Happy Friday everyone! I wanted to drop by and leave you with three things to get you (and me!) thinking as we head into the weekend.

#1

To fully feel life course through us, indeed, we ought to befriend our own attention,

by Mary Oliver

I think Mary Oliver is on the right track but not quite there. Paying attention to ourselves is helpful to identifying what is going on, but it does not bring about peace, joy, patience or faithfulness. No, that can only come as a gift from God. So, let me add to Oliver’s quote by saying that we not only befriend our own attention but we also direct our attention to the love and action of God. Henri Nouwen described this as PRAYER. Harnessing ourselves from the distractions all around is just the start. Opening ourselves wide to the power of God is the transformational work.

#2

$15 minimun wage?

I haven’t decided where I stand on this subject but the above article from The Atlantic advocates for one side of the argument while considering both. I do know that making it possible for people to earn a wage that lifts them out of poverty is a good thing. My guess is that we would all support people having a roof over their head, food in the pantry, and a way to provide for themselves and others. But how we go about that…that is the question.

#3

“Exceptionalism imagines divine guarantees, so that one need not answer to the divine will.”

Reality, Grief, Hope: Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks by Walter Brueggemann

Progress as a birthright guaranteed by God. Assured of life always getting better. Viewing life as an upward sloping line on a graph with time on one axis and quality of life the other. Brueggemann argues that this is one of our idols in the west. And in so doing, we’ve chosen to trust Manifest Destiny rather than the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.