I hope you had a great 4th of July weekend. It was great to sleep in, grill out, and light some fireworks. Now, you can start your short week with the CrossTalk newsletter.
Hope for the Hopelessly Distracted
To be human is to be filled with longings that shapes us and evolve as we enter different stages of life.
In our sickness, we long for healing. In our loneliness, we long for connection. In our barrenness, we long for children. In our uncertainty, we long for security. And, if you’re like me, you long for coffee first thing each morning (and throughout the day).
These longings don't shape just our daily lives, but our dreams of eternity.
In times of loss, we long for the reunion of heaven. In times of abandonment, we long for the fellowship of the kingdom. In times of brokenness, we long for the healing balm of our risen Jesus.
Thinking of my longings in this season, I wonder if heaven is the place where I will finally live completely in the present.
As one who is constantly distracted, bouncing around from one thought to the next, one great (or not so great) idea to another, and from text messages to Twitter to dinner in the oven and back to my text messages again, I wonder if heaven will be the place where I’m finally present.
Present to the air I'm breathing. Present to the beauty of creation restored and renewed. Present to those who have risen again in Christ.
And finally, perfectly present to the one who died and rose again.
Perfectly present to my savior.
How incredible will that be?
One Book I’m Reading
Tell It Slant
Eugene Peterson’s books will make regular appearances in this newsletter. He’s deeply shaped my understanding of the Christian faith and work of Christ in the world. Here, he delves into the language of Jesus in his parables and prayers with remarkable insight and imagination.
Here’s a quote from the book I’m pondering.
The Holy Spirit is as present in our spontaneous and casual conversations as in formal preaching and intentional teaching.
We love to siphon off the Spirit’s work to designated times and activities. Fortunately, this isn’t the reality. The Holy Spirit is always at work whether we’re writing an email, sharing a meal, or pumping gas.
This quote is a great reminder of an incredible truth.
One Thing I Love
This quote from James Clear’s Newsletter is a must read.
It’s so good I might frame it and put it on my desk.
Thomas Mitchell, a farmer, on happiness:
"One of the best secrets of a happy life is the art of extracting comfort and sweetness from every circumstance...
People are always looking for happiness at some future time and in some new thing, or some new set of circumstances, in possession of which they some day expect to find themselves. But the fact is, if happiness is not found now, where we are, and as we are, there is little chance of it ever being found. There is a great deal more happiness around us day by day than we have the sense or power to seek and find.
If we are to cultivate the art of living, we should cultivate the art of extracting sweetness and comfort out of everything, as the bee goes from flower to flower in search of honey."