Notes
Audio Depths of Wisdom - No. 40
The more I have been blessed to spend time with people of wisdom, the more I see how they consistently return to seemingly simple truths. Many things in our world we view as linear progressions; we start with less, and we work towards more.
Audio Scalessness - No. 39
One of the effects of industrialization and globalization has been a cultural obsession with scale. We can sell a product to millions of people on multiple continents and in many different countries. A message can be shared simultaneously with people around the world.
Audio The Person of Jesus - No. 38
Recently, I have been studying Bonhoeffer and reading more of his work. I have been struck by the way Bonhoeffer observed Jesus and His Gospel being removed from the Nazi German church. During this same time in America, the humanist movement did the same thing.
Audio Story as a Weapon - No. 37
It is impossible to underestimate the role that storytelling has played in shaping communities, cultures, and civilizations throughout history. Before we had written languages, ancestral tribes relied on oral traditions, built around stories that passed down their collective wisdom and history.
Audio Trust - No. 36
The original lie satan used in the Garden of Eden as his first attack on humanity was to cause Eve to doubt whether God was trustworthy. Ever since then, the deceiver has continued to use the same attack on all of us.
Audio Necessary Humility - No. 35
Humility gets a bad wrap. Often, the way it is taught to us is a form of self-deprecation. Years ago, a friend of mine from Australia told me about “tall poppy syndrome.” It’s where some people criticize and undermine others who have accomplished something great or who are unusually talented.
Audio The Dark Night of the Soul - No. 34
I heard the term "Dark Night of the Soul" for many years before I really began to understand what it was and the critical role it plays in our spiritual journey. During a challenging season, I felt led to read The Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross.
Audio Natural Law - No. 33
There is a growing trend in our information-saturated world to act like right and wrong are whatever we feel like they are. Truth has increasingly become a personal choice, like which sports team to cheer for.
Audio The World’s Way of Thinking - No. 32
We weren’t made for a Box-and-Line (Note 8) world. Yet we have to look around us and accept that the entire world is increasingly box-and-line.
Audio Self-Transcendence - No. 31
Man’s greatest battle has always been the battle to overcome himself. This simple truth has been all but forgotten in modern society. Before we dive into man’s greatest battle, let’s look at how we forgot one of the most important themes of human life and societal health.
Audio Remember to Remember - No. 30
Often, what's most important in life is not something new, but the things we have forgotten and must remember. We are all surrounded every day by endless new information in the form of podcasts, articles, videos, books, news, and AI.
Audio Peace - No. 29
Peace is completely misunderstood and undervalued in the modern world. Everywhere you look, people are stuck in stress, fear, and anxiety. Few people actually seem to live in real peace. The world is frantically chasing peace by other names all the time, and they don’t even know it.