man cannot live by vibes alone: March 2026 braindump
Christianity, conservative art, and other brief thoughts
Time itself is moving faster.
The other day, I had this particular random thought about why it feels as though so much happens so fast and we’re hardly able to keep pace. (Insert caveat about not needing to keep pace with literally everything, but that’s another train.)
The idea: that time itself might just be accelerating and we humans are just laggy comprehending and meaning-making machines running the original software. It’s like downloading the latest version of an app or program that’s snazzier and faster than everything that came before it but you’ve still got your 2010 laptop that’s just not able to keep up.
Those are the vibes the past few weeks have given me. To-do lists grow longer but time itself seems to be getting shorter.
Man, however—as much as I try—cannot live by vibes alone. And I’ve lately had reason to reconsider time now vs. time “back then.”
all the new Christian things are old
This month, I finished listening to The Story of Christianity, Volume 1, by Justo L. González. It’s a fascinating narrative assemblage of early church history up to the beginning of the Reformation and I’m eager to begin volume two. But, as I read, I was strangely comforted by the realization that so many of today’s church squabbles, disagreements, and departures from the Gospel of Christ are just old problems reskinned.
Everything—from “celebrity” religious leaders caring more about political and civic power than they do about the flock of God to organizations growing from honest, humble origins into institutions concerned only with self-preservation—has happened before. There is nothing new under the sun—least of all political leaders who cavalierly slap the name of God on their crusades as Kristin Du Mez discusses here and Derek Penwell discusses here.
The fact that Christianity has been wrapped up in all of this before has been oddly comforting to me leading up to Easter.
why no conservative art?
I’ve also been invested in a different conversation about a segment of the Western culture/art debate where conservatives complain about what’s presented by “Hollywood.” The vibes are bad and there’s not much we can do about it is no way to address a perceived problem. Nor is, well, if only someone would come and save us.
All the source material is below so you can explore at will. I agree, generally, with Kristin McTiernan’s summary of how conservatives (or extremely politically-minded people) treat and think about art, but I am not quite so sure all the weight for her solution to the alleged problem can really be placed on the singular shoulder on which she places it.
But, yes, building something yourself is more beneficial than complaining about what’s already built.
asides + signal boosts
Elizabeth Oldfield’s conversation with Leah Libresco Sargeant: The Myth of the Neutral Human made my day last week. There’s an abundance of food for thought about philosophy, virtue, moral reasoning, conversion, and, of course, family and feminism. Leah’s framework for thinking about those with whom she finds herself on opposite sides of a debate is soul-altering. But I won’t spoil it for you.
📖 Reading
Currently reading Tara Isabella Burton’s Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians.
Also, with working my way through one C.S. Lewis essay a day for Lent, I’ve been through Mere Christianity (again), The Weight of Glory (again), Of Other Worlds (partially), and God in the Dock (partially andfor the first time).
🎞️ Watching
FoxxeHole + I enjoyed seeing Project Hail Mary. It’s a really good movie—a great movie even. Is it generationally significant as I’ve heard people claim? I doubt it, but that remains to be seen.
Excited for the new Daredevil: Born Again season! First two episodes were pretty good. And I’m looking forward to the rest.
🎧 Listening
Sharing an indie pop playlist Spotify ginned up for me because I really, really enjoyed it.
The Sacred podcast is really good and one I want to listen to more regularly