I recently finished my second book from the theologian Walter Brueggemann. I was blown away when I read The Prophetic Imagination last year (see: blog review). This time I worked my way through his book Reality, Grief, Hope: Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks (see: Amazon link). It’s a bit of a strange title and an even more unique premise. Brueggemann compares the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon with the attacks on America on September 11th. What links these two together is a strong sense of exceptionalism that was dramatically shattered in each example. As a result, he argues that“The prophetic task, in our contemporary society as in ancient Jerusalem, is to counter the governing ideology, in both cases that of exceptionalism.”

Brueggemann contrasts the flow of ideology-denial-despair with the counterpoint of realism-grief-hope. The first three (ideology–>denial–>despair) is the method of empire and this is what leads to an overdeveloped sense of exceptionalism. But it works only until it doesn’t. That’s where the fall of Jerusalem and the 9/11 attacks ushered in a new opportunity to escape the normal thought process and enter into a time of realism–>grief–>hope. Our choice today is to continue the first cycle or learn to embrace the prophetic call of the second.“9/11 is a symbol and an epitome of the wide and deep loss now faced in our society that requires rethinking from the ground up.” One will cause us to live in a perpetual sense of despair while the other offers a robust sense of hope. Brueggemann sees these three prophetic tasks laid out in the Old Testament:

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It’s extremely early in the year for me to already add a five-star rating to a book on my yearly reading list. Yet here we are. I recently finished Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work (see: Amazon link). He writes about a different type of work which is increasingly rare these days yet which offers a disproportionate amount of return. Newport defines deep work as “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” As the frequency and sophistication of the distractions continue to increase around us, those people who find the time and ability to achieve deep work will stand out from the rest. In addition, they will feel a sense of contribution on a greater level.

How much “distraction-free concentration” time do you have in your schedule? With the busyness of my life, I realize my need to intentionally work toward this. I was immensely intrigued by almost every section of this book. This is one of those books you have to digest slowly as you consider ways to apply (and disrupt) it to your current habits. As Newport argues, “the ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.” This may sound daunting given your current reality, yet he provides numerous ways to approach this idea and how to nuance the application for your situation.

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