Thanks for dropping by!
We’ve made it past yet another Cyber Monday, and I’ve been wondering too much if the word “Cyber” has ever caught on in any other technology context.
I can’t think of one, and so my little writer/editor brain is thinking “Cyber Monday” should be “Digital deals day” or “Online Monday” or really anything other than “Cyber.”
The word “cyber” makes me think of the creepy Cyber men from Dr. Who… and now I’m having nightmares.
Whatever they call a day of clickable consumption, I’m ready for Advent. Now we can focus on our nightly Advent prayers and watching the kids fight over who gets to blow out the candle and hang stuff on the calendar.
OK then, let’s hit the links!
The Worst Advent Sermon Ever
I took on the creators of the lectionary last Sunday when I preached on Luke 21 and made the case that it most likely doesn’t refer to the Second Coming and chose to focus instead on how Jesus told his disciples to prepare for a national calamity. Spoiler: There’s still A LOT to meditate on if you skip the end times stuff!
You can read my sermon online to see if you agree: The Worst Advent Sermon Ever.
Books for Christian Writers
Now, if you were looking for a gift to give a writer, even if we’re past the hallowed occasion of Cyber Monday, I have a few options for you:
One of my bestselling books of all time is a Pray, Write, Grow, a very practical guide to prayer and writing practices that shows how the disciplines of both practices can help the other.
However, when I used to do live events pre-COVID, I was always surprised how many people bought Write without Crushing Your Soul. It’s a far-reaching book about different ways to earn income as a writer, but it has a spiritual slant that emphasizes soul care.
Write without Crushing Your Soul: Sustainable Publishing and Freelancing
The Contemplative Writer: Loving God through Christian Spirituality, Meditation, Daily Prayer, and Writing
Pray, Write, Grow: Cultivating Prayer and Writing Together
Why Is the World Awash in Misinformation?
In a word, the answer is “profit.” Facebook and Google figured out ways to get a cut of the revenue from misinformation articles that had high click rates. I don’t know what the best solution is, but first we need to see the scale of the problem right now.
OK, now, on to the newsletter!
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Making Things Right… and Clear
I don’t typically feature my editing clients in these emails, but one of my latest projects has gotten me thinking about how we can all have better conversations.
Here’s the thing, even if we are in a healthy place, have the best intentions in the world, and approach others with all of the kindness and grace possible, we can still undermine dialogue and understanding.
We need to understand what’s at stake for the other person.
I think a lot of times a dialogue between two sides can run off the rails because no one wants to be wrong, but when it comes to matters of faith and religious beliefs, there’s a lot more at stake. Group identity can form around affirming or denying certain beliefs, and once you move away from a certain belief, your entire world can unravel—or it can at least feel like it will.
Brian Nietzel grew up in the church and has always loved the church and Jesus, but it was hard to reconcile that with his LGBTQ orientation. And while you can learn more about his faith journey on his website, Brian made it his mission to be a safe LGBTQ Christian for anyone to talk to about faith and sexuality.
Even more than being a safe person, he has worked to create safe havens for these conversations for people of all viewpoints, whether affirming or not. Brian doesn’t see other people as threats, but as we worked through his material, I kept bringing up a problem.
While Brian is a safe person, the stakes for discussions of faith and sexuality are massive for many people. Brian shares on his first podcast about our conversation about conservative folks, who aren’t affirming of LGBTQ Christians. They have a lot at stake in the kinds of dialogues he wants to facilitate.
Even a friendly host can’t automatically defuse an issue that feels really explosive.
As we worked through the editing process, we worked on articulating what is at stake for both sides of this conversation. By making that clear up front, we helped create both empathy and common ground for people who are engaging this challenging topic through Brian’s guidance.
It’s especially hard to dialogue with that kind of empathy and nuance in a sound bite driven, social media savvy online culture. It’s much easier to resort to black and white categories where one side is the enemy on the offensive and the other must fight back.
I don’t expect Brian’s approach to work for everyone, but working with him reminded me that every divisive topic today comes with some high stakes for people on both sides.
When we enter into dialogue with someone about a controversial topic, even if it shouldn’t be controversial in the first place, it helps to start with imagining what’s at stake for the other person.
What could that person lose in this conversation?
What else is linked with this person’s perspective?
Growing in empathy and compassion isn’t easy in a time of hot takes and instant reactions. Empathy can feel almost impossible in the reaction hot bed of social media.
Sometimes thinking like an editor can make me annoying… “Excuse me random internet troll, but I think you meant to type, ‘YOU’RE a moron’ instead of ‘your a moron.’”
But other times, an editor’s perspective means looking at a topic from other perspectives, considering the pain points of others, and looking at ways to help a conversation move forward.
I’m grateful that another regular day at work challenged me to show others the compassion and empathy that I would want shown to me.
Thanks for reading,
Ed
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