First Things

This entry in the First Things blog strikes some familiar chords for me.  Over the years I have read First Things, I too have been very thankful for the journal (and thus for the man Neuhaus) as a life preserver thrown to me in the midst of a confusing and confused culture. 

Too many of the Christians I have known have had little interest in the life of the mind, while too few of the intellectuals I have known felt any great attachment to a conservative reading of Scripture.  First Things has shown (and, God willing, will continue to show) me how one can think deeply and clearly about God and the world while remaining faithful to the Bible and the Body of Christ.

Last week, one of my favorite authors, one who has been very influential to my worldview over the last 10-15 years, died.  Richard John Neuhaus was the editor-at-large of First Things, the sine qua non of my monthly reading.  I've been reading several remembrances of his over the past few days, but this quote stood out to me as something I need to take heed of:

I asked him his secret for being so prodigious a reader and writer. His response I took initially as a non-sequitur, until I had a chance to reflect on it more and put it into practice. His secret, he told me, was to make sure he did his morning prayer before he began to read the newspaper. Once he had put God first and received his help for the day, he could then get to the work God was asking him to do with greater concentration. God seemed to multiply his efforts.