The Faith & Culture 5
Senior Citizens Go Clubbing + Trump Rakes in Cash from Bibles + MrBeast's Business of Generosity + More
Happy Friday!
This week’s stories take us on a wild, thought-provoking ride through the many ways belief, culture, and ambition show up in everyday life. From Trump cashing in on Bibles to MrBeast turning generosity into a viral empire—and yes, even seniors tearing up the dance floor—each story offers a fresh lens on how people express purpose, passion, and personality in surprising ways.
Together, these stories reflect the complex ways belief is expressed, challenged, and interpreted in today’s world.
Let’s dive in:
A Group of Brussels retirement-home residents grooved to electronic music late one night as a part of a program to fight loneliness among seniors.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday that he signed the bill, which is expected to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state.
The leather-bound edition includes the King James Version, along with the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution and lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s hit song.
Working at the expense of rest has long been a pillar of achievement.
MrBeast, the 26-year-old YouTube behemoth has made an empire out of extravagant charity stunts. On the other end of the spectacle spectrum is Jimmy Darts, a soft-spoken TikTok creator who disarms strangers with small talk and then surprises them with transformative acts of kindness. The formats vary, but the blueprint is largely the same: find a person in need, help them in dramatic fashion, and let the internet watch.
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The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn’t, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output, it’s about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone’s life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.
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Thank you so much for being a part of this community! I’ll see you next week.
Jm
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How is it that the President of the US can make money from everything, even Bibles!! Sacrilege!
He’s a jerk!
The article on public generosity is thought-provoking. It has been the case for generations that philanthropy often comes with fanfare: from the robber barons of the late 19th C funding museums with their names on them to the billionaires of today finding ways to promote themselves with acts of public generosity.
There seems to be room for everyone: those whose giving is public and clearly in the service of their ego, and the billions of people who go about their lives with quiet acts of kindness and love. For all my high-minded preference for the latter, I am quite happy to live in a world where the likes of Guggenheims and Rockefellers have created spaces of beauty that I can enjoy, a beauty that fills my soul.
Life is complicated; let’s celebrate beauty and kindness wherever it appears.