The Awesome Way
Discover more from Ben Simpson's Faith & Formation Newsletter
A few years ago our family lived in a small house in Fort Worth. It was across from the church and in a neighborhood right next to TCU.
We were out doing chalk art on our sidewalk one afternoon. On our driveway I wrote, “Be Awesome Today.” Students walked by our place every day, going to and from class. It was a small message of encouragement.
In our garage we have a cabinet, and there is a corner of the cabinet that faces the door we come in and out of each morning. I took a chisel-tip Sharpie and wrote, “Make Today Awesome” on the side, a place where we’d see it. It was a reminder that we had a choice to make that day, and lots of opportunities.
I had a couple of decals made last week, pictured above. They’ll be up on my website in the store. If you’d like one, reach out. They are for sale. If you are local, we can set up a handoff. I can also ship.
A long time ago a coach told me you can never control what happens to you on the basketball court or in life, but you can control your attitude and your effort, your response in every circumstance. That’s a message that stuck. Working it out in life has taken much longer.
Each new day presents new opportunities. We have countless interactions with other human beings. We can make stuff. We can always choose to delight and surprise. We can choose to love. We can choose to make a difference. We can choose to do the right thing, the wonderful thing. The awesome thing.
Now, the moral and spiritual formation, and the wisdom, to know what those things are and to come to possess the power, courage and resources to do that which is awesome, or to make a day awesome—that’s another matter. That’s a topic for another newsletter.
Book Notes
I’m still working my way through Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.
I started reading C. Stephen Evans’ Kierkegaard and Spirituality: Accountability and the Meaning of Human Existence.
And I also began David W. Blight’s Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.
Sights and Sounds
Only movie I watched this week: Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.
Last Words
On the blog, I wrote something about a quiet yet heroic life, a cool Nike shoe, kneeling theologians, and our limited perception.
Before I go, standard copy.
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Be well this week. Bless others.
Best,
BAS
P. S. - Below is Palmer. Palmer is a palm frond, woven into a cross. Carrying Palmer is Pastor John Wheatley’s (FBC Valley Mills) Lenten discipline. He carries this cross everywhere he goes. He brought Palmer along to our lunch at George’s, “Home of the Big O.”
