5 Quick Things #278 ♱

friendship, marking time, walkable neighborhoods, & Good Friday

Apr 07, 2023

Hi there,

A blessed Good Friday to us all today... It's rainy and surprisingly cold (for around here) today, which seems fitting somehow. There's not much I can say about this sacred day that hasn't been said a million times better a thousand other ways, so I won't try. We'll be doing the Stations of the Cross at our local parish later this afternoon, but in the meantime, I'm meeting a friend for coffee in a few hours and this evening we're hanging out with neighbor friends.

I pray God meets you exactly how your heart, mind, and soul need to be met today. I'm grateful you're here.

*Agnus Dei*, by Francisco de Zurbarán (1635-1640)

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. New episode of A Drink With a Friend! 👈 It's still the question we get more than just about any other... In this episode, I share more of my journey to the Catholic Church, why it wasn’t just switching a “denomination,” and why the telos of the idea of a global church led me to recognize that Jesus established it in a particular way for a particular purpose. This communion of saints is for all of us. …It's a fitting story to continue telling during Holy Week.
2. This is a great reminder about time, rhythm, and marking it differently when the moment calls for it. “I am often ask myself: who is the time-keeper of my life? To whose rhythm am I dancing? …The older I get, the more I realize that my life is less about what I do, and more about my ability to receive or be affected.”
3. I appreciated this long-form conversation on the importance of real, in-person communal friendship (here it is as a podcast). …Where we live does matter if we want to be a community with our neighbors.
4. Speaking of — my youngest kid and I enjoy deep-diving into this YouTube channel, and this week we watched this one about the “gym” of life. I remain grateful for our walkable town.
5. And finally, chocolate hot cross buns! I wish could figure out how to make decent gluten-free hot cross buns, but these look divine.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 🎵

Andrew Peterson’s Resurrection Letters Anthology

Quotable 💬

“And now brothers, I will ask you a terrible question, and God knows I ask it also of myself. Is the truth beyond all truths, beyond the stars, just this: that to live without him is the real death, that to die with him the only life?”

— Frederick Buechner #

What’s your favorite non-car form of transport? 🚶‍♀️

This question came to me as my son and I watched videos from the YouTube channel mentioned above. I’m with you all… walking, trains, and bikes: I could live with just those.