Happy Friday:
Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present
world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
Paul, 2 Tim. 4:9
We should be saddened but not surprised when people walk away from the faith. “Deconstruction” has been happening since the earliest days for a variety of reasons, starting with the church’s failings. The right approach is: 1) love those who are rethinking life; 2) remind them to not only doubt their faith but to doubt their doubts; and 3) press ever deeper ourselves. Life gets better with more — not less — Christianity.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Utopia: Former CIA Director David Petraeus and former US Defense Secretary Bob Gates are among those suggesting that the world is as unstable now as at any point since the end of WWII. The five threats that have their attention are:
- The war in the Middle East.
- China and Russia’s growing collaboration.
- A malicious Iran.
- An unhinged North Korea.
- The massive spread of doctored or wholly fake videos being used to manipulate world news and opinion.
This might be a good time to remind ourselves that 100 years ago, we were promised that with just a bit more time and a few more technological advances, we’d fix all our problems and live in a Utopian paradise. A funny thing happened on the way to paradise — human nature got in the way.
Number Six: My ongoing dive into the news media has helped me see that its present woes are largely the result of disruptive shifts occurring in tech, the market, our epistemological framework, culture, politics, and our declining density. All six are significant, but the last one gets the least ink, so I’ll have more to say about it in the weeks ahead. (BTW, two of the Lakelight Live News Rules talks remain. To sign up for Lake Forest – Oct. 29th – or Naples – Nov. 2 – click on the city.)
The Book of the Dun Cow: I just reread WalterWangerin’s 1978 fantasy classic, The Book of the Dun Cow, in which Wangerin manages to merge Animal Farm, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Canterbury Tales into a fun, compelling and convicting read. Chanticleer — the protagonist (who also happens to be a rooster) — is a flawed character, but he does the right thing in a way we can all learn from. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
This Week’s Flash Mob: I enjoyed binging on the dozen flash mob videos you sent in this week. This one was my favorite. (I’ve also been replaying this worship video.)
Without Comment: 1) US household wealth grew by 37% between 2019 and 2022, the largest increase on record; 2) Nearly 2/3 of US CEOs expect employees will be back in offices full-time three years from now; 3) Divorce seldom makes people happier; furthermore, 93% of those who stay in an unhappy marriage are happier in the marriage ten years later; 4) This CNN poll suggests that while 81% of those 65+ favor Israel’s military response to Hamas, only 27% of those 18-34 do; 5) This annual poll shows that trust in both traditional news sources (the Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, CBS News, etc.) and alternate ones (the New York Post, Washington Times, Daily Caller, RealClearPolitics, etc.) is at an all-time low; 6) It’s now 52% more expensive to buy a home than to rent; 7) and 12% of Americans account for 50% of U.S. beef consumption.
IS2M: 1) Both the scientific and the secular communities are speaking more openly about the downside of porn; 2) Whatever their virus resistance status may be, many people lack their pre-COVID social stamina and resilience; 3) Those who argue that it is wrong to judge a culture need to be more honest and state that what they really mean is that it’s wrong to judge cultures other than the West; 4) Those who suggest that faithful obedience to Christ is “not sustainable” are saying the same thing to me that Satan says; and 5) The statements made by college presidents concerning the Middle East highlight both the moral confusion of much of higher ed and the profound complexity of the Middle East.
The End of October: This seems an appropriate moment to rehearse the opening lines of Dan Fogelberg’s 1975 song, Old Tennessee: The End of October, the sleepy brown woods seem to nod down their heads to the winter. / Yellows and grays paint the sad skies today, and I wonder when you’re coming home. / Woke up one morning, the wind through the window reminded me winter is just ’round the bend. Somehow, I just did not see it was coming —it took me by surprise again.
WOTW: It was a big week for words. I’m giving honorable mention to coffee badging (the act of satisfying a return-to-work mandate by making a brief appearance in the office, coffee in hand), seppuku (Japanese for self-disembowelment, which has been on display on the political right this month); cyborg theocracy, which describes the new imperative to “seed the body with tech in order to move beyond human limits,” and decoloniality, which I’m recognizing only to remind you that academics love to make up inane words that no one else cares about. Full honors go to the Great Forgetting, Western Civ’s decision to ignore all lessons from its past.
Closing Prayer: Grant, O Lord, that your love may so fill our lives that we may count nothing too small to do for you, nothing too much to give, and nothing too hard to bear, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen. Ignatius Loyola, (1491–1556)