I say please to Siri.
People question me about it. “She’s a machine, why say please?”
The usual reason we say please to others is that it acknowledges them and it respects their dignity.
But there’s a second reason.
The reason I say please to Siri is because it helps prevent me from becoming entitled. It reminds me to be grateful. It reminds me that time and resources are scarce.
And there’s a third…it’s good practice.
If we bark orders at our phone, I’m sure we’re more likely to bark orders at people. And that’s not cool.
One of the greatest lies we tell ourselves is that we’re falling behind. That someone else is ahead.
As a young man I associated strength with force; louder voices, sharper opinions, firm lines in the sand.
There’s a strange kind of pride we’ve developed in being exhausted. But even lions, the king of the jungle, rest.
I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have ambition.
We sometimes believe strength means self-sufficiency — that being independent means being isolated.
We often try to outrun the storm, emotionally, physically, spiritually.
We’re entering an age where machines do our thinking before we’ve even had a chance to try.
In church the other day, the pastor gave a sermon that really stuck with me. He talked about two people.