Books, essays, podcast episodes, and more that I think are worth your time, plus recent cultural news that I’m paying attention to in the month of January…
The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi. If you have New Year’s resolutions around time management or household clutter, this book is for you. Honestly, even if you don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions but you’d like some simple and life-giving advice about how to bring some order to the chaotic corners of your life, this book is a great place to start. Thank you to one of you for sending it my way as I think about meaningful and manageable ways to help families affected by disability.
From Behaving to Belonging by Julie Causton and Kate MacLeod. This is a practical and accessible book specifically designed for classroom teachers who want to cultivate inclusive classrooms where everyone belongs and no one is designated a “bad kid” or a problem. That said, it’s helpful to me as a parent too—I only wish I had read it as a parent of younger kids.
The End of an Era. Okay, so I didn’t expect to love The End of an Era, Taylor Swift’s six-part documentary about the making of the Era’s Tour. But it was great. I would have watched 20 more episodes. There’s so much to say about the way this whole production was put together and executed, but what struck me most of all was how the film—and the tour itself—centered around elevating others. It is easy for me to get cynical about Taylor Swift and her megastardom. But this series felt like watching her use that stardom to lift other people up—whether that’s the truck drivers who received a $100,000 bonus or the kids who experienced a one-on-one moment with her in the middle of each show or the dancers who didn’t fit conventional body type norms but were hired to perform because of their incredible skill and energy or considering how to delight the millions of fans who follow her every move. Our whole family enjoyed this series together.
“The Kingdom of God Is Ruled by the Humblest of Men.” Lovely (and challenging) article by Peter Wehner on the reason to pay attention to the babe in the manger…
The moral teachings of Jesus, the way he modeled loving others, are compelling not because they are countercultural, though they are, but because they are intrinsic. What God attributes worth to is something we ought to attribute worth to. That applies to moral truths and human beings, including, and maybe especially, those whom Jesus called “the least of these.”
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