Hello, fellow life-travelers. Not sure about you, but it's been a doozy of a week for me. In addition to some annoying chronic illness symptoms resurfacing, I've done a lot of what I call, "peopleing". Including Sunday, I've been to five group/social events at church. I usually keep it to twice weekly if I can help it, but, I'm trying to push myself to give C a little introvert time when he comes home from work. True introvert time for two introverts is hard to come by in a small living situation. Anyhow, this was in addition to volunteering at a local LGBTQ resource center on Wednesdays. So, when I tried to write this little digest yesterday, I found myself falling asleep at the desk and decided to finish the one podcast I'd managed to listen to this week.

Speaking of podcasts, I've got a little app up and running (actually, C did the difficult part; I know nothing about programming web applications) to take your email address for podcast updates! Check out Seminary for the Rest of Us. (If you do sign up, make sure to check your junk/spam for the confirmation email. It doesn't always go there, but it has for some email providers.)

My "Sunday Reflections" this week was a little meditation about why people go to church on Sundays: "Sunday Reflections, vol. 3".

With that, let's mix up the order of the rest again.

Watching

I watched the third season of The Crown this week. It is brilliantly done television, but each time a next season comes out and I watch it, I come to increasingly despise British monarchy. I would say monarchy in general is a bad idea. The episode that struck me the most was the third, on the Aberfan disaster. My second favorite episode is probably the sixth episode when Prince Charles stays in Wales for a couple months before his investiture.

Reading

Books

I'm still working my way through The People's History of the United States and am still in need of picking up a novel to balance it out. I have a couple in mind, but I won't bar any suggestions.

Articles and miscellanea

There is one statement in here that I quibble with, but is otherwise worth pondering how Christianity has historically vilified Jewish people: "Centuries of Christian anti-Semitism led to Holocaust, landmark Church of England report concludes".

An article on some Syrian refugees in Jordan, mostly from the perspective of mothers: "The Conundrum of Return to Syria"

An article on the real dangers of nouthetic (i.e., "biblical") counseling (note: if you have had experience with being counseled by a nouthetic counselor following abuse of any kind, it may be triggering): "When Restoration Hurts".

Listening

Podcasts

I finally got around to the The Magnificast episode with Heath Carter about Evangelicalism. It is not optimistic, but it helps to have historical, social, and political context. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts, or this link: "So, What's the Deal with Evangelicalism?"

Music

I tried listening to Billie Eilish the other day and I got bored. I don't understand the hype.

I found a new track from Alicia Keys, though, and it did not disappoint: "Time Machine"

Also, Audrey Assad has a new Advent album out. I've heard maybe one or two tracks and liked them, so I expect I'll be listening a lot next month!: Peace

Have I missed anything? 🧐 Catch you all next time!