I think this is a deep dive into "Let go and let God" and way too much for me to respond to off the top of my head. But as a believer married to an unbeliever I heard a friend say he could easily live with one who didn't share his religious beliefs but could never never never live with one of the opposite school of political thought.
@Sean what a great insight. Back in 2016, when I lived in Columbus Ohio, our closest friends (we were new in town) were devout Christians in every sense of the word. While we found much in common, football, their garden, ToastMasters—we were a chasm apart in our politics. While this led to some interesting dinner conversations (and I suspect much praying on their part for us), in that trying period is when I discovered that doom scrolling, an addiction as powerful as any had created the behavior you so nicely capture—first thing and the last thing of my day filled with an obsessive kneeling in prayer in front of the news priests and their false political gods. Whilst that election loss I reckoned had cured me of that obsequious behavior, I remain a recovering addict capable of falling back into that trap every single day eight years on. The wife and I have gotten into rituals, whether in the kitchen or in our prayer niche, that take us back to the service of a greater power. One day at a time. Thank you for this lovely essay capturing this insight.
Thank you for sharing your identification. How easily I turn my life over to things that immiserate me. I’m glad you’re able to abstain, it gives me hope.
Credit has to go to a lovely couple in Nashville at whose home we spent two nights. The simple deed of charging their phones in a room that was not their bedroom was the first step in breaking the "last thing at night/first thing in the morning" cycle. The fear of missing a midnight call, especially with elderly parents overseas, was notionally the reason we did not do it before. But that was truly not the reason. So this simple step of making it difficult to merely stretch out with your hand and find the phone within reach has helped us.
So good, Sean. Thanks again, friend. 🙏🏻
This is amazing. It's causing me to examine my own life in terms of practice.
I think this is a deep dive into "Let go and let God" and way too much for me to respond to off the top of my head. But as a believer married to an unbeliever I heard a friend say he could easily live with one who didn't share his religious beliefs but could never never never live with one of the opposite school of political thought.
@Sean what a great insight. Back in 2016, when I lived in Columbus Ohio, our closest friends (we were new in town) were devout Christians in every sense of the word. While we found much in common, football, their garden, ToastMasters—we were a chasm apart in our politics. While this led to some interesting dinner conversations (and I suspect much praying on their part for us), in that trying period is when I discovered that doom scrolling, an addiction as powerful as any had created the behavior you so nicely capture—first thing and the last thing of my day filled with an obsessive kneeling in prayer in front of the news priests and their false political gods. Whilst that election loss I reckoned had cured me of that obsequious behavior, I remain a recovering addict capable of falling back into that trap every single day eight years on. The wife and I have gotten into rituals, whether in the kitchen or in our prayer niche, that take us back to the service of a greater power. One day at a time. Thank you for this lovely essay capturing this insight.
Thank you for sharing your identification. How easily I turn my life over to things that immiserate me. I’m glad you’re able to abstain, it gives me hope.
Credit has to go to a lovely couple in Nashville at whose home we spent two nights. The simple deed of charging their phones in a room that was not their bedroom was the first step in breaking the "last thing at night/first thing in the morning" cycle. The fear of missing a midnight call, especially with elderly parents overseas, was notionally the reason we did not do it before. But that was truly not the reason. So this simple step of making it difficult to merely stretch out with your hand and find the phone within reach has helped us.