This is a biographical and modern translation of John Donne's "Devotions." He was a 16th century English poet and Anglican priest, writing during the height of the Bubonic Plague and serving as the cover for this week.

"Enable me, Father, by your grace, to look forward to my end; and to look backward too, recalling the free gifts you have showered on me from the beginning."

What's more is that The Rabbit Room is hosting a free online lenten reading group featuring this book, starting February 29th. You can purchase it here.  

Ted Gioia is one of my favorites to follow on Substack. I thought he was only here to comment on jazz music, but turns out he has excellent insight in several fields. 

While this article on the State of the Culture (similar to the State of the Union) is bleak and without hope in the end, it offers a hard but honest look into where we are as compared with a few years back. 

"The World Happiness Report surveyed 150,000 people in 26 countries, and found that the US and other prosperous, technologically advanced societies are suffering a massive happiness decline. This is what happens when anhedonia (absence of joy when pursuing pleasure) is on sale every week—and the pervasive tech platforms increasingly resemble the ruthless corporations that got rich from opioid abuse."

"Here is the heart of the paradox: Technology is a brilliant, praiseworthy expression of human creativity and cultivation of the world. But it is at best neutral in actualy forming human beings who can create and cultivate as were meant to. . . Technology is a brilliant expression of human capacity. But anything that offers easy everywhere does nothing (well, almost nothing) to actually form human capacities." 

After reading Gioia's insightful article, chase it with some legitimate, biblical encouragement. Andy Crouch offers more wealth than just properly ordering devices in the home. He teaches why and how to prioritize courage and wisdom in the family.