Faith Venture

For Jarrod and my Ted Lasso-loving friends.

Axios Finish Line evening newsletter always brings a brief, insightful nugget into my inbox—sort of like the cherry atop the sundae of the day. Axios is one of my two main news sources. They are journalists and a business, so they do drop into click-bait headlines at times and have too much “he said, she said” reporting with occasional speculation rather than strictly reporting facts. Even so, they are brief and even handed. Finish Line tops off the day.

CEO Jim VandeHei riffed off one of the best scenes in TV history from the Ted Lasso show. This is the dart contest scene (Oh, I forgot I was left handed). As Ted explains to (villain) Rupert, “If you were curious instead of judgmental, you would have asked if I had ever played darts.”

Lasso quotes Walt Whitman (not exactly accurately sourced), “Be curious, not judgmental.”

VandeHei writes, “Those four words can radically shift how you think and feel about politics, social media posts, your employer, and even friends and family.”

It’s natural to react emotionally or defensively when people do or say things you think are wrong — or flat-out bonkers. But try the opposite approach for a week: Be genuinely curious why they do or say those things. Worst case: You’ll burn less and learn more.

He offers four possible arenas to test drive. I’ll offer a glimpse. Click the link above for the full thought (short read).

1. Politics: Stop assuming the “other side” is corrupt, inept or dumb.

2. Social media: Never in history have humans wasted more time getting more worked up over more topics than when doom-scrolling. Instead of taking the bait, take a break.

3. Workplace: One of the smartest things we did when founding Axios was to be extremely transparent about the business and our beliefs. This demystified things internally — dramatically reducing the gossiping and wonderment about what we really think.

4. Family & friends: Almost every time my wife, Autumn, is pissed at me, it’s because I didn’t take the time to ask one simple thing: Why do you feel that way?

Try asking and listening rather than judging and talking. 

I haven’t missed two posts in a row in a very long time. We vacationed in Scotland for over a week. We returned from 67-70 deg F temperature to 92 deg F with high humidity and lots of pollen. I was congested, mistakenly took some Benadryl which enabled me to sleep all day Friday. I need to pitch that stuff from my medicine cabinet.

Yes, Scotland should be on your list of places to visit. Considering that the forts close to where I grew up were remnants of wooden outposts along the Ohio/Indiana border built by General “Mad” Anthony Wayne in the 1790s, walking through a Roman fort (OK, in England) built around 200 AD, multiple abbeys built around the year 1000, and accounts of the rich history of Scotland were memorable.

Also that the tour guides unanimously voted thumbs down on Braveheart. One guide generously allowed that Mel Gibson in no way was trying to be historical. For one thing, Lowlanders did not wear kilts in the time of William Wallace. And “Braveheart” referred to Robert the Bruce who died on a pilgrimage. It seems that they cut his heart out, put it in a box, intending to send it to (I believe) Jerusalem to finish the pilgrimage. The heart didn’t make it there. Was found some years later. They called it Braveheart.

You’re wondering about curiosity?

I may have mentioned before that I am almost infinitely curious. If curiosity killed the cat, as the saying goes, I’ve been burned. But I still want to know a lot about a lot of things. We are privileged to be able to make these trips. We began 2025 in New Zealand, have visited Nova Scotia, and now Scotland. In between we were in Charlottesville and Williamsburg, Virginia. Later we’ll have a vacation in Hilton Head.

Another bit of privilege—our son is a United Captain flying 757s. He flew our flight to Scotland.  That’s also pretty cool.

Philosophers from ancient times have written about what constitutes a good life. I love it when modern science validates ancient wisdom. This link points to a report about a study that suggests having a life of curiosity, perspective-changing experiences leads to a well lived life. Certainly working with people from many countries and visiting more than 20 other countries changed a socially inept country boy into a slightly less socially inept, but more understanding, adult. It’s been good.

Be curious, not judgmental. (See the next post.)

Some of us cannot move our thoughts beyond what happened, could have happened, or should have happened in the past.

Some of us dream only of the future, relationships to come, jobs and wealth we could acquire, places to visit.

Seth Godin has pointed out, “The best reason to think about the past is because it gives us the opportunity to improve the future.”

Most important—we live only in the present. This decision of what to do right now, in this moment, that is where life exists.

Treating others with kindness can seem like a chore…or it can just be a reflection of who we are.

Spiritual practitioners and teachers have taught people to begin by treating themselves with kindness, practicing gratitude, recognizing our shortcomings with objectivity and desire for change.

Some people whom we might describe informally with narcissistic tendencies seem to be so assured. Yet, inside they cannot treat themselves with kindness while hoping for others to treat them that way.

Others of us have been brought up not to expect kindness from others. Those people are shocked or suspicious when someone is kind to them, since they cannot be kind to themselves.

Blessed are those who treat their shortcomings with kindness. They find spiritual growth. And the ability to serve others in ways great and small simply as an extension of that kindness.

We can all learn to step back, becoming aware of our situation, practicing loving kindness meditation. We become a spiritually integrated child of God.