↩ Looking Back
I just finished listening to The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder and Michel Hendricks. The authors argue that since the Enlightenment, the Church has leaned too heavily on the left brain--logic, knowledge, and willpower--as the primary tools for spiritual growth. But transformation, they suggest, flows through the right brain--joy, relationships, and emotional connection.
One of the book's most compelling insights:
Being a disciple of Jesus means reacting to the world as he would react.
Not just choosing what Jesus would do, but spontaneously responding like him because your inner life has been shaped by attachment to the true vine.
So maybe it's not WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) but HWJR: How Would Jesus React?
It turns out, faithfully following Jesus is a lot more about gut reactions than we realize—and we can actually train ourselves to begin reacting more like him through receiving his love more fully, experiencing the joy of Christian community, and reminding each other of our identity when we veer off course.
There's lots more in the book worth chewing on—especially around the concept of healthy shame, but I'll save that for a future edition.
↑ Looking Up
If our spiritual lives are shaped by gut-level reactions, our physical health often starts with our literal gut.
Let me be clear: I'm not a dieter. I'm not into fads.
But I am into Intermittent Fasting--which, ironically, is considered by many to be both a diet and a fad.
Last June, I stepped on the scale and did a double take. The number doesn’t matter—but the wake-up call did. If I didn’t change my eating habits, I was barreling toward a future looking less like a healthy, functioning human and more like Jabba the Hut.
Weight management was the impetus for exploring Intermittent Fasting (IF), but the more I dug in, the more I was compelled that it wasn't just a way to lose weight, it was actually a different way to live to help support the way God designed our bodies.
If you've ever been curious about the why, what, and how of Intermittent Fasting, this post is for you.
↪ Looking Forward
What's the connection between gut reactions and gut health?
Believe it or not—the willingness to gut things out.
Gut reactions are unplanned. That's what makes them revealing. But we cantrain our instincts by shaping the environment of our inner life--through remembering our true identity and asking for forgiveness and do-overs when we miss the mark. We have to be willing to keep practicing to become the people we want to be.
This week, if you snap, sulk, or say something you regret, try this:
"Hey, I'm sorry. That's not how I want to respond. Can I try again?"
Reactions might be spontaneous, and reconciliation can be too. Do your best to quickly make things right when you fall short. Practice asking for grace. Offer it freely to others too.
Fasting is no different. You have to stick with a plan--when you'll fast, when you'll eat, and how to track progress. But success doesn't come from rigidity. It comes from flexibility.
You won't fast perfectly. You plan your window, prep your meals, track your progress--and then life happens. You eat too early. You eat too late. You eat everything in sight.
If you get off track, don't keep driving over the cliff. Push the brakes. Put it in reverse. Get back on course. And keep gutting it out. It's a grind, but it's a grind that gets easier with each return to the course.
My dad likes to say, "If you remain flexible, you'll never get bent out of shape." Apply that wisdom like my kids apply ketchup to their french fries.
🔧 One Useful Thing
International mail is notoriously slow. We have been sending postcards through a variety of apps and services to wish our friends and family happy birthday for quite some time since otherwise it'll be about 6 weeks late.
I just came across an app called Ink that has far and away the best prices. It's around $2 per postcard for US mail and only $3 for international cards—and that includes the printed card and postage—and even cheaper if you buy credit packs.
Get your first card free by using my referral link.
Wrapping Up
If something I wrote hit you in the gut this week, would you reply and let me know?
If you've got a gut instinct that someone else could benefit from this, would you forward it along?
Here’s to pursuing the useful life together—with healthy guts and gut reactions,
