edrodewald, Author at Writing for the Public Square

Art Lessons

I have long admired the painters amongst us and the art lessons they provide. My Godmother Nola was a painter. Frankly, she was an artist of many talents — painter, wordsmith, dancer. That’s her magnificent tree giving shelter to a young couple on the left. I admired this painting for years, and now it hangs in my entry way, reminding me daily of the many lessons Nola left behind. Art lessons and life lessons.

One of those lessons was this: notice all the beauty of God’s handiwork.

Tears of Gold

Of course, each one of us is God’s handiwork (Ephesians 2:10), and as the ultimate artist, God makes a masterpiece of all our lives. This is a truth that guides Han nah Rose Thomas‘ artwork. I had the very good fortune of spending an afternoon with this young British artist and human rights activist a few weeks back. Hannah is trained in the early Renaissance and iconography style. Those are two of her portraits above, next to Nola’s tree.

Hannah has climbed deep into the pain and sadness of some of the world’s most desperate women, listening to their stories and helping them process traumatic memories, heal, and rediscover a sense of self-worth and dignity. She has conducted art workshops with survivors of rape, religious persecution and genocide in Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Romania.

“Art is a way to express that which we cannot find words to express,” she says. Hannah has recently released a collection of her portraits in a volume titled, Tears of Gold from Plough Publishing. It includes a foreword written by His Majesty King Charles III.

Hold On to that Holiday Hygge

Hygge is the sense of well-being we enjoy at Christmas and long for throughout the year

Hang on to your holiday hygge — A Norwegian *koselig* star

When the magic of Christmas fades, it is hard to hold on to that holiday hygge. My Scandinavian kinsfolk use this term—hygge—to describe the warm, cozy feeling you get when you curl up with a good book in front of a crackling fire. Or when you share conversation with friends over steaming cups of cocoa. The Norwegians call this feeling koselig, but the Danish word hygge is more familiar to most of us. Either way, it is the state of mind many of us yearn to hold on to long after the last Christmas decorations have been packed away for the year.

In Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow, author Jamie Erickson writes, “Hygge is simple but sophisticated, warm and inviting, homemade and rustic. Hygge is the opposite of hustle. It eschews over-abundance. It savors. It takes things slow and envelopes you in sanctuary. In a world largely defined by rush, hygge welcomes rest. It invites you to enjoy the simple pleasures of slow living, savored moments, and fostered friendships.”

A deeper holiday hygge

Our desire to hold on to that holiday hygge stems from the ache within each one of us to experience comfort, connection and community. In the grind of daily living, we hunger for contentment and belonging. We are too often weary, and we seek an inviting atmosphere that affords us rest and welcomes us into a space where we are known. Hygge is the secret ingredient that helps create that space.

Join me at The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture to explore the deeper meaning of hygge. Learn how to tap into its quiet power—not only at Christmastime, but all year long.

C ontinue reading my full article, A Deeper Holiday Hygge here.

The Delight of Reading Rediscovered

Americans seem to have lost our delight for reading. How do we rediscover that delight and read well again?

(This long-form article was originally written for and appears on The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture platform.)

Americans have a reading problem. We seem to have lost our delight for reading. For starters, fewer of us can be found with our noses in a book these days. According to a recent Gallup poll, book readership is on the decline, with just 6% of U.S. adults naming reading as their favorite way to spend an evening. That’s down from 12% in 2016. During the height of the pandemic, when (presumably) we all had more time for leisure activities, Americans were more inclined to reach for the television remote than a bestselling novel. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. adults (age 15 and older) spent, on average, just 30 minutes per day reading in 2021, but upwards of three hours watching television.

A modest two-year increase in book sale activity between 2019 and 2021 had many observers believing the pandemic would give rise to a reading renaissance of sorts. But last year, those hopes were tempered when unit sales of print books fell 6.5%. Even more alarming than book-sale statistics is the percentage of Americans who have not picked up a book in the past 12 months. By one measure, roughly a quarter of American adults (23%) say they have not read a book in whole or part in the past year. Another study puts that figure closer to 50% and reports one in 10 adults hasn’t read a single book in the past decade.

And how’s this for a startling statistic: two-thirds of 4th graders in the U.S. cannot be classified as proficient readers. The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) routinely measures trends in reading achievement among U.S. elementary and secondary students. NAEP’s 2022 report card showed average reading scores for 10-year-olds dropped three points compared to the previous testing period. Worse, in the 30 years since the current assessment framework was established, NAEP has reported no significant change in reading results. In other words, reading skills and proficiency levels have remained flat for three decades. No wonder reading isn’t a high priority for most adults.

Statistics like these ought to fuel a desire for closer scrutiny of America’s reading problem—in the classroom, but also in the broader public square. From a public policy standpoint, there is a lot of room for conversation about improving the state of reading in the U.S. For example, is it possible or even worthwhile to redirect the reading drift, or is reading passé in a digital age? How does reading benefit us as a society and as individuals? And are there habits we can cultivate that transcend reading? To even begin exploring the depths of these questions, we must start with a more fundamental question: Why read?

The Eye-Rolling Isn’t Working

I dusted off and updated this post from four years ago – sadly, it’s still relevant and even more important today.)

Have you noticed people are really crabby these days? Living in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, I am used to drivers cutting me off on the freeway. And it is not too remarkable to find myself standing in line behind a real grumbler at the post office or grocery store. We all let our irritable natures get the better of us some days. What is alarming, however, is the degree of anger and outrage that seems to be bubbling up in every corner of society.

The vitriol that passes for national discourse in this era of divisive politics, angry social media, and 24/7 news cycles seems to have stripped us of a sense of civility. The constructive sharing of opposing ideas has been preempted not simply by anger, as one might surmise watching cable news or observing Sunday dinner with the relatives. Healthy debate has been usurped by what social scientist Arthur Brooks calls a “culture of contempt.”

A Few F-words for 4th of July

Patriotism has taken a hit in recent years. Especially during the 4th of July. In some circles it’s fashionable to slam the U. S. of A. — to punctuate its flaws and denigrate its virtues. Other camps seem to have confused love of country with an exaggerated sense of purpose. Either way, decorating the porch with red, white and blue bunting feels a little off kilter this year.

I’m old enough to remember the national exuberance during the Bicentennial celebration in 1976. That summer, tall ships filled New York and Boston harbors. Johnny Cash served as Grand Marshall at the U.S. Bicentennial parade in our nation’s capital on the 4th of July. There was an official Bicentennial logo and commemorative postage stamps, coins, license plates and other merchandise.

Disneyland and Disney World hosted America on Parade. Local communities painted benches, fire hydrants, mailboxes and phone booths in patriotic colors. The popular Schoolhouse Rock! series created America Rock to teach youngsters about American history and government. (Throughout the year, I proudly wore the shirt my mom hand embroidered using the Betsy Ross animated character from the series – seen here.)

That summer, the wave of patriotism drenched America from coast to coast. We loved it. It felt refreshing to celebrate our nation on the 4th of July. To acknowledge our history with a sense of accomplishment even as we emerged from some difficult moments including the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.

By many accounts, America is having a difficult moment right now, in 2023. We are polarized. We are mean-spirited. We are worried.

Which is precisely why the 4th of July is a good time to pause and ponder the fundamental and enduring values we continue to hold dear. It’s okay to do that even as we acknowledge our shortcomings. And it’s possible to respectfully observe nearly 250 years of achievement from a posture of humility.

Here’s a start. A carefully curated selection of F-words worthy of celebration this 4th of July, from the pages of our own history:

Family Ties and the Longing for Belonging

Genealogy is having a pop culture moment. It seems that capturing family narrative helps us feed a longing for belonging.

(This long-form article was originally written for and appears on The Washington Institute of Faith, Vocation and Culture platform)

Who knew spitting into a plastic tube would become such a popular pastime? Not to mention lucrative. The direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing market — think 23andMe or AncestryDNA — has skyrocketed since it was first launched in the early 2000s. Today, it generates $1.3 billion dollars and is projected to grow four-fold before 2030, to $5.8 billion.

By the start of 2019, more than 26 million Americans (8% of the U.S. population) had taken one of the many at-home DNA tests available, according to a report by MIT Technology Review. The public’s desire for accessible and affordable data to make personal health decisions has been a major factor leading to the industry’s accelerated growth. DTC genetic tests can be used to determine risks for developing certain diseases, for example, or results can predict how an individual might respond to certain medications.

But the application that has captured the public’s collective imagination most has less to do with medical calculations and everything to do with family history. DTC genetic testing is the shiny new tool in the genealogy tool kit.

What’s in Your Holiday Mailbox?

Cards, Letters There’s a lot about Christmas that gets me excited but the daily trip to the mailbox during the holiday season is especially fun. At least it used to be. Time was when my mailbox would be stuffed full of Christmas cards and holiday letters. But lately I’ve noticed fewer and fewer merry greetings arriving via the post. What kind of bah humbug is this?!

My latest piece, Bah Humbug: Cards, Letters and Things Remembered, appears this week in the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture.

Here’s a short excerpt:

I‘d like to report a bit of bah humbug that has me particularly troubled. In recent years, I’ve noticed fewer and fewer Christmas cards landing in my mailbox. At first, I convinced myself the reason was because we moved across the country, changing addresses after 20 years at the same location. Probably the forwarding orders expired, I told myself that first year. But the next year our annual stash of merry greetings continued to shrink. So, I did a little research.

It turns out that Christmas is the largest card-sending holiday in the United States — an estimated 1.3 billion cards sent annually by Hallmark’s calculation. Even so, fewer Americans are sending the one-time holiday staple, and analysts predict the market for traditional holiday greetings will continue to dwindle over the next several years.

According to one report by Research and Markets, “the advent of digitalization, social media platforms and messaging apps such as WhatsApp” are to blame. It seems that electronic holiday greetings have become a popular alternative to the old-fashioned glitter and foil variety. Then, there’s the cost of postage. The price of a first-class Forever stamp increased from 58 cents to 60 cents in 2022 and will tick-up another 3 cents in January. Surely the Postmaster General’s price adjustment is another incremental factor impacting my card count.

So, it’s them, not me. That’s a relief. It’s market forces at work. But maybe this Scroogey trend is the sign of an even bigger cultural shift. More research.

In fact, it’s not just the once-ubiquitous Christmas card that has taken a hit. Apparently, people in the 21st century write fewer letters overall. According to data from the U.S. Postal Service, the volume of first-class mail processed in the U.S. peaked around the year 2000, with more than 103.5 billion pieces delivered. The first-class rate is intended for personal and business correspondence, the most common way to send envelopes or lightweight packages fast and for a low-cost. USPS statistics show a steep decline in the volume of first-class mail, with a mere 50.7 billion pieces delivered in 2021. That’s half the volume from just two decades ago.

Not too surprising, mailbags started getting lighter about the same time email usage became popular among the general population. Though commonly used within business, academic, and government circles in the late 1980s, email became part of the broader pop-culture lexicon by the late-1990s. Remember the box office hit, You’ve Got Mail? The much-loved romcom starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan hit theaters in 1998, just as America’s letter writing habits began to dip.

So, the dearth of Christmas cards in my mailbox does in fact portend a more worrisome trend: the art of correspondence is being lost, victim to the immediacy of email, instant messaging, and texts. What a shame.

Don’t get me wrong. I am fully entrenched in the digital age like us all. I have a Bitmoji avatar. My monthly texting messages surpass those of my children and husband combined. And when I’m done writing this article, I will send it in an email to my editor, whom I see more often in my inbox than in person. The suggestion here is not to turn up our noses at technology. Rather, it is to pause and consider what is lost when we make the choice to tap out a few 160-character messages instead of crafting a thoughtful, hand-written note.

Putting pen to paper is more than a quaint habit of a bygone era. The value of letter writing includes historical collection, personal connection and individual reflection.

Continue reading the full article here

Religious Freedom and the Desire for Human Flourishing

Contrary to John Lennon’s wistful imaginings, a world without religion would not be a peaceful world. It would be an angry place, with occupants void of that which animates them, gives them meaning and purpose. Human flourishing depends on our ability to imagine a world where religious freedom is cherished, protected, and encouraged.

Two dozen years ago, members of Congress made a deliberate and unanimous choice to stand as beacons of this most fundamental of human rights. With the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), legislators sought to underscore America’s centuries-old commitment to the freedom of religion and belief and established the framework to elevate religious freedom as a priority within U.S. foreign policy.

Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken has affirmed that commitment, saying, “We know that when the fundamental right of each person to practice their faith or to choose not to observe a faith is respected, people can make their fullest contributions to their community’s success; entire societies are better off.”

I invite you to read my long-form piece: Religious Freedom: An Essential Lyric for Human Flourishing which appears today in The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture.

In it, I address the importance of religion in the public square, how the U.S. incorporates religious freedom into foreign policy, and why Christians in particular should care about international religious freedom as a front-burner issue.

If inspired, I also encourage readers to participate in next week’s IRF Summit 2022, scheduled for June 28-30 in Washington, D.C., with an opportunity for virtual participation. This year’s three-day event is co-chaired by former IRF Ambassador Sam Brownback and Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights. Details about speakers, topics and registration can be accessed here.

The Chosen: An Old Story with a New Appeal

The Chosen: An Old Story with a New Appeal When was the last time you climbed into your favorite chair and lost yourself for a few hours in the pages of a good book? The 21st century version of that reverie looks more like a Saturday afternoon curled up on the couch binge-watching the latest drama series. Either way, it’s the stories that draw us in. You may have noticed a new story getting a lot of attention lately. It’s called The Chosen, only it’s not new and you won’t find it in bookstores or streaming on Netflix. Instead, like most things in 2022, you’ll need an app!

In 2019, writer and producer Dallas Jenkins set out to create a multi-season series about Jesus that is realistic, relatable, reliable and relevant to a modern audience. He broke form with traditional film distribution methods and brought the series to market via an app developed by Angel Studios. He also opted to fund this endeavor not with Hollywood dollars but through small donations from a large number of like-mined individuals eager to develop quality faith-based programming. Today, the show’s popularity has skyrocketed. It is the #1 crowdfunded media project of all time and existing episodes have been viewed upwards of 395 million times. What makes this show so special?

I spent some time talking about The Chosen phenomenon with a few folks, including one of the biblical consultants for the show, a few fans and a seasoned media/entertainment professional. I invite you to find a favorite corner where you can spend a few minutes reading my story at The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture about The Greatest Story Ever [Re]Told. Then, like any good story, I encourage you to pass it on!

Read full article here

Finding Dignity in Our Life’s Work

Historically in America, our understanding of dignity in the workplace has been closely aligned with a work ethic steeped in diligence, discipline, thriftiness and personal accountability. Generations have been raised to believe that the formula for success depends on a can-do attitude, hard work, and a little gumption. But like so much else in the current moment, the pandemic has upset our understanding of work and what counts for dignity.

Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor and behavioral social scientist, writes, “Social science, ancient philosophy, and common sense all testify that meaningful work and the means of earned success are vital drivers of happiness, human flourishing, and our sense of basic dignity.” Brooks has traveled the world exploring ways to bring dignity to people, particularly those at the margins of society. He concludes, “Nothing destroys dignity more than idleness and a sense of superfluousness—the feeling that one is simply not needed.”

Even as we scramble to understand the full shape and scope of current shifts within the American workplace, it is clear that our basic “need to be needed” axiom is in jeopardy. A recent Pew Research study estimated close to 10 million U.S. workers lost their jobs in the first year of the pandemic alone. This, while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that, in November 2021 alone, a record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs. What is happening in the American workplace and how can we find the dignity of work we desire?

Of course, in God’s economy, work and dignity are inseparable. Work is one of the most tangible ways we live out our relationship with God and practice discipleship with those around us. The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture has published my long-form article about the impact of COVID on the workplace and our common quest to find dignity in our life’s work.

Tears of Gold

A deeper holiday hygge

Here’s a short excerpt:

Read the full article here.