Happy Friday,
Teach us to number our days, that we may harvest a heart of wisdom.
Moses, Psalm 90:12
The first words that get my attention are us and our. As with the start of the Lord’s Prayer—Our Father…—Moses emphasizes that we’re in this together. But for me, the passage’s punch comes with harvest. Some translations use gain instead, but I think harvest rightly stresses that growth takes work. Growing old happens without our effort. Not so with wisdom. We don’t wake up one day to discover that while we were not paying attention, we lost weight and learned Spanish. Many of the chronologically superior are old. Not as many are wise. Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Overheard: 1) The world would be a better place if middle-aged men worried more about their blind spot than their bald spot; 2) Travel agents are making a comeback; 3) Children are our ultimate social security check; 4) It’s hard to find anyone who admits to ever supporting Defund the Police.
Worth a Click: This zero-stars YouVersion Bible app ad is well played. And this two-and-a-half-minute video is worth watching even if you’re not an English football fan.
Quiz: 1) What percentage of US employees claim their workplace is toxic? 2) What percent of the global GDP comes from the US? 3) Are post-Covid commutes longer or shorter than pre-Covid ones? 4) Technically speaking, the weekend starts at _?_; 5) The average age of those working on the Manhattan Project was _?_; 6) How many slaves are there in the world today? 7) Approximately what percentage of Americans own cryptocurrency? 8) How many US churches identify as Southern Baptist?
Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “I found out the hard way that if we don’t disciple people, the culture sure will.” Alan Hirsch; 2) “I’m neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” Leslie Newbigin
With Comment: 1) 45% of Americans under the age of 25 believe in free speech, ‘except for hate speech.’ Which is very close to not believing in free speech; 2) The massive HEIR study shows that, while fifty years ago women were more conservative than men, today they are 15 points more liberal; 3) I’m happy to report that use of bespoke reality is dying down after many people who bespoke it a lot have realized how weird they sounded.
WOTW: Nominations include busy bragging (which I’m too busy to explain), nonlinear negative outcomes (a U of Chicago’s Existential Risk Lab term used to describe how a small change can eventually usher in a catastrophic shift), cultural reactionaryism (Rachel Ferguson’s term for the “if you punch me I’ll punch back harder” approach embraced by those who think little of the Sermon on the Mount), and religious atheism (the term showing up more and more to describe people like Richard Dawkins, who see value in religion but believe it is based on lies and nonsense). Full honors go to silicon overlords, a term I saw used in an article warning that AI is about to take over. (I’m too busy to worry about such things, not that I am busy bragging).
More on Nonlinear Negative Outcomes: The idea of a small change eventually triggering the end—which has overtones of Hemingway’s line, you go bankrupt slowly and then all at once—has led some at U of C’s XLab to suggest that AI is now a bigger threat than nuclear annihilation, climate change or biothreats. They suggest our future may be spent serving “our silicon overlords.”
Answers: 1) Per this American Psychological Association Report, over 20% of US workers claim their workplace is toxic—making them less employees than resentees; 2) Per this Financial Times piece, 25% of the global GDP comes from the US; 3) Trick question. Per this WSJ piece, work-from-home means some commutes have ceased. But for a variety of reasons many now live further away from the office, so on the days they are expected in the office, their commute is longer; 4) Another trick question. Per this piece, the weekend technically starts Friday at 5 pm, but many are clocking out earlier every day of the week, especially on Friday. As I have said before, the only people working hard anymore are you and me. And I’m not so sure about you; 5) Per this New Yorker article, the average age of the people working on the Manhattan Project—i.e., developing the first nuclear weapons—was 25; 6) According to the advocacy group, Voices for Freedom, 50 million people are currently slaves, with 71% being women or girls; 7) According to this ’22 article by Pew, 16% of Americans own crypto. I have heard it is now closer to 20%, but cannot substantiate that claim; 8) There are 47,000 Southern Baptist congregations (for comparison, the Presbyterian Church in America has 1,800).
Resources: Click here for last week’s sermon exploring trust, and here to hear The Engage and Equip podcast, in which I am interviewed about several current topics related to this newsletter.
Closing Prayer: Give us, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no selfish desires may drag downwards; give us an unconquered heart, which no troubles can wear out; give us an upright heart, which no unworthy ambitions may tempt aside. Give us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know you, perseverance to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (Thomas Aquinas – 1225 -1275)