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Note: You are receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly newsletter.
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Here's a thought, a quote, and a resource I wanted to share with you this Thursday.
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Things that were once commonplace are now valuable because they’re rare:
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- An in-person pastoral visit
- A phone call instead of an email
- A handwritten thank you note in the mail
- Restraint in a time of outspokenness
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The cost of each of these remains the same, but the value of each has increased.
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The Thinking Person’s Checklist
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- When faced with provocation to respond to what someone has said, give it five minutes. Take a walk, or weed the garden, or chop some vegetables. Get your body involved: your body knows the rhythms to live by, and if your mind falls into your body’s rhythm, you’ll have a better chance of thinking.
- Value learning over debating. Don’t “talk for victory.”
- As best you can, online and off, avoid the people who fan flames.
- Remember that you don’t have to respond to what everyone else is responding to in order to signal your virtue and right-mindedness.
- If you do have to respond to what everyone else is responding to in order to signal your virtue and right-mindedness, or else lose your status in your community, then you should realize that it’s not a community but rather an Inner Ring.
- Gravitate as best you can, in every way you can, toward people who seem to value genuine community and can handle disagreement with equanimity.
- Seek out the best and fairest-minded of people whose views you disagree with. Listen to them for a time without responding. Whatever they say, think it over.
- Patiently, and as honestly as you can, assess your repugnances.
- Sometimes the “ick factor” is telling; sometimes it’s a distraction from what matters.
- Beware of metaphors and myths that do too much heavy cognitive lifting; notice what your “terministic screens” are directing your attention to—and what they’re directing your attention away from; look closely for hidden metaphors and beware the power of myth.
- Try to describe others’ positions in the language that they use, without indulging in in-other-wordsing.
- Be brave.
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I enjoy the Dwell Bible app. It’s a “new audio Bible app that keeps Scripture in your ears and on your heart.” I use it every day.
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It features Bible reading plans and other great playlists. You can choose your own narrator. Felix is my favorite.
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They’ve just released a Content Creator for churches with special launch pricing. If you’re a pastor or church leader, you can create your own listening plan or playlist. It also unlocks unlimited access for everyone in your church.
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