• China Is Avoiding Blame by Trolling the World – Shadi Hamid, The Atlantic – The Han people, nor any other ethnic group, are not to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic, but the authoritarian government of the People’s Republic of China is. When the WHO or any other organization praises them for how they’ve handled the current situation, they’re omitting any mention of the state’s suppression of doctors calling attention to the outbreak and the subsequent total failure to contain SARS-CoV-2 when they had the chance. Now the PRC is engaged in an information war to convince you that it’s not their fault.

• The Internet Makes Motherhood Seem Miserable. What if It Isn’t? – Kate Shellnut, The New York Times – Despite what you may have heard, having kids can be great. For any childless couples who are on the fence about trying and socially distanced with plenty of time on their hands, this may pair well with a piece we linked to in October about raising kids in Aleppo.

The present disruptions to our normal way of life present a great opportunity to form new habits, and the sudden isolation from our usual church communities highlight the importance of the spiritual disciplines. As such, here are some resources at least one editor has found valuable in building new, healthy practices.

• Daily Prayer – Wellspring Church & RetinkMe LTD – The “Daily Office” is the Anglican term for liturgical prayer & readings at certain hours of the day, not the place to which many of you are no longer commuting, nor regular viewings of a still-popular sitcom. This app does not lead you through the full traditional daily office, but it does have a good system for notifying you a few times a day to pray, as well as written prayers, readings & prompts to guide you in that practice.

• Daily Readings Podcast – Alastair Roberts – The readings followed by the above app are selected from the Anglican Church in North America’s Book of Common Prayer, and British theologian Alastair Roberts is using the same in his daily podcast. In each episode, he reads that day’s Old and New Testament passages, and offers his thoughts & research on interpreting them. Though having them read aloud in a podcast was most useful when commuting, his insights into Scripture are still incredibly helpful. Previously primarily a feed for interviews, discussions and Q&A sessions, you can find it listed as “Alastair’s Adversaria” wherever you get your podcasts.

• Google Hangouts or the telephone or Whatsapp or whatever you use – Call your friends. See how they’re doing. The only virus you can spread this way is a computer virus, I guess, and we’re not as worried about those right now.