Ben Sasse

Um,

boy, I would treat Sabbaths differently and especially digital intrusions into the Sabbath.

Dinner time is precious.

Man, lock up your devices and keep them away from the table and prioritize that time.

There is a limit to how many trips a month are really worth it.

I lived a road warrior life for a long time and I kind of had a rule of thumb that seven nights a month in a hotel was the ceiling.

But

boy, there's a difference between seven and nine, and there's a difference between seven and five, and I took way, way, way, way too many trips.

That might be convicting for the man interviewing you, but go on.

You know.

Family compounds, like,

man, have more cousins and figure out how to live thick with them.

There are so many times when we optimize around things that are not nearly as important as more family thickness.

Boy, I wish we lived down the block from my folks.

No.

I wouldn't want a sovereign God to defer to all of my prayers with a yes, because I'm not omniscient.

I don't know what the weaving together of the tapestry of full redemption should look like, but I know going through the period of suffering that I'm going through is a benefit because it is a winnowing.

I'm filled with dross, and this suffering is not salvific, but it's sanctifying, and I'm grateful for it.

Tim Keller, who I know you knew, who's in my denomination, a Presbyterian pastor in New York who also died of pancreatic cancer, said, I hate pancreatic cancer.

I would never wish it on anyone, but I would never want to go back to a time in my life where I didn't know the prayer of pancreatic cancer, meaning I now, in the midst of this disease, know much more the truth of my finitude