All work email is officially blocked on all devices for the next eight days. One of the few true breaks from work in the year. Looking forward to it … especially after the withdrawal dissipates.
Ready for another season of (mostly) news-free online life.
Freedom is now setup to perpetually block all news sites other than one local site and the Economist. A few of my favorite columnist are available via RSS.
It is called saving, and, when possible, it is among the most tangible ways you can set yourself up to love your neighbor in times of crisis.
top education officials detail plans to open public schools for in-person classes this fall.
By “detail plans” they actually mean “force individual Texas schools to become experts in epidemiology and take the fall if what they come up with leads to a massive outbreak.”
But a deeper question lurks beneath this debate: are these services making you a better or worse version of yourself?
On social media and character, by Cal Newport.
A freeing principle to adopt in the social media world:
Having a reason to maintain presence on a particular social media platform does not mean that you should maintain a presence on a particular social media platform.
Everyone has reasons to stay; not everyone should.
The City of Dallas reacting to the fact that the entire city has been doing some spring cleaning during Quarintine 2020.
Taken as a whole, the (Book of Common Prayer) is the ritual celebration of the seasons of our lives from birth to death in the light of the gospel.
Frank Griswold, in the foreword to Go In Peace, a small book on the Art of Hearing Confessions.
If we're the time's lords
If we’re the time’s lords, we don’t determine when to celebrate feasts by looking at the phases of the moon. Paul goes apoplectic when Christians submit to the “elementary things” in the heavens (Gal. 4:8-11; Col. 2:16). As time lords, we have authority to decide when and how to celebrate. We must organize time obediently. We can organize time well only if we have the tunes of creation and redemption running in an endless loop through the ears of our soul.
The Pagans said 'Look'
They said ‘Vide, look! How the love one another.’ They did not say, ‘Aude, listen to the Christians’ message’; they did not say ‘Lege, read what they write. Hearing and reading were important … But we must not miss the reality: the pagans said look! Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church The Roman Empire was “(almost) infinitely tolerant” of a variety of religions. Christianity, on the other hand, is rooted in a historical and exclusive truth claim about Jesus of Nazareth.
Leadership is often a matter of failing people’s expectations at a rate they can stand.
Ronald Heifetz
As a priest and school administrator in the midst of the COVID pandemic, I think I agree…
On using email as email
At my best, I try to use email as its namesake suggests it should be used: as an electronic mailbox. As technology advanced in the 20th and 21st centuries, and the smartphone transitioned from an executive novelty to the norm, very few of us—including myself—stopped to ask whether this was actually a good thing. We can access email 24-hours a day on our phones, but should we? Are humans the type of beings who are able to flourish when we are never truly disconnected from our work?
Very interested to read how folks have approached migrating personal sites/blogs from WP to MB, specifically in setting up different streams on MB for micro and long posts. Any direction here?
How to Stop Loving Your Phone
Becoming detached from my phone and off-hours email access started well over two years ago. The list below represents the gradual progression to where I am today. (Notes in parenthesis are updates based on changes since the list was first written.) Disable all push notifications except Phone and Messages Remove native Mail app plus Gmail and Outlook apps (iOS 10 allows you to do this through Restrictions. It helps to have a friend/spouse create a restrictions code for you.