The Friday Update - Happy T-Day

Happy Day After T-Day,

One of the things worth noticing about the qualities listed above is that they’re not very noticeable. Anger, conflict, hyperbole and spin-doctoring get more attention than “peaceable, gentle, reasonable, merciful, fruitful, impartial, and sincere.” But James notes that it’s the latter that lead to wisdom. If we’re looking for wise counsel, we might want to start by looking at those others overlook.

Overheard

1) Doubt is not a problem. It’s just not the destination.

2) An ever-expanding definition of “neighbor” accompanies spiritual growth.

3) God’s involvement makes things better but seldom easier — at least not initially.

4) People are not reading much Camus these days, but they are wrestling with nihilism. They just call it burnout.

Quotes Worth Requoting

1) “Atheists believe in at least six miracles: something from nothing; order from chaos; life from non-life; the personal from the non-personal; reason from non-reason; and morality from matter.” — Jon Tyson

2) “Those who travel the high road of humility… are not bothered by heavy traffic.” — Former Senator Alan Simpson

3) “A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.” — Cicero

4) “When we pray, ‘Your kingdom come,’ implicit in the petition is, ‘My kingdom go.’” — Eugene Peterson

5) "Saying that the church is in decline is like saying it's raining in Asia. Always true somewhere. Never true everywhere.” — Andrew Wilson

Occupational Insights

If you want to know about health, ask a doctor. If you want to know about students, ask a teacher. If you want to know about the courts, talk to a lawyer. If you want to know about people facing addictions, depression and loneliness—or about dysfunctional families in general—ask a pastor during the run up to a major holiday.

Question of the Week

What was the second most read book (after the Bible) in the Christian world in the 16th and 17th centuries?

Without Comment

1) 60% of grades given at Harvard are A’s, up from 25% two decades ago.

2) A recent study found “a negative correlation between politicians who “truth-tell” and those who are re-elected.”

3) Mahjong is trending among US 20-somethings.

4) 500K Canadians left the emergency room without seeing a doctor in 2024.

5) North American consumers spent $5.5B at Goodwill last year, up 37% since ’19.

6) The Orthodox church is experiencing a dramatic spike in attendance among young men.

7) In ‘15, 51% of US adults did not believe children were “affordable for most people.” Today, 71% feel that way.

8) 7.5% of $ raised in the ‘24 election cycle came from the 100 wealthiest Americans.

Names

While skimming lists of “the most popular names in ’25,” I noticed a few things (besides the fact that Mike is nowhere to be found). For starters, there’s a pattern among popular US girls’ names. The top five are OliviA, AmeliA, SophiA, EmmA and IsabellA, with ElianA, AurorA and MiA also in the top ten. There’s also a pattern among popular boys’ names. The number one boys' name in London last year (and indeed in all of England and Wales) was Muhammad. The number one boys’ name in Berlin last year (and for the last six years) was Mohammed. The same is true in Brussels. As an aside, Mohammed is a very popular name in Africa and the Middle East, but I have not been able to establish how popular it might be.

Political Freedom, Yes. Absolute Freedom, No.

Given the US’s upcoming 250th B-day, it's worth celebrating our political liberties, starting with our right to think, say, and believe whatever we want. These rights are essential for a healthy society, and we must protect them for everyone. Now is also the time to note that our freedoms are not absolute. We have no ability to force others—or creation—to conform to our truth claims. We may think or act otherwise for a time, but never long term. Reality eventually forces our hands.

Answer

What was the 2nd most read book? Foxes’ Book of Martyrs. 

WOTW

Honorable mention goes to affordability crisis (which is getting a lot of ink these days) and Green Wednesday (the pre T-Day moment during which marijuana sales climb higher than any day other than 4.20, which is pot-celebration day). Full honors go to eudaimonia (i.e., personal well-being.) Eudaimonia is one of two “values” that matter more than family across nearly every US demographic. The second is “voice” —i.e., our desire for “authentic, individualistic self-expression.”

WOTY

Nominations for Word of the Year are due by 12/15. By way of reminder, last year’s honorable mentions went to lawfare, polarization, depopulation crisis and replication crisis, with full honors going to post-secular. As noted last week, Cambridge Dictionary has already selected parasocial as their 2025 WOTY. And this week others weighed in: Collins Dictionary selected vibe coding (the process of writing software by describing it in natural language to an AI); Dictionary.com selected 6-7 (a slangy, ill-defined numeric term surging among Gen A) and Macquarie Dictionary (Australia) selected AI slop (low-quality AI-generated content).

Resources

1) If you like TFU, Lakelight publishes a monthly newsletter with similar content, alongside curated resources and updates on the latest talks and classes. You can subscribe over on Lakelight’s website (click the subscribe button in the upper-right hand corner.)

2) Advent is soon to be upon us. Lakelight published an advent devotional here.

Closing Prayer

The following is a version of the prayer believed to be prayed by Reverend Hunt at the first Thanksgiving. “Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.” (Robert Hunt - 1569–1608)