Hey folks. Thanks for reading Toward Truth. Before I get started, a disclaimer. This post is less tidy than previous posts. As I’ve said several times in the past, I’m still figuring out exactly what a Toward Truth post is. Each new post is a bit of an experiment towards that goal. I’m trying to see what feels right.
Looking back on the last few months, I’ve settled into two main types of posts:
Telling personal stories and reflecting on what God is doing through it (like today’s post), and
Posts like my last one, which focus on a section of Scripture.
They both still feel similar but the starting place is different. The last post started with Psalm 104, where post like this one, started with the story. I like that rhythm and I think I’m going to stick to it. Also, I’m thinking about going weekly. I like writing these. It helps me process each week and keeps me paying attention to what God is doing in everyday life. I haven’t decided if I’m actually going to do that though. If you think I should, subscribe (it’s free) and let me know.
Melted Moka Pot.
I start most mornings by brewing some espresso1 in a Moka Pot. A Moka Pot makes coffee by passing boiling water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. It’s a simple process, fill the bottom reservoir with water, add your finely ground coffee into the “basket” that sits above the reservoir, screw on the top which contains the collecting chamber, then turn on the stove.
The stove heats up the water in the bottom chamber until it becomes steam. That steam then forces water up through the basket of coffee grounds, creating coffee. That coffee then is collected in the upper chamber. It really is a simple and effective way of making coffee.
The only two ways to mess up this process is to forget to add the water or the coffee. This morning, I forgot the water which is far worse between the two.
The water actually serves a secondary, very important purpose. The presence of the water keeps the steel pot from getting too hot. Without the water, I managed to completely melt the rubber gasket that helps create a proper seal for the pressure to build.
Instead of the pleasant smell of coffee, our kitchen and adjacent rooms began to smell like burned rubber. I ruined the Moka Pot, my house had a lingering smell of burned rubber (it would last about two hours), and worst of all, I still had no coffee.
I share that story because I’ve felt really distracted lately. Way more than usual, which if you know me, is a fair amount already. I have at least one friend who will readily tell me that I probably have ADHD, or at least ADHD tendencies.
Sure.
But here’s the thing. For most of my life, I have not felt this way. Maybe my mom will correct me after she reads this, but I was always been able to sit down and accomplish my school work. Even when there were distractions, I could refocus and get back on course. That last part just seems so difficult these days. What’s worse is I feel like I’ve done this to myself.
Every Sunday afternoon my phone tells me how much I stared at it the week before. Here is how that went the last three weeks:
The Social category is almost entirely Apple’s Messages app. I use it a lot for work. Today alone, I have messaged 14 different people, 10 of which were work-related. Mostly organizing shifts for a 24-hour facility.
When you see Information and Reading, just replace that with Substack. I spend a bunch of time reading other newsletters, apparently.
Productivity and finance? Email.
Entertainment? Podcasts, Apple Music, and the Roku TV remote app because who actually knows where their Roku remote is.
I could give you an excuse or reason for everything on here all day. What concerns me the most is the total hours at the end of each week. Last week, spent a full 20 hours staring at my phone of the course of a week. That’s nearly a day that I missed by just staring at my phone.
Peter & Elijah
In my very first post on Toward Truth, I wrote about how I felt like I was in a fog. As I get further out from that fog, I’m seeing how it affected me in more ways than I even realized. Including this distracted feeling.
Being distracted has consequences. It reminds me of when Peter was briefly able to walk on the water with Jesus (Matthew 14:22 - 33). As long as Peter was focused and looking to Jesus, he was able to confidently walk toward him. He was entirely safe and supported by Jesus, obeying the command to “come”.
Yet when the winds and waves distracted him, Peter doubted and immediately fell into the water. His distraction and doubt had a serious consequence of falling into the open water.
I’m not trying to draw a 1:1 comparison of ruining my Moka Pot and Peter walking on water, that’s a bit of a stretch. But I do think it is fair to say that in both situations, distraction led to undesirable consequences.
Go read 1 Kings 18 and 19. It tells, in part, the story of Elijah.
Chapter 18 tells a story of God’s victory of the prophets of Baal. Chapter 19 tells how Elijah was so afraid of Jezebel that he ran and hid for his life. However, in the midst of this, God leads Elijah to a cave so that he might speak to Elijah in a unique way. Here is 1 Kings 19:9 - 13
There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah2?
So, I’m trying to give my attention and energy to things that matter. God is speaking and moving in my life and I don’t want to miss it. Like in the story of Elijah, hiding in a cave, he needed to look and pay attention. God showed up in the quiet voice, not the strong wind, earthquake, fire. As I get further away from that mental and emotional fog I want to sharpen my focus and pay attention to what God is doing.
Recommendations
Some things I read, watched, or listened to in the last few weeks.
1. Crossing to Safety with a Recovering Cynic
This is an excellent article from
. Bryan is a professor at Boyce College, the undergraduate school of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Despite the fact that I graduated from SBTS, and that we live and work in the same city, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Bryan, but I do enjoy his writing. I think you will too. Below is an excerpt from this article:The struggle of my life has been a fight to be happy. For as long as I can recall as an adult I have battled some level of depression, sadness, or general melancholy. For some these dark passengers manifest in bouts of isolation or perhaps intrusive thoughts (or both). For others it might run along the lines of feeling emotionally stunted; that no matter what you try or how hard you want to see the world differently, it still looks grey. Colors do not shine with the same brightness, food tastes slightly less distinct, and music feels like it plays at a volume only happy people can really hear. These realities can happen without announcement and last longer than anyone who has never experienced this could understand. One day you wake up and for days, weeks, even months the world looks and feels….off. It’s terrifying.
I have experienced all of this for longer than I care to untangle at the moment. But if I am really honest the largest indicator for when I am not well isn’t any of those things I’ve just described. Rather, the “WRONG WAY TURN AROUND” sign is when I realize just how cynical I feel about myself and the world around me
2. Become A Sending Parent
This TGC article was written by a local pastor here in Louisville. Here is a quick quote:
When I consider the idea of one day releasing one or more of my four daughters into the hostilities of global missions, I’m reminded it’s an offering worthy of my God—the God who first sent his Son, Jesus Christ. The pain I’ll bear in watching my child’s form disappear into the airport, then seeing her endure the daily death of a missionary, will only serve to make me more like the sending God who lives in me.
3. Social media is doomed to die
This comes from The Verge. The author has a unique perspective as one who worked at Snap for 7 years. It’s a bit longer, so maybe add it to your weekend reading list.
I thought this time would be different.
More specifically, I thought Snapchat would be different.
I spent more than seven years there, writing almost everything from in-app copy to pitch decks, trying to make Snapchat different from every other social media app. And then, the other day, I received a push notification from the app telling me to wish my nemesis a happy birthday. This might read as normal or even expected to most of you, but I recognized the notification for what it really was: a death knell for a social media platform past its prime.
4. This vs. That — A Podcast from Anchored Hope
New episodes release on Tuesdays. Here is a recent episode that I enjoyed
If you or a friend are struggling, let’s talk. Any counselor at Anchored Hope, myself included, would be love to talk with you. Use the button below to schedule a meeting with a counselor today.
For you other coffee snobs, I know that a Moka Pot doesn’t technically make espresso.
Ultimately, God tells Elijah that he will be replaced by Elisha. By 2 Kings 2 Elijah is taken up into heaven and Elisha continues the ministry.
I love a Moka pot, I use mine at least once a week. Since I roast my own beans (I'm doing that as I read this) i also got in to other brewing methods. The hands-on styles are favorites--pour-overs, press pot, aeropress, and I like setting up cold brews. I don't like the push button and walk away automatics.
Brewing is a ritual process I enjoy, and so I'm not distracted, I actually have a series of short payers and a song I sing during the grinding the brewing. Silly maybe, but pray without ceasing, so I do. This start to my morning seems to help me focus on the Lord and His Word.
Because yes, with all that's going on in my life, including Substack, it's all too easy to get distracted.
Thanks for sharing!
You had me at Moka pot... a tragedy pure and simple. Or, an opportunity for an easy Father's Day gift? Who knows?