The Friday Update - Morning Routine

Happy Friday,

Much is revealed—and decided—by how we start the day. David started his with prayer. How do you start yours? 

The Scarlet Letter

Last week I said that IMHO, TSL goes downhill after its brilliant second sentence: "The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison." I might have added that, although I think Hawthorne gets the Puritans wrong, I think he gets human nature right. Virtually every major character responds badly. Hester turns guilt into self-justification. Rev. Dimmesdale hides behind his reputation – profoundly misunderstanding the power and purpose of confession. And Chillingworth makes revenge his life’s work. 

Quiz

Which of the following institutions has earned the most trust from the public: Large corporations, organized religion, the medical system, public schools, the military, small businesses, the Presidency or Congress?

Overheard

1) Technology subtly suggests that the world is a set of challenges to be overcome and limits to be transcended.

2) Annoyance is the price you pay for community.

3) We become like what we behold — either a TV or a Trinity.

4) When a sport’s league starts receiving more ink on the culture page than on the sports page, it’s in trouble.

5) Modernity refers to the era when people started spending more time with other people than they did with their own family. 

Ugh

Iceland's claim to have eliminated Down’s Syndrome rests on a nearly 100% abortion rate of babies who test positive for it in pre-natal screenings.

Without Comment

1) In 410, Augustine noticed that the refugees pouring into his city preferred to go to the theater to be entertained rather than come to the church to hear the truth about life and death.

2) Though hot dogs still sell for $1.50 at Costco, they now sell for up to 100$ in other settings.

3) Most Americans favor the death penalty for those who commit murder.

4) For the first time, Billboard’s top five songs are all country.

5) The Supreme Court’s job approval is at its lowest point in 26 years.

6) In 1970, only 7% of college freshmen had a High school GPA of an A or higher; today roughly 40 % do.

7) Forty years ago in the US, children outnumbered pets. Today, there are 14M more dogs than there are human children.

8) On average, 53% of the major bios of Ben Franklin are devoted to his life after 60, according to Jim Collins. 

Quotes

1) “God is too good to be unkind, and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” — Charles Spurgeon

2) “The trouble with most of us is that we’d rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” — Normal Vincent Peale

3) “When you pursue pleasure, the result is not happiness. The result is rehab.” — Arthur Brooks

4) “The growing alienation between young men and young women may be one of the biggest stories of our time.” — Ross Douthat

5) “Religion as entertainment is always more attractive, but it is also less true.” — Eugene Peterson

WOTW

Honorable mention goes to nudification (the act of using AI to alter someone’s photo to make them appear nude), Beta Mom (after decades of Tiger Moms helicoptering in to manage their children’s lives, Beta Moms are “reclaiming date night, saying no to schlepping kids to 17 different after-school activities and making peace with dirty dishes in the sink,”) Natilie (“Not All Time Is Equal”- the latest phrase Jim Collins has coined alongside “BHAG,” “Hedgehog,” and “Get the right people on the bus,” etc.) Full honors go to sacred ache. I think the term — which is the title of a new book by Belle Tindall-Riley — immediately and brilliants describes the hunger for transcendence all humans feel.

good news

I’m not promising to do this every week, but given the news's negative tilt, I want to be sure you know that: 1) US mortality rates are at all-time lows; 2) with the exception of a spike around COVID, crime rates began falling in the ‘90s and have continued to decline; 3) Millennials and Gen Z are building wealth faster, and enjoying higher median incomes than previous generations at the same age; 4) Carbon Monoxide emissions are down 87% since the ‘80s and sulfur dioxide emissions are down 95%.

Quiz Results

Institutions ranked from most trusted to least, according to Gallup: 1) Small businesses; 2) the military; 3) organized religion; 4) Medical system; 5) a tie between public schools and the US Presidency; 7) Large corporations; and 8) Congress. (Note: per some polls, pastors who write newsletters score higher than small businesses.)

Resources

Click here to hear my sermon on Luke 9:23-25, which is an invitation for a reset. BTW, before you know it, December will be here. The time for a course correction is now. 

Closing Prayer

"O Lord, we bring before you the distress and dangers of peoples and nations, the pleas of the imprisoned and the captive, the sorrows of the grief-stricken, the needs of the refugees, the importance of the weak, the weariness of the despondent, and the diminishments of the aging. O Lord, stay close to all of them, Amen.” (Anselm - 1033-1109)

P.S.

 If TFU has become part of your Friday rhythm—and you’d like to help us out—then send it to a friend. Preferably one who reads. But we’re trying to be hospitable.

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