New CC content on Netanyahu’s failed leadership, sports mythology, the value of religion, and more.

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** I write to you from the past
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If you think about it, every book, article, and even email that you’ve ever read was written in the past, relative to when you were reading it. But this week’s Editors’ Picks is from even further back in the past, since as this hits your inbox I am relaxing in a cabin near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Completely unplugged, if all goes well!

Sadly, Past Jon, a.k.a. Vacation Jon, is not able to write with the same immediacy and knowledge as Normal Jon about the newest content from the Century. But I don’t need foresight or prophecy to tell you that we have great pieces in this email. Our team has a new editorial on Israel’s war in Gaza, Netanyahu’s singularly poor leadership ([link removed]) , and obstacles to peace in the region. Though I’m not much of a tennis fan, I love Luke Helm’s fascinating essay about theology and mythology in professional sports ([link removed]) .

Plus scroll down for more great content, including a look ahead at some promising research on the value of religion ([link removed]) , a Voices column on midsummer in gardening and in life ([link removed]) , and more.

Email me (for when I return): How are you doing?
Jon Mathieu
Click to email me (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20Editors%E2%80%99%20Picks)
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** What comes after a ceasefire? ([link removed])
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“Netanyahu has done a singularly poor job of leading Israel, but he is also a symptom of a larger problem, one that has long undermined Israel’s efforts to be a Jewish democracy in a region hostile to its existence: the deep power imbalance between Israelis and Palestinians.”

from the editors
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** Djokovic against the gods ([link removed])
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“Perhaps it is no coincidence that stories, like tennis balls, follow an arc. Perhaps our inclination to look to sports for meaning and purpose is connected to how sports and stories both remind us of our limits.”

by Luke Helm
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** Is religion good for human flourishing? ([link removed])
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“Within a couple of years we are going to know far more about the utility and roles of worldwide religion, and on a more reliable basis, than we have ever dared imagine in the past.”

by Philip Jenkins
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** In the Lectionary for September 8 (Ordinary 23B) ([link removed])
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There is no reward in heaven for those who work to accumulate wealth rather than care for people.

by Katie Van Der Linden

Ordinary 23B archives ([link removed])
Get even more lectionary resources with Sunday’s Coming Premium, an email newsletter from the editors of the Christian Century. Learn more ([link removed]) .


** The midsummer of life ([link removed])
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“It’s not the full rest of deep winter—there’s plenty to do in a garden between planting and harvesting time—but that work is the daily maintenance work of staying alive, keeping things tidy, warding off bad habits and the like.”

by Alejandra Oliva


** Kateryna Shadrina’s We Are Together and Tree of Life ([link removed])
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“In the early days of the Russian invasion, Ukrainian Greek Catholic icon writers in Lviv took part in a group exhibition on the Lenten theme Waiting for Salvation. Two iconic figure groupings from Kateryna Shadrina underscored the importance of community in times of trouble.”

art commentary by John Kohan
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