BOOKS:
Heretics Anonymous
Marilee and I have been enjoying Heretics Anonymous on car rides together. It’s the story of a group of high school students who decide to anonymously disrupt their Catholic school’s systems. It’s also a story about an atheist who confronts the hypocrisy and wisdom inherent within Christianity.
Fahrenheit 451
Marilee also prompted me to reread Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s novel from 1950 that anticipates so much of our culture today. The book is eerily prescient, with people absorbed by screens, listening to their own soundtrack through little devices in their ears, disconnected from one another and depressed as a result. It also holds out hope for the power of ideas and the beauty of stories.
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig.
I’m enjoying The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. It’s kind of like a British version of magical realism, with some metaphysics thrown in alongside compelling characters and a little bit of intrigue. I loved Midnight Library, also by Haig, and this novel also prompts me to think about regret, eternity, and what really matters right now.
PODCASTS:
What if Our Democracy Can’t Survive Without Christianity?
I was so intrigued by David French’s conversation with Jonathan Rauch. French, a self-described conservative evangelical, and Rauch, a self-described gay Jewish atheist, talk about Rauch’s new book (Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy) where he argues that we need Christianity in order for democracy to flourish.
Tom Holland on How Christianity Remade the World
I was also intrigued and encouraged by Bari Weiss’ conversation with Tom Holland about the way Christianity has shaped—and continues to shape—the western world and pretty much every aspect of the culture wars, including the parts that seem antithetical to it.
Podcast: James Clear: Building & Changing Habits (#183 rebroadcast).
I listened to a podcast last week about goal-setting, and I loved one way James Clear and Peter Attia talked about how you move forward with a goal in mind. They talked about how all you need to know is “A, B, and Z.” You need to know A, which is to say, you need to know where you are right now. You need to know Z, your ultimate desired destination. Other than that, all you need to know is B, the next step to take. (And then you figure out C, and D, and on down the line, keeping Z in view.)
352: Don’t Feel Bad for Not Having Clarity
I’m making a lot of decisions about what to do next—professionally and personally—right now. I really appreciated Emily P. Freeman’s words around how to experience clarity in the midst of decision-making.
SHOWS:
Slow Horses.
Peter and I also made it through all of Slow Horses, a British crime drama (beware—there are some gory parts). If you like shows with crisp dialogue, intriguing backstories, and deep if infuriating humanity on display—not to mention suspense, drama, and spy stories—this show is for you.
Gentleman in Moscow.
Peter and I just finished this lovely 8-episode telling of Amor Towles bestselling novel. I liked the show even more than the book, especially in the way it explores love, loyalty, and humanity.
Movies
Barbie.
On Monday afternoon, with both girls home from school, we didn’t watch the inauguration. We didn’t talk about the legacy of Dr. King. We snuggled up on the couch and made popcorn and watched Barbie. I thought I was letting us ignore the inauguration, and I felt guilty about also ignoring the significance of MLK Day. As it turned out, watching a satire that denounces the patriarchy meant watching a social commentary both on Dr. King’s legacy and on Donald Trump’s Presidency. Assuming you’ve seen it before, I recommend watching Barbie again, especially as masculinity seems to reassert itself.
Essays
This Day Calls for Martin Luther King’s Vision.
I’m grateful for the life and witness of Dr. Martin Luther King to the transformative power of hope. (And grateful to Esau McCaulley for pointing it out in this essay):
“If Dr. King’s life taught us anything, it is that hope is most useful when the evidence runs the other way toward despair. Set against dark times, hope points us toward something better.”
The Anti-Social Century
We aren’t just lonely, we are also designing a world in which we do more and more things alone. There’s so much important thought in this article about the way technological changes (the car and the television in particular) have shaped (and deformed) our world.
I was particularly struck by the thought that we’ve become closer to our very immediate circles of people and to the broad “tribes” with whom we associate online, but more and more distant from our villages, the local communities of people who might disagree with us politically but with whom we have shared needs. It got me thinking about how to connect and participate more within my own village. It strikes me that both churches (and other faith communities) and schools are great ways to participate in a village. And it got me thinking about how the people who are the most affected by our increasing social isolation are the ones already most vulnerable.
Special ed students benefit from being integrated at school. It doesn’t always happen.
I get questions all the time from parents who think their kids should be included in a general education classroom, and whose schools say their kids need to be segregated into a special education classroom. Here’s yet another article that demonstrates why the inclusive setting is good for all kids.
The Bishop Who Pleaded With Trump: ‘Was Anyone Going to Say Anything?’
I’m grateful to Bishop Budde for drawing attention to the divergent views among Christians on issues like immigration and protections for our most vulnerable citizens. As the New York Times put it, “one representation of Christianity began speaking to another” in the National Cathedral last week. We need more of this type of speech—careful but courageous, humble but firm, slow to anger and quick to listen, turning to the words of Jesus—outside of the pulpit and within the pews.
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