You Know That Feeling?
You know that feeling when you let yourself unfocus and allow your mind to go wherever it will? Look off into the distance, no special thought or goal or anything in that foreground area of your consciousness, letting the thoughts come but largely ignoring them?
We should all do that more often.
Civil At The Expense of Truth
Well apparently I’m getting a little snippy in my social media activities lately. Got my first little warning from reddit this morning because I answered (honestly) about what it would take for Nebraskans to vote Democratic with a pithy little ‘The death of a whole bunch of old bigots.’ Ok, admittedly, not exactly the nicest sentiment… but it’s reddit ffs. 🙄
And then received another this afternoon, this time from America Magazine, for pointing out that the Catholic Church was being weak-willed by preemptively announcing that they will not mention political candidates, should the law change to allow it, to ensure they are one of those ‘organizations dedicated to the public good in communities’ that will ‘remain above the political fray.’ That I believe claims of having a strong moral voice require that that voice to be used, especially if it highlights the log in the church’s eye. But sure, hide behind civility rather than hold up a mirror that, admittedly, will either offend over half your members or expose you as a supporter of the current hatred.
America Magazine moderator reply
Civility mattering more than truth is nothing but defending a status quo that is failing all of us.
7/9/25
Elsewhere Today
… replying, whether to a message, a comment, or an invitation, is no longer just a communication act. It becomes a micro-performance of care, kindness or presence. We reply to show we are good friends, good partners, good people. And not replying becomes a moral failure, a small social sin.
Amazing how ingrained this is for me. I’m a notorious I’ll-reply-later-oops-forgot-now-I’m-ashamed-so-I’ll-ignore-you-longer type of guy. I feel guilty every time. But communication isn’t transactional, no matter what modern socializing might try to have me believe. Sometimes I simply do not want to be reachable. I’m not on. Being able to say so shouldn’t be a social faux pas.
Not Feeling It
Sheesh, am I not feeling it today. And by it, I mean much of anything. I’m just flat, raw, stripped, empty. If I could go back 16 hours and begin this one again because I accomplished nothing, thought of nothing, aspired to nothing, for the entire day, that’d be great. Thanks.
Elsewhere Today
How AmeriCorps Kept Young Talent in Rural Communities @ Washington Monthly They always want to know why young people leave their rural home and never return. Simple — there’s no reason to.
In rural places, however, the losses won’t only be felt in terms of funding or social services, but in terms of people: the members themselves, and the possibility they stay.
My Hot Take: Humanities Are The Only Thing Worth Diving Into
I’m a little obsessed with education. Or what passes for it at the college level. So when I see something like this:
Can theology survive the crisis in Catholic higher education? @ America Magazine
I can’t help but opine.
This is fundamentally a reflection of how we’ve shrunk down what it means to be educated. We’ve turned far too much of our higher education into mere job training instead of the mind/soul/life building, the human formation that high-quality education is meant to help create. Any learning that doesn’t produce immediate economic benefit - theology, yes, but also philosophy, literature, art, anthropology, foreign languages, even many basic sciences - is considered wasteful by far too many who hold our culture’s purse strings. The crisis isn’t that theology has lost its value or relevance; it’s that we’ve accepted such a narrow, impoverished definition of what counts as valuable in the first place.
Elsewhere
Books and Blessings: The Matthew Strother Center for the Examined Life
Perhaps it all sounds a little idyllic. A bunch of adults sitting around talking about Dostoevsky and Bulgakov all morning, eating freshly prepared meals that often involved produce from the property, and earnest conversations about obligations, legacy, and consciousness? All without phones and with disposable cameras? Well, it was not perfect. The chickens were disobedient and there are ticks on the property. But it was idyllic. It also closely approximates the idea of leisure we get from the ancients, which was space for philosophical reflection and time spent freely, away from labor and without expectation of production.
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