The Friday Update - Deo Volente

Happy Third Friday of Advent,

The claim is not that evil is neither real nor “that bad.” Anyone reading the Bible knows that the darkness is very dark. The claim is that the Light of the World overcomes it. Merry Christmas. 

Two

Some say there are two types of people, “those who claim there are two types of people and those who do not.” I now think the world is dividing between those who complain about the world we’re leaving our children and those who complain about the children we’re leaving the world.

Overheard

1) We need to learn the difference between the differences that make a difference and the differences that do not.

2) Leaders create their own weather and then complain when it rains.

3) Time is a currency you spend without ever knowing your balance.

4) Moses was the first to download data from the cloud onto a tablet.

5) I wish I had as much faith in Jesus as some people have in their own opinion.

6) The church needs more people focused on the next life not the next election.

Be Alert

While Christmas is a time of high highs for some, it’s a time of amplified grief for others. Be patient. Be kind. If we knew the struggles people are facing, our tone would change instantly. Because we don’t know, grace isn’t optional—it’s the only reasonable posture.

Quotes

1) "In a conversation, respect is like air. When it’s present, nobody notices. When it’s absent, it’s all anybody thinks about." — Joseph Grenny

2) “Forgiving is love’s revolution against life’s unfairness. When we forgive, we ignore the normal laws that strap us to the natural law of getting even and—by the alchemy of love—release ourselves from our own painful pasts.” — Lewis B. Smedes

3) "If you ask me, “What’s the most dangerous statistic in the world,” it isn’t anything about AI. It’s the Gallup poll stating that fewer people than ever are going to church." — Thomas Friedman

4) “Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2005, real life is not college; real life is not high school. Here’s a secret no one told you: Real life is junior high. The world you’re about to enter is filled with junior high pettiness, pubescent rivalries, the insecurities of 13-year-olds, and the false bravado of 14-year-olds.”— Tom Brokaw

Without Comment

1) In the last ten years, the number of students from the New England states attending college in “the deep south” is up 91%.

2) Per this Manhattan Institute report, 30% of white Rs, 66% of Black Rs and 77% of Latino Rs believe reports about the Holocaust have been greatly exaggerated.

3) In 1980, nearly 1 in 5 Americans were veterans. It’s now 1 in 16.

4) The BoA is reporting that student-loan programs are facing escalating losses because of how much young people are losing on sports betting.

5) 45% of Z’ers want cryptocurrency for Christmas.

More on Sports Betting

Last month, the C.E.O. of Kalshi (a betting app) reported they intend “to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion.” I hope and pray they fail, but I’m not going to bet against them.

WOTW

Honorable mention goes to woke right (a mirror-image of cancel culture that “polices language, enforces ideological conformity, and treats dissent as betrayal,” but whose villains are on the left not the right), Momancholy (the sadness moms feel when their children struggle), techlash (the obvious mashup of technology + backlash), and trade-off denialism (an homage to Thomas Sowell’s claim that there are no solutions, just trade-offs). Full honors go to Sunday scaries (the work-related anxiety 50+% of US workers face as Monday approaches).

IS2M

1) We’re not losing our “freedom of assembly” because of legal challenges to the First Amendment, but we may be losing it to people’s growing fear of large gatherings. 

2) My skepticism of the economic viability of UBI (universal basic income) pales next to my belief that they’re a bad idea because work is a good idea. We need meaning-making endeavors. People—especially young men—with nothing to do do not do good things.

Resources

Here’s a link to last week’s sermon on Revelation 12 — a passage Eugene Peterson claims is in the Bible to keep us from sentimentalizing Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

1) There’s no Update on 12.26. See you in ’26, Deo volente.

2) Like every other organization in your life right now, TFU is accepting donations. Every dollar goes to growing the newsletter and not my bank account. (My private jet comes from my Church salary.)

Closing Prayer

“O Lord, our God, Maker of all things, who became small for our sake: You who clothe the heavens were wrapped in swaddling cloths; You who rule the stars lay in a manger. Grant that as we marvel at your humility, we may be raised by your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (Augustine - c.400)