all that ever needs to be done. He paid every penny. He drained every drop. There is no condemnation left for those who are in Christ Jesus. Lord, help our hearts believe what your Word declares.
K is the New J: Back when I was a consultant the “J Curve” (i.e., the Sigmoid Curve) was all the rage. More recently there has been talk about a “V” shaped recovery vs. a “U” shaped one. And then the “W curb” started to get some ink. “K” is the latest letter to emerge. For what it’s worth, the K shaped recovery is what I see in play. Some are doing better than ever, and some are losing ground quickly.
Correction One: Last week I credited Illinois “Senator Everett McKinley” with the quote, “A billion here and a billion there, pretty soon you are talking about real money.” However, I left off his last name. It is Dirksen. My apologies to the late senator. By the way, I was using Dirksen to highlight how unfathomably large one trillion dollars is. (You can read my argument here). For what it’s worth, last week Apple’s capitalization surpassed two trillion dollars.
Risk and Reality: Six months into the pandemic, the average American significantly misperceives their risk of dying from COVID. Collectively we think those 55 and above account for just over half of total COVID-19 deaths; the actual figure is 92%. Even more dramatically, we believe that those 44 and younger account for about 30% of total deaths; the actual figure is 2.7%. The second chart in this article says it all.
College Freshman Today: The survey Beloit College started twenty years ago – now called The Mindset List – has rolled out its annual reminder of how fast time flies. You can read the whole report here. By way of summary, this Fall’s entering freshmen – who were born in 1998 – cannot remember a time when they had to wait for anything; cannot recall a time when the United States was not at war; cannot recall an election when someone named Bush or Clinton was not running for office; cannot remember a world when iMacs did not exist, when India and Pakistan did not have the bomb, when Gretsky or Elway were not retired, or when Vladimir Putin was not in charge at the Kremlin.
More Stats: I am aware that some of you are upset that I listed the COVID stats above because: 1) you believe they are misleading – e.g., they do not account for the danger of those under the age of 44 infecting someone over that age; and 2) well, somehow everything COVID is political. I am not trying to be political, just stating statistics as clearly as possible. And yes, I know that everything is political and needs context. But I maintain that there are some stats that are helpful to look at, even if they do not fit our understanding of things.
Speaking of Stats:
- Ten percent of black Americans use illegal drugs; 9% of white adults and 8% of Latinos do so. However, Blacks are nine times more likely than Whites and nearly three times more likely than Latinos to serve prison sentences for drug crimes. (William Stentz, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice (Harvard Univ. Press, 2011), p. 4.)
- Tesla’s stock has skyrocketed in recent weeks, rising 400% this year. Indeed, they now have a stock market capitalization greater than the market value of all the other major automobile manufactures combined.
- Adjusted for inflation, the 007 movies are the top-grossing film franchise of all time.
- An Exodus from the city to the suburbs is underway – e.g., in the second quarter, 6,786 households left Manhattan and 6,347 left Los Angeles, helping to fuel a rise in suburban house prices.
Two Statistics You do Not Want to See Together: I drafted the headline after hearing that since COVID hit, alcohol sales were up something like 200%, and that gun sales were similarly through the roof. However, when I went to document those claims I found that they were not true. While “to-go” sales of alcohol are up slightly, overall alcohol sales are down because people are not eating out. If you do not believe me, click here. In terms of gun sales, well, this Fortune article says sales are up, 75% since January, with 90% being first-time buyers.
Lifequake: In Bruce Feiler’s latest book, Life Is In the Transitions, he argues that “the linear life is dead” because every 12-18 months we now experience a “life disruptor” and three to five times in adulthood we experience a “lifequake” – i.e. one big event or multiple disruptors at the same time. Feiler – who also reports that the average worker today will hold twelve different jobs before the age of fifty and that the typical job now lasts four years (for those over the age of thirty-five) and three for those under – is likely on to something. My take-a-way is that we need to hold firmly onto The One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Prayer Requests: If 2020 is anything, it’s a call to prayer. On Wednesday I am asking those attending Christ Church to set aside time to fast and pray. The list of things to pray for can be found on the headlines of virtually any newspaper: Kenosha, Houston (hurricane Laura), COVID, Belarus, November’s election, etc.
Closing Prayer Set Up: What follows is part of a longer prayer by Clement of Rome, one of the Ante-Nicaean Church Fathers mentioned in tomorrow’s 100 Points of Inflection video. This prayer: 1) is regarded as the oldest Christian prayer known outside Scripture; 2) it follows the “Eighteen Blessings,” recited daily by Jews; and 3) it gives us some idea of what early Christian prayer and liturgy must have been like.
Closing Prayer: We beseech you, Lord and Master, to be our help and provider. Save those among us who are in trouble, have mercy on the lowly, lift up the fallen, show yourself to the needy, heal the ungodly, convert the wanderers of your people, feed the hungry, release our prisoners, raise up the weak, comfort the fainthearted. Let all the Gentiles know that you are the God alone, and Jesus Christ is your Son, and we are your people and the sheep of your pasture. Amen (Clement of Rome)