Almost halfway through Lent! Hope your resolve in good and strong, and your temptations remain a welcome invitation to Lenten prayer. My fast from alcohol has been enjoyable and refreshing while my daily caffeine limit has come with its struggles. I appreciate the chance for intentionality and feel like its been a good rooting in moments of prayer.
On to some links!
"Human Contact Is Now a Luxury Good" by Nellie Bowles via the NYTimes
This is fascinating. There's ton of interesting trends identified and analyzed in here, not least among them the flip in perception of technology. Whereas previously, technology was seen as a signifier of wealth and advantage, it's now often felt to be that a lack of technology indicates one's freedom to choose. This is a great taking-of-stock for where we're at with processing technology.
Per usual, the US will lag behind other places that are more willing to acknowledge human agency in ruining the earth. Capitalism has its benefits, but ecological and environmental concerns are not given much weight when it comes to making money. Kudos to the EU for this first step and a continued emphasis on polluter-pays. Hopefully, they see success while not sacrificing much economically and more places in the US will follow and put pressure on the federal standards here. Hopefully, people with disabilities, young kids, and others who depend on straws can gravitate to alternative reusable options.
Let me sneak a sports story in here. Theo Epstein is the President of Baseball Operations for my favorite team the Chicago Cubs, meaning he oversees all executives involved with personnel, player development, etc. He is lauded within the industry and in other sectors for his leadership style, which is founded on communication, transparency, and getting ahead of the curves. Here, this profile talks about how he's matured since getting his first big job in his late 20's, inviting the influence of being a husband and dad into his work philosophies and taking a different approach to how he manages people and his role. Cool read.
This one is a cool study in modern religion. It covers a lot of neat angles into the Church of LDS, from religious leadership to prophecy to semantics and more. This religion has long been fascinating to me for their claims of new revelation, their unique cosmology, their differing practices, and most of all, their excellent strong family life. This article is sort of a where-things-are-at report that digs into some of the current developments.
I'm not real into this controversy, as it's sort of just a way to fight a culture war within the Church. However, this article and this journalist do a solid job of laying the groundwork for why this is a tradition and how Francis is handling it. Regardless of what you think or don't think, this is a solid read if you just want to become more informed surrounding this issue.
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