So, how are you holding up? Is your nose above water? Still moving forward? Got your wits about you?

When I subtitled my book Swagger with “keeping your wits when others are not,” I had in mind bringing every resource within your being to bear on the circumstances of life. Each essay in Swagger is intended to help you think critically about your life, thought, and belief.

With the release of my book Rigorous Grace two weeks ago, I have in mind helping us—the community of faith—inform, strengthen, and vitalize our relationship with God. Scripture speaks of Christ as our life, and indeed He is. But He is much more than our eternal access to life. He is life now.

You’ve read about living the Christian life. You’ve likely tried to do so. And, you’ve either met with failure in your quest sooner or later.

To begin with, living the Christian life is an impossibility. The Christian life is the life of Christ. It is His to live in and through you. Your part in the dance of faith is to follow His lead. It’s a compelling perspective, isn’t it?

But how?

How do you make the theology and tenets of Christianity work in daily practice?

The subtitle of Rigorous Grace is, “Practicing the life of Jesus.” In the pages of this book, I explore the routine practices of our Older Brother. How did He live, and communicate, and relate to, and come to know God? How did Jesus keep His wits about Him while living a more intense life than all of humanity combined?

Twelve practices defined Jesus’ disposition toward His heavenly Father. The thesis of Rigorous Grace is that the same twelve practices should define our disposition toward Father God as well. Practice the twelve disciplines detailed in Rigorous Grace and you are ensured of coming to truly know your heavenly Father, not just know about Him.

Historically, the people of God thrive during times of stress. Historically, the church descends into infighting and pettiness during times of ease.

Clearly, the world is in a downturn. For the majority of our lifetimes, America has enjoyed relative calm. Today, there are those who draw historical parallel to the race riots of the 1960’s and there are those who draw historical parallel to the decade leading up to the Civil War. On the spectrum of difficulty, both were difficult times for America while being dramatically different in repercussion.  

Assuming history remains a reliable means to reflect upon life and culture, who knows where our current discord will land on the spectrum of historical tumult?

Not knowing, leaves two options: a) You can wait until circumstance motivates you to seize upon your spiritual resources in desperation, or b) you can act now to collect your wits—every aspect of yourself in concert with the Holy Spirit—and launch a quest to know your heavenly Father more closely than ever before.

What do you have to lose by acting now?

Dianne and I were out running errands on Thursday and decided to have lunch at one of our favorite places. Instead of the normal tab of $19 for the two of us, the register rang up to $32. Thankfully, our credit card could absorb the extra $13 on Thursday, but it can’t absorb that increase for long.

Dianne is due in July at a family reunion in Florida. She told me yesterday that she is questioning the cost. Gas is at an all-time high in America. Meanwhile, those who lead us confess they have no clue why the price of gas is increasing while they systematically cut the country’s ability to produce fuel. Economics is a complex subject, but supply and demand is what makes any economy work.

Not having an infant seat in our cars means I don’t frequent the baby formula isle when I do my grocery shopping. But last week, as I was paying out at the grocery, I noticed a new glass case near Customer Service for baby formula. Two things struck me: a) The case was locked, and b) there were only a few tubs of formula on display. I asked the checker about the new case, and he said, “Yeah. It’s sad really. People can’t feed their children and are stealing formula.”

As I passed the new case, I stopped and peered in at the prices. I was stunned!

Meanwhile, the media reports that the illegal entrants to our country have all the baby formula they need. Compliments of the Federal government—the people elected to preserve our Constitution, the Preamble of which includes to, “…insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

To date, the pledge of unity, advocacy for all Americans, domestic tranquility, societal wellbeing—even simple civility toward those with whom there is disagreement—all of this is in grave jeopardy.

Last week, news broke that the FBI is tagging as “threats” parents who express concern about their children’s education. No such tags for the coyotes and cartels on the Southern border. In February it came to light that the CIA is collecting massive amounts of warrantless data on Americans. In case you are wondering, this is blatantly illegal, but make no mistake, you are being surveilled.

Forgive my snarkiness and cynicism, but I find little comfort in the governments new Disinformation Governance Board. The Secretary of Homeland Security assures us that the DGB—it’s unfortunate how readily DGB brings to mind KGB—won’t monitor Americans. Do these people not read the news—the news referenced in the preceding paragraph?

I think if I had the opportunity to have lunch with one of these spin doctors, I would not bother to ask about policy and position. I think I would ask what method they use to keep up with their own disinformation.

One of my Board members said once, “I make a practice of always telling the truth. That way, I don’t have to try to remember what I said.”

I could go on, but you read the news. I’m not a political hound, just a man dedicated to your wellbeing. The first step in proactivity is making certain you know what you are encountering. After all, you can’t take meaningful action until you determine what you need to take action about.  

So, I leave you where I started: How are you holding up? Is your nose above water? Still moving forward? Got your wits about you?

Lest you think I live in a Fort Worth-based monastery, my mind is tired and my soul is taxed.

Think for a moment: Recall how it feels when your credit card bill arrives in January after a generous Christmas season. Recall how it feels when you have to come up with unforeseen cash to repair the car, or fix the plumbing leak, or pay for an illness. That sinking feeling, that sense of vulnerability, compromise, disconsolation. That sense of darkness that closes in. I’m there—at that place in my soul.

It’s not a bad place to be, per se. But it’s not a pleasant place.

In each scenario above, you work your way through the low spot one step at a time. Nothing fancy. No desperate moves. But like Dianne and me after our unexpectedly expensive lunch, you determine to mind your fundamental wherewithal more closely. You pay attention to your fundamentals.

By fundamentals I mean you return to monitoring your budget more closely, streamlining your errands, and cutting discretionary costs. But you also pay closer attention to the capital inside your soul.

This is the place of my primary focus right now.

Back in the day, when I was a hardcore bicycle rider, I could sense when my body was depleting from exertion. As I felt the sinking approach, I added fuel with water, a food bar, or positioning myself into the slipstream of another rider for a few minutes.

I’m doing the same kind of measured work within my soul right now. I’m paying closer attention to the books I’m reading, the thoughts I’m thinking, and the daily routine that used to run on autopilot. I’m more closely considering who I hang out with, how long I tolerate the darkness in society before turning to the light. I am much more diligent about rehearsing my fundamental beliefs and articulating them. There is so much I don’t know and don’t understand… but there is a great deal I do know and can understand. Focusing there is a means to replace the depleted capital within my soul’s repositories.

These rededications to fundamentally living with our wits about us is why I’ve written both Swagger and Rigorous Grace.

If you could use some encouragement, focus, guidance, and practical outlay of how you fundamentally maintain your wellbeing during such times as we are encountering, may I suggest you put your hands on one of these books?

If you’ve already read, and liked what you read, may I humbly ask you to let others know about my writing. Leaving an endorsement at Amazon would be helpful to others. Speaking of others, as you know, my ability to access the outside world is severely limited by Facebook’s censorship and MailChimp’s throttling of my database. I need and value your partnership.

Of course, I’m laboring to shake free from these anti-Christian sanctions, but that is proving expensive and inefficient. We’ll get there though.

Meanwhile, let’s not lose sight of the goal: This relationship you and I enjoy can’t be a one-way street. If you receive what I write and fail to repurpose it, then our relationship is one-directional. We are in this together—and that is how the Body of Christ is supposed to work.

I appreciate you praying for me. As part of my soul-care, I’m going to lay low for a few days and refuel. I’ll be back soon.

Tony Clark at VineLife.us has posted our latest discussion via his podcast. You can listen here.

Keep your wits about you and mind your fundamentals.

More soon.