“Robin Givhan examined former President Jimmy Carter’s approach to his remaining days: “Hospice care is not a matter of giving up. It’s a decision to shift our efforts from shoring up a body on the verge of the end to providing solace to a soul that’s on the cusp of forever.””
Sweatpants
“David Mack explained the endurance of sweatpants beyond their pandemic-lockdown, Zoom-meeting ubiquity: “We are now demanding from our pants attributes we are also seeking in others and in ourselves. We want them to be forgiving and reassuring. We want them to nurture us. We want them to say: ‘I was there, too. I experienced it. I came out on the other side more carefree and less rigid. And I learned about the importance of ventilation in the process.””
Social Media
Last week, a cable news pundit struggled to understand the new media landscape. So he sought advice from his teenage son.
He asked the youngster to name the most influential people in the world today.
Can you guess the names he picked?
Here’s what happened:
I’m thinking to myself he’s going to say Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z.
He says Kai Cenat, Adin Ross, Jynxzi, and Sketch. I don’t know who he is talking about.
I said ‘What platforms are you on?’
He said ‘I’m on Twitch, Kick, and Rumble.’
I said ‘That sounds like you need to go to the hospital.
What are these platforms? I’m telling you guys, the mainstream has become fringe, and the fringe has become mainstream….
There are people out there that are getting 14 million streams. And we are on cable news getting one or two million.
This is the new reality. The future of media has arrived—but people above a certain age won’t even recognize the names.
Check out the list below of the most watched streamers in the US and Canada.
Jynxzi? Zackrawrr? Summit1g?
A few days ago, I’d have told you these are passwords, not people.
“You can’t earn God’s love with good behavior and lofty thoughts, because he’s already given it to you as the lavish gift that you don’t deserve. “I prayed for wonders instead of happiness, Lord,” Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “and you gave them to me.””
Wonder and Awe
Wonder and awe are the emotions we feel when we are in the presence of a vast something just beyond the rim of our understanding.
David Brooks
Sacred Moments
Every day we pass by sacred moments. Each of these moments is the pearl of great price. Our days are filled with fields of hidden treasure. And yet, we hurry past, lost within ourselves. Trapped in nostalgia or regret about yesterday. Fretful or planning for tomorrow. We’re never present to the moment and, therefore, miss the sacred encounter.
Richard Beck
Archie Scott Gabehart
Speaking of sacred moments, Archie’s arrival has filled the days around Christmas with sacred moments. Anxious and precious is each moment as Kyle and Gabby love on him in the NICU. He is a fighter.
‘m not close enough to God to be angry. God is not close enough to me for me to be angry.
Christian Wimans
STILL ON THE JOURNEY