WEDNESDAY'S WORD - BRAIN ROT - Sadell Bradley 01/08/2025

WEDNESDAY'S WORD BRAIN ROT 1/8/2025 "While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?"—Henry David Thoreau    BRAIN ROT has been deemed the word of the year for 2024. I know...it's two words. Oxford University Press said this term “gained new prominence in 2024,” with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before." The Oxford Dictionary defines BRAIN ROT as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of over-consumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or un-challenging.” Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said that in its modern sense, “’brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.” Have you found yourself scrolling aimlessly, or viewing an inordinate number of reels and short clips? Celebrities, comedians, preachers, sales gimmicks, and podcasts abound offering soundbites of advice on any and everything imaginable. We now binge-watch TV shows when we used to wait with baited breath for the next weekly episode. Some things on the internet are good. In moderation, our brains wouldn't rot. In 1854, philosopher Henry David Thoreau used brain rot in his work, Walden, or Life in the Woods. At the time, the 27 year-old had relocated to his cabin for solitude and reflection. NPR quotes Cristin Ellis, an authority on Thoreau from the University of Mississippi, "For Thoreau, 'brain-rot describes what happens to our minds and spirits when we suppress our innate instincts for curiosity and wonder, and instead resign ourselves to the un-reflective habits we observe all around us -- habits of fitting in, getting by, chasing profits, chatting about the latest news." Ellis continues, "Thoreau really values direct experience over our habits of consuming other peoples' ideas at second hand. He wants us to go outside to feel and think something for ourselves; he wants us to get to know the places where we actually live." Have you lost creativity or wonder due to brain rot? Paul admonished the Church to fill their lives with the Word, Spirit, and presence of God, not with the influences of popular culture: 6And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. 8Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. (Colossians 2:6-10) From what sources have you been getting most of your information these days? How many hours per week is your mind susceptible to this deterioration? how about your children's or grandchildren's? Thoreau suggested that a cure for brain-rot was needed in England 171 years ago...how much more do we need one today?

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - AHEAD - Sadell Bradley - 1/1/2025

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD AHEAD 1/1/2025 "It is better to look ahead and prepare, than to look back and regret." —Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympic Gold Medalist       "I'm not going back. I'm moving ahead. Here to declare to you. My past is over. In You, all things are made new. Surrendered my life to Christ. I'm moving, moving forward." — Israel Houghton, Ricardo Sanchez In 2009, Israel Houghton released the song Moving Forward on his album The Power of One. This song about the redemption, regeneration, and renewal that is found in relinquishing your life, renouncing your sins, and receiving forgiveness and a new life in Jesus took hold in the culture. Churches around the world sing it to welcome the New Year with a fresh start or to celebrate baptisms. As we enter 2025 we don't look back...we look AHEAD - further forward in space; in the line of one's forward motion; further forward in time; in advance; in the near future; higher in number, amount, or value than previously. Ahead is a nautical term for the direction forward in front of the bow of the ship. One might say, "The captain ordered the ship to steer 'ahead' to maintain course towards the destination." In what direction will we steer our lives in 2025? Will we continue to hold on to past hurts, sins, regrets, and failures? Will we persist in clinging to the often false nostalgia of past victories, triumphs, and successes as if there is nothing left for us to do or contribute? Or will we move forward? There is a reason the windshield of a car is larger than the rear view and side mirrors. It's because most of our time and attention should be placed on what is before us...not on what is behind us, or who might be passing us up on either side, The Apostle Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) wrote about this in Philippians 3. Saul was a man of supremely high achievements in spirituality and education as a Pharisee. He was of the highest social rank in Jewish culture. Saul was so zealous about Judaism that he swore to root out any 'false messiahs' that might arise to threaten it. So when the followers of "The Way" claimed to believe that Jesus Christ was The Messiah, he gravely persecuted, imprisoned, and murdered them. Acts 8 shows Saul standing over and approving of deacon Stephen's stoning. It was not until Saul had a direct and blinding encounter with Jesus himself on the road to Damascus that he was converted, and his name and destiny were changed. Paul had a lot of success in his former life. He also had a lot of regrets for the innocent lives he had taken in the name of 'righteousness.' I can't imagine the repercussions of the loss of his former status. Or the way people interacted with him post-conversion. How haunting the memories of slaying Christ-followers were for him...or how mind boggling it would be for Jesus to still choose him to lead, and cause the family and friends of the people he'd killed and imprisoned to forgive him and call him brother. He wrote these words. 7But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in a Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained. We make resolutions to start a New Year. They say only 20% are kept, while 80% are abandoned by February. Wouldn't forgetting the past and moving AHEAD to the future be a great for that 20%? What if this year, we really cleaned our slates and started anew?