Happy Friday,
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Psalm 118:1
Scripture frequently reminds us to be thankful. The suggestion is that it’s not only the right response, it’s the pathway to a light heart. In recent years there has been a growing body of evidence that you become more joyful by developing the skill of gratitude. Do yourself – and everyone around you – a favor, and “give thanks to the Lord.”
Lewis on Thanks: BTW, if you’ve ever thought it God looked a bit desperate when he orders us to sing his praise, you have to read this quote from C.S. Lewis’s sermon, A Word About Praise.
Exhausting: This article from The Hill chronicles the different pronouns students are using – and expecting others to use for them. The piece notes that given the gender identities students are choosing – including, but not limited to: genderfluid, third-gender, amalgagender, demigender, bi-gender, pans-gender, and a-gender – some professors are simply never using a pronoun. FWIW, here is the list as of today: He/She, They/Them, Ze/Hir (Ze, hir, hir, hirs, hirself), Ze/Zir (Ze, zir, zir, zirs, ze), Spivak (Ey, em, eir, eirs, ey), Ve (Ve, ver, vis, vis, verself), and Xe (Xe, xem, xyr, xyrs, xe).”
30th Anniversary: If you’re one of the five people who has not read Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages – or at the very least, know what it is about – you’re missing out. I bring this up not only because it helped me, but also because the book is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. BTW, click here to join the 2.5 million people who take the Love Language Quiz every month.
Worth Noting: The Dun and Kreuger Effect – which holds that the more you study something the less you know about it for sure – looks like this on a graph. Given the convictions with which many speak about science, politics and the economy, I’d like to n light of Opinions are expensive. Be sure you can afford yours.
Please: When describing the views of those with whom you disagree, please do not describe them in such a way that they would not recognize or own them. Instead, put their argument in the best possible light. You have a much better chance of having a real conversation if you do this. Another way to say this is, do not do what almost all talk radio hosts do.
Read. Read. Read. At the risk of sounding like a prig, you must read. And by read, I mean good books of all types. There are enough movies, TV shows, podcasts and magazines to keep you diverted for the next 10,000 years – and more being created every day – so if you do not yet think of yourself as a reader, the first thing you will must do is say no to diversions and mind-candy that will divert you. Think of reading like getting in shape. Reading Tweets and 500 word People magazine articles is like doing curls with five pound weights. If this is what you are reading, you are not in shape to pick up War and Peace. But you can get there. You are what you read.
Without Comment: 1) the life expectancy of American men decreased by two years during the pandemic; 2) in 2020, the US experienced the biggest rise in murder since murder records have been kept; 3) According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 1.5 million K-12 students opted out of public education this year; 4) 1 in 5 Black American newlyweds are interracially married; 6) the Dollar Store is raising prices on some items to more than a dollar; 6) Fender Musician Instruments sold a record number of guitars in 2020, driven in part by people forced to stay at home during the pandemic. The company calculates that one-third of those instruments were purchased by people who play in church worship teams.
Clarification: Last week I noted that some missiologists believe that more Muslims are coming to faith at this moment than virtually any other time in history. This led some to ask, “faith in what?” Faith in Christ. While it is true that Islam is growing, it’s growth is mostly biological. Not many people convert to Islam.
Rethinking the God of the Gaps: Even though the Secularization Theory has been dismissed by most scholars, some people still contend that as science marches ahead, the world will be less mysterious and people less religious. Why Atheists Need Faith, last week’s much-discussed WSJ editorial, argues otherwise.
The Dunning – Kruger Effect: The D-K Effect – which holds that the more you study something the less you know about it for sure – looks like this on a graph. Count me among those who suspect more than a few of those who yell the loudest – on TV, radio and via Social Media – have not yet moved past the “peak of Mt. Stupid” through the “Valley of Despair” and started to climb the “Slope of Enlightenment.” Can I get three cheers for intellectual humility?
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you said that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Help us not to stray from you, for you are the Way; Nor to distrust you, for you are the Truth; Nor to rest on any other than you, as you are the Life. You have taught us what to believe, what to do, what to hope, and where to take our rest. Give us grace to follow you, the Way, to learn from you, the Truth, and live in you, the Life. Amen. (Desiderius Erasmus – 1467 – 1536)