Play with animals. Talk to kids about dinosaurs. Hell talk to other adults about dinosaurs. Give people money if you can. Accept help if you need it. Buy the art. Lay in the grass. Watch out for your neighbors. Maybe there are extra lives, but you only remember this one. 💚

It's like getting arrested by a fascist Magritte painting.

Probably Win Butler. I was a massive Arcade Fire fan, and it's never been the same since.

Cleaning out my last couple of desk drawers on my last day at this job. I’m excited about the new job I’m starting next week, but it’s still a bittersweet thing to pack up after working here for more than 26 years. (Also: how did I accumulate all this stuff?)

2026 Reads: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami 📚 Pretty heavy handed and a little too on the nose for my taste.

the original “the purpose of a system is what it does”

After a long dalliance with lazily streaming music, I’m working through cleaning up tags and cleaning out the cruft from my personal 30,000-track MP3 library. Doing some random listening and enjoying albums I’ve forgotten I had. This afternoon: “Passenger Seat” from Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors.

W H A T

Bari's CBS moves have been reminding me a *lot* of church plants. Always launching with flashing neon promises about being the different kind of church you've been waiting for and then you show up on Sunday morning ready to be dazzled and it's just John Piper with tattoos.

Fill the panel with exvangelicals and that show will be LIT.

‪I'm pitching NPR my new Bible game show "Wait Wait Don't Smite Me."‬

I think we're there. This has been such a demonstration of two mutually-unintelligible American Christianities, and you can see it happening within single congregations.

my expectation of democratic senators is that they find 1/10th of the bravery of your average 70 year old lutheran lady following ICE around mpls in her subaru crosstrek

The last few months have definitely tested my commitment to the idea of universal reconciliation. And yet, how glorious it would actually be!

A little personal news: this week is my last week at Collins Aerospace after nearly 27 years here. It’s been a good long run, but a new opportunity awaits. More about that next week. This week is for tying up loose ends and saying some goodbyes.

Asking the hard questions: not a crisis of faith, but rooted in faith: https://chrishubbs.com/2026/01/24/asking-the-hard-questions-not/

2026 Reads: God After Einstein by John F. Haught 📚 Very disappointed with this one. Tedious and repetitive. Not enough science to be science-y, not enough theology to be theological.

Some days, you get reminded that nature is out to kill you! Happy Friday, everybody. #iawx

lol

Needed some new music to listen to. What's this? @overstreet.bsky.social just emailed his honorable mentions for 2025? Turns out this record by Julien Baker & TORRES is exactly the thing for this afternoon.

Public school teachers: chronically underpaid, performing extraordinarily heroic work so they can continue to teach their students.

Ah, here’s the January weather we’d been missing in Iowa. -3F, feels like -23F this morning. Couple of warmer (20s) days this week, then multiple nights at -10F or lower next weekend. Oof.

2026 Reads: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd 📚

Saw Chris Thile play tonight at The Englert in Iowa City. That guy is the real deal. Wowza.

My favorite cover of Radiohead's Fake Plastic Trees: The Normals: https://chrishubbs.com/2026/01/16/my-favorite-cover-of-radioheads/

I was 8 or 9 and I had a minor role in our church's Christmas musical. I had a solo verse in one song and a few spoken lines.

The plan for today: Gym ✅ Work Record a podcast Dinner with my wife at a new (to us) restaurant Go hear Chris Thile play the mandolin

Last night: vestry. Tonight: library board!

True Iowans know that this town's name is pronounced "nuh-VAY-duh". We're weird that way.

Love my AirPods Pro 3’s but this morning was the second time I’ve had them in the case overnight only to show up at the gym in the morning and find out the airpods’ batteries were completely run down. A glitch in smart charging maybe? Super annoying, regardless.

For the Vestry meeting approving the annual budget and policy updates prior to the parish meeting, we pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer. ⚓️

Tag yourself. I'm Cathy but I really want to be Kyle.

As a parent who has cleaned out car seats after a nasty diaper blow-out or 6 months of toddler snacks, I can see the value proposition.

Unbelievable second half between the Bears and Packers. What a comeback. There will be football at Soldier Field again next week!

2026 Reads: Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence by Diana Butler Bass 📚 I found her chapter on Jesus the “way” where she describes being trapped in the world of Calvinist evangelicalism and the painful path leaving it to be particularly resonant.

2026 Reads: Katabasis by R. F. Kuang 📚

When "Christian Parenting" leaves families without the skills for actual relationships: https://chrishubbs.com/2026/01/08/when-christian-parenting-leaves-families/

Our church launched a new podcast yesterday. Interesting to see some quick Day 1 statistics. As a longtime podcast listener I just default to thinking about the download count. But social sharing was mostly via YouTube, and the YT video has 2x views compared to our downloads.

For Epiphany: Brian Zahnd's Meditation on the Magi: https://chrishubbs.com/2026/01/06/for-epiphany-brian-zahnds-meditation/

Congrats to UW-River Falls on winning the D3 football national championship! North Central had only lost two games since 2019, both of them national championship games. Now they’ve lost three! UWRF’s QB Kaleb Blaha looks special.

Steelers/Ravens looks like a good game, but this D3 championship game between UW-River Falls and North Central (Naperville) is just fantastic. River Falls up 10 in the 4th quarter, aiming for their first-ever national title.

Headed to a funeral this morning for our long-time neighbor who died last week. A delightful man who lived a long, full life. We’ll miss him. www.cedarmemorial.com/Obituary/…

who would Jesus leave on read?

On a normal Friday at 2:15 I'd be feeling like it was past time to leave work for the day. Today feels more like a Monday, though, and here I am still finding work to do.

Happy Weirdest Work Day of the Year to all who celebrate.

Sheesh, I think the online retailers have a marketing theme today.

Back in the office this morning after two solid weeks off. The break was nice. Today is a quiet catch-up day before the year starts in earnest on Monday. Here goes nothin'.

Really nice win for the #Iowa women’s basketball team over a very good Nebraska squad. Love the post play from Stulke and Heiden and the defensive energy from Wright and Stremlow. #WBB #B1G

My 2025 Reading in Review: https://chrishubbs.com/2025/12/31/my-reading-in-review/