No pressure, no diamond. You don’t become a good captain by never meeting a storm. And so, at the end of your life – many years from now God willing – there is but one tree, vines threaded gloriously and ramshackley together – holy in its way – offering you a place to sit down and rest awhile, its branches sagging under the weight of timeless fruit produced to settle your restless stomach. 

No matter how much we love the city, or our home, or the land, they will never love us back. They do not give birth to hope. They destroy us in the pursuit of it. And so, to survive you must learn to recognize those who don’t hope, who aren’t really alive, and be wary of their doomed decisions. They are to be avoided at all costs because their fear is tragedy's closest cousin, and tragedy is contagious. And then, just like that, death steps from the shadows, and hope is strangled. Life is extinguished. Freedom is chained up. 

The complaint of the depressive individual, “Nothing is possible,” can only occur in a society that thinks, “Nothing is impossible.” No-longer-being-able-to-be-able leads to destructive self-reproach and auto-aggression. The achievement-subject finds itself fighting with itself. The depressive has been wounded by internalized war. Depression is the sickness of a society that suffers from excessive positivity. It reflects a humanity waging war on itself. - Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society

Like is the digital Amen. When we click Like, we are bowing down to the order to domination. The smartphone is not just an effective surveillance apparatus; it is also a mobile confessional. - Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics

“That kindness is invincible, provided it's sincere- not ironic or an act. What can even the most vicious person do if you keep treating him with kindness and gently set him straight” 
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

We are mud people with a holy breath sweeping through us. That is a comfort, Jesus says. Not tree people so much, or zebra people, or pomegranate people, but mud people. There is a primality in it. It is an image we can get behind. It is not nice. It is not a florid Renaissance sketch, but something we can imagine seeing daubed on a cave wall before someone blows the wick out. 

“What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood.” 

Alice Miller, Breaking Down the Wall of Silence

Technology is our new god. What would a refusal to worship look like? Paul Kingsnorth offers a vision of resistance, which I discuss in this week's episode.

If God gave us what we asked for all at once, it would wipe us out. Too much reality. We have to chew on one piece of manna at a time. God’s announcements to the heart are so prestigious that too much and we are floored. And there are lots more that feel nutty and restrictive in their eccentricity. Then a year later or more and that, in turn, blossoms into bare, unadorned wisdom. So be wary of begging God to make too many pronouncements, to act for you too early. One simply doesn’t know the power of unadorned facts until they descend upon us like a heavenly storm. 

“I myself have resolved to follow the path of righteousness henceforth. More than anything, devote yourself to learning and act in accordance with the teachings of the past.” - Katsu Kokichi, Musui's Story