Nuff said: Star Wars fan film, Escaping "you," A coffee nap is real & Pandemic Response Fails
Nuff said: Star Wars fan film, Escaping "you," A coffee nap is real & Pandemic Response Fails
Nuff said is a collection of posts/articles from around the web that has drawn my attention in the following ways:
Made me think
Made me wonder
Made me feel
Here’s what I’ve noticed lately:
Escaping the “you” within
Joe Rigney has an excellent article on Desiring God that reflections on Psalm 16:1 -
“Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you.”
He thoughtfully challenges us to consider the danger of the “you” within. Our inner conversations, musings and negative attitudes can poison us. While we blame others, perhaps the real culprit is us.
Rigney points out that dangers are often external. But that shouldn’t blind us to the ones that are internal. That’s when a simple meditation on Psalm 16:1 may have a quieting result on our turmoil. We should seek God as refuge from ourselves…
“I take refuge in you from me.” My thoughts. My passions. My sinful desires. My doubts. My moods. My unbelief.
A full length fan remake of The Empire Strikes Back??!
If you have two hours to spend, fans have created a remake of The Empire Strikes Back. It was released back in 2015 (how did I miss it?), and LucasFilms gave it their blessing by uploading the entire film to their YouTube channel:
Don’t have the time to watch it? Check out The Verge’s helpful article that will steer you to “the nice scenes you should watch.”
Ever heard of a “coffee nap?”
Yep. It’s a thing, and science backs it. I am sooooo going to try this.
Experiments show coffee naps are better than coffee or naps.
Pandemic-related responses have crushed society
• Overdose deaths have ballooned
“More than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses in the 12 months ending in April 2021, according to the most recent estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a nearly 30 percent jump from the previous year and means that more Americans are dying from drug overdoses than guns, car crashes, or the flu. It’s about on par with deaths from diabetes.”
• And.. be sensitive to how you communicate your experiences through COVID lockdowns
Janie Cheaney offers a profound commentary on how people responded to lockdowns here:
The good news was that relatively stable families enjoyed the extra togetherness and even deepened their relationships. Home became a fortress of security fighting off outside threats with board games and baked goods. But homes that were not nests of harmony could become petri dishes of pathology. Robbed of any release valve, pressure built up, small problems ballooned to big ones, and big problems led to abuse, violence, overdose, and general despair. “Stay home” could mean a pleasant vacation or a jail term.
It provoked my thinking for sure. We often tell people to look for a silver lining, to be positive, and to count your blessings. However, perhaps we should be wary about naming our blessings loudly.
“If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.” (Proverbs 27:14)
I think of this verse when I’m a little too over-the-top in the morning with others that may have a harder time on ramping to live. I’m a morning person and can be loud.
I think this may have some application to those of us who call the stay-at-home life adjustments of the pandemic a blessing. It is an act of humility and faith to name it as blessing. It may also be insensitive, displaying ignorance of other’s suffering when we fail to understand its profound impact on people’s lives for the worse.
It’s The Youngest Children Who Lost The Most From Lockdown - Forbes, May 2022
The Catastrophic Impact of Covid Forced Societal Lockdowns - American Institute for Economic Research, Jan 2021
More Nuff Said?
Want to review previous “Nuff said” entries? Visit my Archives Page and do a search for “Nuff Said.”
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