#245 Jammin’ With Rhys
01 September 2020 // San Diego, California
Being a Phillies fan is mighty frustrating sometimes (though not this week!), but having Andrew McCutchen and Didi Gregorius on the team as two of the most fun people in baseball is irreplaceable.
#246 USPS Swag
02 September 2020 // San Diego, California
Buying stamps isn't the only way to save the USPS. They’ve also got a pretty sweet swag shop. I especially love the Forever Earth Day tee.
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One of the lessons this year has been driving home has been the importance of the work being done by everyday people, everywhere. In a culture that spends a lot more energy glorifying executives, influencers, and positions of power, we’ve got to realize that it’s the people who supply our food, deliver our goods, and restock our shelves that we really can’t live without. And that definitely applies to mail carriers.
As federal corruption disrupts postal services, the timing and the locations where this is taking place don’t leave much room for ambiguity about why. And people- especially elderly and rural people- have been impacted by delayed medical deliveries, lost livestock, or mishandled small business orders. A pastor in St. Louis I spoke to the other week pointed out to me that it’s hard to get more symbolic about co-opting people’s voices than literally removing a mailbox.
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Although the postmaster general has promised no more major changes until the election, it’s reasonable to feel suspicious. Buying stamps or swag to save the USPS is kind of an emergency measure. But a more long-lasting way to protect its services is to vote.
If you want to feel safer about voting this year, :
1) Request your mail in ballot.
2) Don’t mail it.
3) Instead, look up your supervisor of elections to see when and where you can drop it off. Many states open up their drop boxes up to a month early, so you can avoid the pandemic crowds.
4) If you’re in California, Oregon, Washington, or Colorado, you can track your ballot like a package.
5) Also, don’t procrastinate. Now is the time to make sure your registration is up to date and to be researching the more obscure down-ballot stuff.
#247 Romping With Rhys
03 September 2020 // San Diego, California
Silence is an underrated tool in fighting misinformation.
So is drowining it out with true and helpful information.
Or overwhelming beauty.
#248 Park Play
04 September 2020 // San Diego, California
No more BS.
That’s kinda been a running theme in our lives this year, both at a very global, societal level, down to our everyday family lives. Whether it’s racism, injustice, manipulation, or unhealthy patterns, we’ve seen that the most loving thing for us to do is to stop accepting things that aren’t okay and to do so with a sense of urgency.
And there’s been such a strong connection between creating the change the world needs and doing the work at home.
That’s led to some harder conversations and bolder decisions, within our families and in other spaces. We’ve had to put into practice all the things we say we believe about setting healthy boundaries in multiple ways. It’s uncomfortable and tough, but honestly it’s also been freeing and empowering. It feels like legit growth.
Based on a lot of recent conversations with friends, we KNOW we’re not the only ones trying to navigate these waters. Like these lockdowns, it feels like a shared experience that we all gotta face individually. Boundaries are healthy, but they aren’t the easiest thing to assert. Especially when it changes a pattern that’s been going on for years.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned when having to confront somebody over a boundary-related issue is this: even when the conversation gets tough, the clarity I can offer the other person is a gift. Not leaving room for ambiguity around which actions prompted which responses from you makes it clear what changes need to happen.
The other big thing I’ve learned throughout the process has been this: having a solid partner through it all has been everything. Deanna has been so consistent with speaking up where she needs to, getting my back during some of the harder conversations, and paving that path so Rhys can grow up in a healthy, whole, compassionate environment. We’re a team and we stick together.
#249 Waiting for Babu
05 September 2020 // San Diego, California
In spite of a pandemic, a tropical storm, political uncertainty, and economic challenges the work continues.
We’re still planting trees. In some countries, our partners planted even more trees than they targeted at the beginning of the year.
Our participants continue to save, continue to meet together with safety precautions in place, and continue to plant trees and heal their land.
I’ve really been moved by the image of somebody planting a tree, meant to last generations, during a pandemic, in spite of it all.
#250 Rescue the Hostages
06 September 2020 // San Diego, California
Why are so many bad, harmful, and false ideas so persistent?
One idea is that it’s because they get repeated so many times.
Think of it this way, there’s a direct relationship between the amount of times an idea has been repeated in the past year and the amount of people who believe it. No matter how false or ridiculous it is.
Like, you know all those people who believe that Shaq and Andre the Giant are actually the same person in two disguises? No? Well, that’s probably cause I just made that up and it hasn’t been repeated too many times. But if enough people pass it on, it’s sure to pick up some believers. It’s not that harmful of an idea, unless maybe you’re Shaq, but imagine how this works for worse ideas.
James Clear says that silence is death for any idea. “An idea that is never spoken or written down dies with the person who conceived it. Ideas can only be remembered when they are repeated. They can only be believed when they are repeated.” I think there are a lot of harmful thinkers who have gained a large platform because their opponents kept ruminating on terrible things they said.
There’s a time and place for addressing false and harmful ideas, but this concept has informed the way I do.
I try to avoid attacking an idea in a way that gives it more attention. Instead, I try to do so in a way that communicates what my boundaries are and that I’m sticking up for people who may be harmed by such an idea. And I’ll try to do that in a personal, rather than public way, whenever possible.
I also try to focus more on feeding good ideas. The more an idea is repeated, the more it is believed. This applies to good ideas, empathetic storytelling, creative problem solving, and prophetic imagination as well. I forget who said the quote: the goal of the artist is to make a revolution irresistible, but it’s kinda like that.
Creatives, storytellers, and artists have a special role to play during a time of widespread misinformation. It’s to share the truth. To share good ideas. And to share them beautifully. Again and again.
#251 Beach the Heat
07 September 2020 // Coronado, California
Shoutout to everyone going through a stretch of wildly uncomfortable but undeniably necessary growth right now. Real growth is almost never comfortable. It’s tiring. It tests almost every relationship you have, even with yourself. But the results are SO WORTH THE PROCESS.
#252 Rhys Learns to Walk
08 September 2020 // San Diego, California
To change a narrative, shift the narrator.
One theme I’m observing more and more, is that with every story that captures headlines, there is almost always a group of people deeply ingrained in the story who get very little attention relative to how heavily they’re impacted by the events.
Want some examples? Parents of special needs children while classrooms are remote during COVID-19. Rural Ethiopian pastoralists during a climate crisis. Chefs preserving traditional Syrian recipes while the country that used to host these traditional meals collapses.
Just to name a few.
I happen to think the very best podcasts are really good at framing their stories this way. NPR’s Code Switch, the old show Undone by Gimlet, NPR’s Rough Translation, Radiolab to name a few… the latter did a pretty good exploration recently into how the Spanish Flu impacted places like India- often overlooked when we think back to the last worldwide pandemic.
#253 hAZY
09 September 2020 // San Diego, California
A few reminders that help me stay hopeful and curious:
Change is constant. As terrible as some challenges can be, they don’t last forever.
People are incredibly resilient. Survivors of war, disease, injustice, and poverty who have generously shared their stories help us find our own resilience.
I can’t deny the pattern in my life where my biggest breakthroughs follow long, dry, difficult stretches
Beauty exists all over the place. There are sunsets and national parks, but soft light can penetrate a gritty slum or a hospital room with a gentle warmth that seems to make no sense.
So many of the people who’ve made my life more beautiful have no idea. You never know who you impact.
Literal discoveries in nature and science remind me that life finds a way, and everything serves an interconnected purpose
#254 Uhaul Tags
10 September 2020 // San Diego, California
As long as you are alive, you contain possibilities.
The story isn’t over. There are more chapters ahead. Keep saying yes to seeing what’s next.
Hope doesn’t always mean that you feel optimistic about the future. Hope means that you choose to see it through.
I want to tell you to stay hopeful. I believe in hope. But I also know that there are times when hope seems like a tall order. So some days, just try to stay curious. Wonder what happens next.
#255 Eco-Anxiety
11 September 2020 // San Diego, California
“Ultimately, eco-anxiety is about love. Our anxiety is a signal to us that reminds us that we are alive and part of a larger world.”
–Renée Lertzman
It’s been a brutal week for the West Coast. Of all the major cities up and down the coast, San Diego seems to be the safest right now, and that’s really not saying much. We have at least two major fires in the eastern part of our county and hazy orange skies. We’ve had to balance just how much outside time to give Rhys for the sake of him getting a change of scenery versus the awful air quality.
Right now, I’m finding Oregon’s struggle especially heartbreaking. My former home. I’m hearing about so many small towns in Southern Oregon, or up the Mackenzie River that may be gone. Places like Vida or Blue River, where I used to sneak off for hikes or longer bike rides. Not to mention all the wildlife that find a home in the Willamette Forest.
The narrative around climate change has often called for guilt, grief, hope, fear, panic, or anger- all of which have a rightful place. The thing that ties them together for me, though, is love. And that makes the climate crisis- difficult as it might be- a lot less isolating and a lot more unifying.
#256 City Heights Nights
12 September 2020 // San Diego, California
The impact of climate change is a particularly cruel one because of how many other problems it exacerbates. Climate change might not cause every global problem, but examine most of them and you’ll start to see how it can be connected, often exacerbating existing challenges.
Unhealthy ecosystems mean that women have to walk longer to get clean water. Infertile farms mean that children- usually daughters- are taken out of school to work. Poor ecological health drives parents in Central America or Southeast Asia to seek other opportunities, often in informal labor, resulting in dangerous migrant journeys or a vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation. Ecology has also been a vehicle for systemic racism, with the most polluted ZIP codes housing majority Black and Hispanic populations.
The Sermon on the Mount promises good news to the poor, hungry, mourning, and the excluded. Visit a rural community in Ethiopia, Myanmar, or the Dominican Republic, and you’ll find lots of poverty, hunger, mourning, and exclusion. Much of it stems from our climate crises.
#257 Mental Health Reads
13 September 2020 // San Diego, California
The topic of mental health has really been pulling me in lately. I mean... I’m married to a therapist so it’s always gonna be right by me, but I recently dove into these reads from three very different flavors within the world of counseling. Here’s #somebooknotes
📘 Try Softer by Aundi Kolber | Many people try to find their way in life by just trying harder and burning out, so this book advocates for an opposite approach– embracing your emotions, being aware of your own physical sensations, and accepting compassion. This book also offers a great intro to concepts like attachment styles or fight/flight responses.
📙 Mating In Captivity by Esther Perel | I’ve appreciated Esther Perel’s TED Talk and other work, so I’m glad I finally got the chance to do a deeper dive into her book. This one is all about intimacy and erotic intelligence- which includes sex, but also so much more. Some of the things that deepen desire can run counterintuitive to our programming about what works.
📘 Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb | Man, this book was beautiful, and by the end I really felt like it helped me appreciate and feel more grateful for life... which is about the highest praise I can give a book. The writing is honest, smooth, and very much human. I picked this one up after hearing it referenced in a few favorite podcasts and it far exceeded expectations.
#258 City Heights Businesses
14 September 2020 // San Diego, California
I recently discovered the term white knuckling. Even if you haven't heard the term, you might recognize the practice. White knuckling happens when we ignore those internal warning signs our minds and bodies send us during situations that overwhelm or disturb us.
It's a survival tactic. It allows us to numb things to a level where we can carry on essential functions. This works for making it to the end of a difficult day, but as a long-term way of life, the consequences are pretty bad.
We ignore pain, hunger, exhaustion.
We minimize our emotional experience... sometimes resulting in sudden outbursts.
We become prone to addictions- whether that's alcohol or Netflix, because they help us numb things
Our motivation frequently swings between adrenaline rushes and getting stuck
Radical kindness includes a radical kindness to self.
#259 Piecy Walks
15 September 2020 // San Diego, California
Ethical storytelling isn’t easy. A tension sits in telling the whole story.
Emphasizing our partners’ skill, courage, and virtue WHILE educating people on the complex, systemic issues that contribute to poverty.
Telling stories that effectively raise money that helps WHILE avoiding sensationalism or stories that exploit experiences
Portraying hope WHILE invoking a sense of urgency
Showing why “this can’t wait” WHILE acknowledging that sustainable change is long-term
Demonstrating our team’s competence and how effective our approach is WHILE not centering ourselves in the story or framing ourselves as the saviors
#260 Piece Man March
16 September 2020 // San Diego, California
Power isn’t a zero-sum game.
Those that benefit from the status quo may often try to take power away from others. But another strategy is trying to convince those with less power that they have none. Good stewardship is when you recognize what you’ve been given, and you engage it to make life better for others.
#261 Bright Colored Books
17 September 2020 // San Diego, California
This is one of the best threads I’ve read in a long time.
On Twitter, Brittany Packnett Cunningham asked people who didn’t vote in 2016 but plan to vote this year what changed. Answers varied but they all told a similar story. People overcoming!
In between then and now, people overcame:
🗳 Homelessness
🗳 Organ failure
🗳 Incarceration
🗳 Apathy
🗳 Mental health struggles
🗳 Their own ignorance
🗳 Feeling powerless
🗳 Obstacles to citizenship
🗳 Relationship problems
It’s quite a tapestry of things to celebrate and a good reminder that voting isn’t something to take for granted and that woven into each ballot are a lot of human histories- before and after the votes are cast.
#262 Rock Drummer
18 September 2020 // San Diego, California
One of the best things about the pursuit of justice, is that it’s never a solo act. Everyone gets their role to play, but it’s a collective effort. And that allows us to rest but not quit. To imagine but not pretend. And since we’ve picked up this baton from others, it reminds us that there’s no giving up.
With so much uncertainty in the air and so much concern for the vulnerable, it can be tough to find the right words. So I decided to copy what Girl Talk does with pop music and make a mashup of pep-talks:
“Fight for the things you care about but do it in a way that leads others to join you.”
– Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Do not become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful. Be optimistic.”
– John Lewis
“You do not need to ignore your fears, nor should you… but we have possibilities before us. We can win. We can succeed. But we cannot do it alone.”
– Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
“Divest your energy from imagining the worst. Invest your energy in committing to and working for better.”
– Bernice King
“I would like to thank my ancestors because everytime I remember that their blood runs through my veins, I am reminded that I cannot lose.”
– Naomi Osaka
#263 A Screamin’ Kid
19 September 2020 // San Diego, California
One of the connections that Dr. Ben Sanders makes is that, as human beings we are a part of creation. We are a part of nature, a part of the environment. So, violence against human beings is a category of environmental degradation, and racism is a major catalyst of human violence.
If you'll remember back to our last season, we've explored how certain movements in church history went so far to the extreme of trying to separate the material world from the spiritual world, that it created this false idea, a heresy, that the physical world was evil and the nonmaterial world was pure. Because humans were imbued with a soul, they could be exempt from the corruption of the physical world. However, this conflicts with the arrival of Jesus as the Word made flesh. God incarnate redeems the physical world as well.
A lens that sees humans as part of the environment, as part of nature, can still be compatible with a theology that recognizes our unique role within nature to steward it, transform it, and participate in its process of redemption. One of the ways we can best regain this perspective is through discipleship from Black, Brown, and Indigenous perspectives where this goes without saying.
#264 Chi & Greg’s Wedding
20 September 2020 // San Diego, California
A not-so-recent quote I’m recently loving, courtesy of The Brothers Karamazov:
“Love all God’s creation, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of light. Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing. If thou love each thing thou wilt perceive the mystery of God in all; and when once thou perceive this, thou wilt thenceforward grow every day to a fuller understanding of it: until thou come at last to love the whole world with a love that will then be all-embracing and universal.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky
#265 Maple Leaf Cookies
21 September 2020 // San Diego, California
You can’t serve two masters. You’ll just end up loving one and hating the other. You’ve got to pick between loving God and loving money.
💰💰💰
Honestly I always thought the need to preach against financial greed seemed a bit... I dunno... elementary? After all... nothing seems to scream cartoon villain like somebody who loves money way too much. Your BEST case scenario is either Mr. Krabs or Scrooge McDuck.
Then I saw somebody who created a browser plug-in that automatically replaced the words “the economy” with “Lord Mammon.” Biblically, Mammon is how Jesus referred to wealth- personifying it with the image of an Assyrian demon or false idol. It made headlines look like:
📰“Stop COVID or save Lord Mammon?”
or
📰 “Experts discuss whether opening schools will help Lord Mammon.”
Okay, the plugin is meant for dramatic effect and starting a discussion that has room for more nuance. Economic health tends to help people, and it’s not a bad thing to pursue. It’s just a terrible thing to have as a master.
How do you know it’s become a master?
🗞 When the lives of others seem expendable for its sake.
🗞 When we shrug at mass extinctions because the habitat destruction is profitable.
🗞 When we get more angry over property loss more than the loss of human life.
All stuff we see all the time! This is a macro-level reality we live in. And it’s a tough one to escape from, because money’s a struggle for most of us! But I’ve found the following reminders constantly helpful:
Buying the more ethical item is a privilege so many people are priced out of. But if you’ve got this privilege, use it.
Treat nobody’s net worth as a token of their worth. Including your own. Don’t mistake your productivity for your value. Rest well. Play!
Remember, sudden surprises happen and money comes and goes. Safety nets are a good idea, but remember that financial loss can be recovered. Time, health, and opportunity can’t.
Know what your level of enough is. Actually identify a number. Research shows no correlation between money and happiness past $75K. Give or take based on your location and circumstances. But recognizing when you’ve hit enough saves you from excess. It tells you when you fully detach money’s influence on your decision making.
#266 Are you registered to vote?
22 September 2020 // San Diego, California
There’s a lot to be waiting on these days.
Change. Healing. Even just a better opportunity to go seek those things.
And I know that there are good things worth waiting for. But also, there’s more to do than to just passively wait. It seems crazy right now to admit, but there will be a time in the future where I’d wholeheartedly accept a one day guest pass back into right now.
I’m trying to remember that at the start of each of these days. There are things to look ahead to, but there are also things to look at. Right now.
#267 Ethical storytelling presentation
23 September 2020 // San Diego, California
It’ll be a great day when we can explore places again.
Explore beyond borders. Explore new regions.
That time will come back and there will be so much good that comes with it.
I suppose if anything, I’m thankful that I’m not missing out on exploring during a year Rhys would remember. During a year where we could be on an adventure together. And I hope all our appetites will be ready at that point.
I know mine will be.
#268 Justice for Breonna Taylor
24 September 2020 // San Diego, California
“When we are filled with love for other people, injustice becomes intolerable.”
–Austin Channing Brown
Breonna deserved better. Black women deserve better.
Keep showing up. Keep being a loud persistent voice against racism and injustice. Be strategic. Be bold.
And feel it all.
Sometimes it feels like the world is descending into deeper division, other times I remember that it’s actually a division that’s been here for ages becoming more visible. And walking through that world calls for thick skin and a soft heart.
That takes grief. We grieve things because they have value. And when systems act like Black lives don’t matter, grief says the opposite.
Injustice and indifference go hand in hand. Don’t let them crush your convictions.
#269 ward canyon park
25 September 2020 // San Diego, California
What if you could do something that took less than five minutes, cost no money, but that gave your neighborhood:
$46 to help solve housing problems
$244 to help address hunger
$37 to make sure kids can get school lunches
$91 for education
$47 to improve roads and
$4,352 on medical care for the sick and elderly?
There is. Fill out a census form.
These are the federal dollars that go to communities per person. Every single person that responds does their community a huge service. (Based on NYC data in 2017)
#270 Lovevery
26 September 2020 // San Diego, California
I can’t remember who introduced me to the term eco-discipleship, but it stuck. The idea is that creation contains valuable spiritual lessons from its Creator. When you hear phrases like “consider the wildflowers,” or “look at the sparrow,” it means we can actually learn from these species.
One lesson I’m always getting from spending time outside is that we’ve been given everything we need for life to thrive. It’s one of the most amazing things about creation, actually. How optimized it is to sustain networks of life.
🌿🌿🌿
How often do you hear of someone wanting to “run things like a business” touted as a virtue?
You hear this phrase in governance a lot. It’s one of the justifications given for the disruptions to the post office lately. More often, I also see this mentality at play in how churches operate, how a lot of school systems think of learning, and the way rest and community are undervalued in the United States.
Businesses aren't geared to serve the needs of all. You identify a “target market.” In the classes I’ve taken, this is almost always determined by which market is the most profitable and it’s not hard to see who that would exclude in the US.
Business tends to aim for more and more, not recognizing the value of “enough.” It always leaves you wanting something more. It becomes so easy to harm others in that quest.
Business does have valuable lessons to teach. But in our culture, I think we’ve idolized it by making it our template for everything.
🌿🌿🌿
I think we need a better metaphor to aspire towards. Good stewardship isn’t so much running things like a business, but cultivating it like an ecosystem. This reminds us:
🌱 …that we’re all interconnected. And we’ve got to care for the vulnerable. Even the most seemingly small element of life. In an ecosystem, a disruption to a single insect species or invasive weed can throw the entire food chain out of whack. This year makes it easier to see that humans aren’t exempt.
🌱 ...that real, lasting changes take time. They don’t happen overnight, and yet these are the changes we need to aim towards.
🌱 …the way we’re only on this earth for a moment, and that one of our biggest responsibilities is to future generations that come after us.
#271 love wholly
27 September 2020 // Carlsbad, California
The San Diego Loyal were winning their match and forefeitted their playoff chances in taking this stand.
They did a similar thing after racial slurs from an LA player last week.
I was excited at the start of this year that SD would have a USL team. But man. They’ve gained a huge fan here.
#272 Houses on El Cajon
28 September 2020 // San Diego, California
I’m trying to replace my desire to be productive with a desire to be regenerative.
Here’s what I mean.
I get upset when I see how our world values some lives over others because of how profitable or productive they are. AND YET, there have been a lot of days when I base my feeling on whether or not I had a good day off of how productive I was.
👨🏾💻👨🏾💻👨🏾💻
When a culture lets the love of money become its master, one of the first things it does is lead people to confuse their sense of worth for their productivity.
We identify ourselves through jobs and titles rather than relationships and loves. We feel guilty about the very natural need to rest. We become a society that loses respect for the elderly, disabled, or those unable to work. And we give ourselves unreasonable expectations. I didn’t even realize how unsustainable of a pace I was going at until the lockdown brought so many of my projects to a dramatic pause.
The complex part, though, is that so many elements of being productive are good. In its pure form, work is a gift and a privilege and an opportunity. Life is more fulfilling when you have some kind of meaningful work to pour yourself into. It is a human need to be able to make and create things.
🌲🌲🌲
A biologist friend of mine likes to point out that the goal isn’t to maximize, but to optimize. The highest level of productivity isn’t always the most ideal. You see this much more clearly in nature. And that makes me think that my goal isn’t so much to be productive, as it is to be regenerative.
👩🏾🌾 Regenerative work is life-giving. Both to the person doing the work, and all those who come into contact with it.
👩🏾🌾 Regenerative work helps you live out your purpose, rather than getting in the way of you and your purpose.
👩🏾🌾 Regenerative work often doesn’t even look like our mental image of work. It includes rest. It’s often indistinguishable from play.
#273 Golden Hour Baby
29 September 2020 // San Diego, California
This week brings National Podcast Day… here are some of my favorites from this year:
+ Ologies
+ Truth’s Table
+ How To Save a Planet
+ Working it Out
+ Creative Pep Talk
+ Staying In With Emily and Kumail
+ Dissect
+ California Love
+ No Place Like Home
#274 11 Months of Rhys
30 September 2020 // San Diego, California
Great news and let me get right to it! Season Two of the #GrassrootsPodcast is out now!
Check out our first episode on vulnerability and lament featuring Kayla Craig and Peter Harris of A Rocha on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And please... rate, review, and tell a friend
🌳✊🏽🌳
Last year, I launched the podcast for Plant With Purpose as a way to steer conversations about climate back towards the front lines. So much dialogue is set in academic or corporate circles that sometimes lose sight of the communities most threatened by climate change around the world. In our first season, I got to feature guests representing DR Congo, Mozambique, Thailand, rural Appalachia, inner city Philly, Hong Kong, and many other places. We looked at the issues through a spiritual lens, and I heard from many listeners that it brought a perspective they’d been looking for for a long time.
I had some exciting plans for Season Two, but right around March had to scrap them all. I doubt I need to explain why. But my team put our heads together virtually and decided to use our show to create a mini-season, responding to some of the urgent things going on around us:
🎙 Lament and vulnerability
🎙 The pandemic, of course
🎙 Environmental racism
🎙 An extremely divided culture
Lessons from the environment and our faith absolutely apply to the moment. So these are the themes of our second season!