The Friday Update - Crisis Merchants

Happy Friday,

I’m slowed by the words us and our. As with the Lord’s Prayer, the use of plural pronouns seems a quiet assault on our atomized moment. I’m also sobered by the call to keep our end top of mind. But the real punch in this passage comes with the word harvest. It implies that unlike growing old, growing wise takes effort. Of course this is true. Just as we do not wake up one morning to discover that we lost thirty pounds, learned Spanish and became world class in chess while we were sleeping. We do not wake up to discover we drifted into wisdom. It takes work. Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may harvest a heart of wisdom.

Related

It’s June, when we're reminded that all we need do to have a garden full of weeds is nothing.

Acts 20:35

Studies not only suggests that generous people are happier, they suggest that just planning to be generous increases happiness. Per Acts 20:35, it truly is “more blessed to give than to receive.” Why not decide now that today you are going to give and serve at a new level. (BTW, one of the most common end-of-life regrets is not being more generous.)

Overheard 

1) When children are frightened, they run to their parents. When adults are frightened, they call it “stress.”

2) Hurry — i.e., the steady accumulation of demands that slowly push aside the things which matter most — is today’s great enemy of spiritual life.

3) The rise of prediction markets has turned the world into one big casino.

4) We know what to do. We’re just too busy negotiating with comfort— i.e., we’d rather negotiate the cost than count it.

5) America’s 6M+ feral hogs are causing $3.4B in annual crop damage, spreading diseases and reproducing so rapidly they’ve been labeled a "biological wildfire."

6) Unity doesn’t mean we agree on everything. It means we’re held together by love. 

Perspective

There are reasons to be frustrated with the USA, but as we approach our 250th, it’s worth noting that very few (less than 1%?) of everyone who has ever lived have enjoyed freedom of speech, freedom of religion or the ability to elect their leaders. 

Prayer

Tim Keller claimed that four practices transformed his prayer life: 1) taking months to work slowly through each Psalm; 2) learning to connect his prayers to Scripture via meditation; 3) praying three times a day, not just once; and 4) beginning to pray with greater expectation.

Mostly Without Comment

1) In London in 2024, Muhammad was again the most popular boy’s name, making it eight years in a row (when you include all the various spellings).

2) The NFL—the other football—is about to end it’s off season and retake the airwaves. In ’24, 72 of the 100 most-watched TV programs were NFL games.

3) Though they comprise only 0.4% of the population, attorneys make up 30% of the House and 51% of the Senate.

4) In 1800, it took 45 days to travel from NYC to Chicago. In 1830, it took 20 days. In 1850, it took 2. It now takes 3 hours — with about half of that spent taxiing at O'Hare.

5) US national debt recently surpassed annual GDP for the for the first time since 1946.

6) As of 2024—the most recent year of data—roughly 1 in 7 Americans (15%) are currently foreign-born, the highest on record. (In 1970, the figure was < 5%.)

7) Pastor Matthew Olson recently set a world record for the longest speech by preaching through the Bible in 96 hours straight (and people think my sermons are long).

WOTW

Honorable mention goes to otrovert (a newly coined personality label for those who view themselves as permanent outsiders because they value deep one‑on‑one connections over groups interaction). Full honors go to crisis merchants (those among the chattering class who keep generating new terms with a Chicken-Little-the-sky-is-falling vibe — e.g., micro-looting, doom scrolling, doom spending and swarm shoplifting).

Resources

1) Click here to hear my interview with theologian Dr. Amy Orr Ewing, the author of Forgiveness: Reclaiming its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear.

2) Click here to hear my Father’s Day sermon on forgiving family members (especially our fathers). 

3) Click here for your last chance to sign up for my July 2^nd (noon) CS Lewis lecture in Little Rock.

Closing Prayer

“Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your Spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be light to others. Amen.” (Mother Teresa — 1910-1998)