Life's too interesting to pick a niche
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CEFR Level B2-C1 This is not a sponsored review. I completely read any book I write a review on. The Justice of Jesus by Joash Thomas (2025) is a thoughtful consideration of what it means to live like Jesus Christ. This is no academic treatise, though! Nor is it a restatement of ideas commonly found in books shelved under “Christianity” in a bookstore. In accessible language, with plenty of section headers and a clear table of contents, The Justice of Jesus would make a good companion to personal devotions, a book for high school or college discussion, or to use in a group Bible study. I think it would be especially useful in a seminary class focused on the theology of the church or as assigned reading during a church-based internship.
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CEFR Level C1-C2 The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone is an intense read at the beginning, especially if a reader has been taught to avoid saying anything that will make others uncomfortable or to use euphemisms or vague references if it is necessary to talk about such things.
CEFR Level B2-C1 Words, especially in fiction, were how I learned about myself and the world outside my context. Fiction is where I learned that other people felt what I felt and those feelings were called "anger" and "I don't fit in." Fiction is where I learned that life is usually better when you say what's true for you, even if saying it causes tension and conflict. Fiction is where I learned that just because a friendship doesn't last your whole life long, that doesn't mean the friendship wasn't real and the natural end of a friendship doesn't take away from how meaningful the relationship was. Fiction is where I stopped breathing in horror and when I started breathing again could only say, "God, we need you." Fiction taught me the human impact of history far more than any history class or biography ever has.*
CEFR Level A2-B1 While getting in my car for a hair appointment, I saw an ambulance parked in front of a neighbor’s house. Naturally, an ambulance is concerning, even though I don’t know this neighbor beyond chatting a few times when she is out working in their yard. Despite my curiosity, I continued to my appointment, which was in the opposite direction.
Half an hour later, I returned to see the ambulance still there. Would it be too nosy to drive past to see what was happening?
I went into the new ice cream shop to get a milkshake.
In early June 2025, I saw a HARO request for industry experts to share their opinions on why people are choosing 10-day vacations instead of two-week vacations. From the details of the request, it didn’t look like the topic was about taking time off of work. Rather, it appeared that the topic is leaving your house and staying somewhere else as a way to have fun.
Is it normal to take a two-week vacation?
I passed the age of 40 without learning to drink coffee, even though I grew up in the United States where everyone, including my parents, drinks coffee. Despite these cultural influences,
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