Happy Friday,
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here and I will show you what must take place.”
The Apostle John, Rev. 4
In the last book of the Bible, Jesus commands John to come up and see what is going to take place. What follows is a 20-chapter vision that is horrific, mysterious, confusing, sublime, and helpful. Helpful how? For starters, John reminds his readers that Jesus wins. They may be suffering, but only for a time. Jesus wins! The Lamb that was slain will triumph, and those who stand in Him will attend a glorious banquet in His honor. Secondly, the view from above is different from the view below. John tells them to embrace the view from above.
Quiz: 1) What takes the largest slice out of the US budget: Defense, Social Security, Medicare, or interest on the debt? 2) Who is the first AI casualty? 3) What is the topic of “the most popular class in Yale’s history?” 4) What % of medical doctors belong to the AMA? 5) What % of text messages are opened? 6) What % of the people living in Jerusalem are Christian? 7) Has GOP support for gay marriage gone up, gone down, or stayed the same over the last two years? 8) Is military recruitment up, down, or static?
WOTW: Honorable mention goes to wet-bulb (following heat dome—last week’s new weather word—wet-bulb refers to the heat/humidity inflection point at which perspiration no longer cools the body). Full WOTW honors go to anti-disinformation, i.e., the crusade to replace one set of questionable facts with an often equally-dubious-but-officially-approved set of facts. George Orwell is not happy that anti-disinformation has become such a thing as to be recognized as WOTW. And no, I have not yet seen anti-anti-disinformation in print, but yes, I expect I will soon.
Overheard: 1) Much now depends on the exhausted middle; 2) God is not silent, but we are often deaf; 3) Antisemitism appears to be a bit like bankruptcy. It happens slowly at first and then all of a sudden; 4) Christians need to understand that loss of power and loss of status do not equate to persecution.
Great Public Theology: I am writing this before the debate, but since you’re reading it afterward, I’ll include one of the great texts of public theology to help you clear your mind. It’s Lincoln’s Second Inaugural. It takes five minutes to read.
Questions: As always, I have more questions than answers. How slippery is the slippery slope? Are we ready for the next pandemic? How come neither Tom Brady nor Tom Cruise appear to age? If I changed my name to Tom, can I join them? Should we call them fentanyl deaths, fentanyl overdoses, or fentanyl poisonings? What is the difference between the right and the far right? Will the red states keep getting redder and the blue bluer? And, if so, what happens? What is the best way I might love my neighbor today?
KK: Kevin Kelly—deemed by Tim Ferris to be the most interesting person in the world—is out with his annual list of insights. I read it every year and think it’s worth the ten minutes it takes to skim. Don’t over-expect. It’s full of things like “you’ll make better decisions if you ask yourself ‘and then what?’ for each choice” and “there is no formula for success, but there are two formulas for failure: not trying and not persisting,” i.e., good, but not Book of Proverbs good.
Answers: 1) Per this report from Congress, $ to SS is #1, but debt service just surpassed spending on both defense and Medicare; 2) Per this WSJ article, the first to lose their jobs to AI are freelancers (note: Friday Update Inc. has not let any freelancers go, though we no longer hire as many interns as planned, and both our London and Tokyo offices sit empty); 3) Per this article, the most popular class in Yale’s history is on happiness; 4) At its peak 60 years ago, the AMA represented 70% of US docs. Today, only about 10% of MDs join; 5) 98% of text messages are opened; 6) According to 2020 data, 60% of Jerusalem’s 951K residents are Jewish, 37% are Muslim, and 2% are Christian. 7) Per this NR article, support for gay marriage has declined among GOP votes over the last two years; 8) Military recruiting is down. In ‘23, only the Marine Corps and the Space Force met their recruiting goals.
Resources: Here is my most recent sermon. Based on God’s description of the tabernacle in Exodus 35, it’s a reflection on the importance of beauty.
Closing Prayer: O God, king of righteousness, lead us, we pray you, in the way of justice and of peace; inspire us to break down all oppression and wrong, to gain for everyone their due reward, and from everyone their due service; that each may live for all and all may care for each, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (William Temple, 1881 – 1944)