Echoes and Stars

1. You can actually walk with Christ. Daily. But just like with any other person, you have to be intentional and pursue him. The difference is you must obey him, too. But also, the difference is in doing so, you get a life of joy that cannot be taken away from you.

2. It is hard to believe the unseen realities are the highest realities in a screen-driven, image-obsessed culture.

3. If you stay off social media and do not read or listen to the news, you will have no idea what is going with politicians, celebrities, entertainers, and athletes. And I am discovering it is a beautiful way to live.

4. Read books written outside of the digital technology machine. If you don’t you will only think like the machine. You will see everything through their lens. You will assume their assumptions. You will not be able to think upside down. You will only fear their fears. You will only be able to think their thoughts after them.

5. I just learned that part of the story arc of Franny and Zooey by Salinger is one of my favorite books, The Way of a Pilgrim, an Orthodox book from the 18th century on prayer.

6. Discipline is not only punishment. It is also not always having a snack ready for your child. Then they know how to suffer through the difficulty of going an hour without some Goldfish.

7. I listened to nothing but Rich Mullins yesterday and thought about the impact he had on me and still has and how he took the time to talk with a friend and I after a show in Atlanta. God, I miss him.

8. Have you ever stopped and thought about how grown men get paid millions upon millions to play games? And it is normal if they fight and complain and cheat? And we are entertained by it? Sometimes this doesn’t bother me and sometimes it does.

9. There is no “mindless” entertainment. You are always engaging your mind with whatever you are being entertained by. It may not be requiring you to think deeply, but you are thinking and the way you think is being shaped. And so is your spirit. This is is important to understand in a culture more inclined to watch mindless TV to de-stress than to read something that will direct our minds toward God.

10. If we only change because our circumstances change, then who is our God?