Politics Are Distracting You From This (w/ Fr. Mike Schmitz)
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Why does constant political news leave us feeling distracted and anxious?
So I've been looking at the world and the issues and looking at crises Not through the lens of Christ, but Through the lens of whatever the latest podcaster or the latest news channel was. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is The Central Presents. I got this incredible email from a man named Pastor Mark. Uh, Pastor Mark is a pastor. of a a different denomination and uh He had emailed me because he said that he had an unhealthy preoccupation. With politics. He was always constantly feeding his mind and feeding his heart, feeding his emotions with whatever the latest political issue was. Probably many of us would have a reason for that or excuse for that. We'd say, no, I've got to be informed. I'm a participating citizen in the goings-on of my nation.
I need to know what's going on in politics. A lot of times that can be our excuse, and maybe that was his excuse. Well, what happened was at the beginning of Lent, I actually the
How did Pastor Mark’s “no‑politics for Lent” challenge change his life?
The day before Ash Wednesday. He was trying to figure out what he was gonna do for Lent. And his wife actually said, I think you should give up politics for Lent. And he was like, No, I don't want to. And he said, which is why I knew I needed to to do that. said, but I needed to replace all of this input of all this political talk radio or talk internet, all these kind of things, with something else. And so what he decided was he decided to do the Bible in a year. And he said his goal was to do it in 40 days. His goal was to do it between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. He said he just finished like two weeks after Easter, so that's incredible. Amazing. But he said what was even more incredible than just the fact that he was able to get through the Bible in two months.
He said that he noticed a difference. In his mind, heart, and soul. His wife noticed a difference in his mind, heart, and soul.
What transformation did reading the entire Bible in 40 days produce in his mind, heart, and soul?
He said, even his congregation. Would talk to him and say, You seem less I I don't wanna get the words wrong, but like you seem less stressed, you seem less anxious, you seem less angry, you seem more at peace. And he's like, I am. And it was one of those situations where he realized in this detox from just all these arguing people constantly. And listening to God's word and letting that permeate his mind and his heart, That God was doing something remarkable. And I I I got his email and it was just one of the coolest things to read, to know that here's a here's a brother in Christ. Again, n not Catholic, maybe yet, who knows? I don't know. But who also Allowed God's word to refashion his lens. I mean, the whole point of the Bible, Bible in Ear, at least podcast, was to look at the world through a biblical lens.
One of the reasons why we even started the Bible in a year was it was during COVID. And I was just like Pastor Mark. I was listening to every podcast, every YouTube uh expert who is talking about here's what we need to do, here's what we can't ever do.
Why does Father Mike say a biblical worldview beats a worldly, policy‑focused mindset?
And I always say this, I always say, I found myself getting really Distracted and distressed.
And if you know anything about the book of Judges, one of the lines, of course, is that in those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. That it was generations of chaos. It was generations of of people just not having a clue. And here we were in the United States with and around the world with covet. And it's only been months and we're like, what do we do now? And I remember realizing with generations, this is not the first time, and this is not also not the worst time this has ever happened. But there was this conviction of what I n what I needed. I needed to reclaim what Monsignor Shea out at U Mary in Bismarck called a biblical worldview. Cause what I had done is I'd embraced this a worldly worldview.
Like I embraced the world, like how I would assess uh a policy, how I was how I would assess even just you know th this is this a good strategy or is this a good decision? Is this a good way of looking at the world? I would assess it from the wisdom of the world, which sometimes is wise.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why does constant political news leave us feeling distracted and anxious?
0:00–0:55
2
How did Pastor Mark’s “no‑politics for Lent” challenge change his life?
0:55–1:47
3
What transformation did reading the entire Bible in 40 days produce in his mind, heart, and soul?
1:47–2:51
4
Why does Father Mike say a biblical worldview beats a worldly, policy‑focused mindset?
2:51–4:03
5
How can we trade the fleeting peace of current events for the lasting shalom Christ offers?
4:03–5:02
6
What’s the difference between our sphere of interest and our sphere of influence, and why does it matter?
5:02–5:47
7
Why does Father Mike invite listeners to start a “Bible‑in‑a‑year” (or catechism‑in‑a‑year) journey?
5:47–6:41
8
What final call to action does Father Mike give for finding peace through God’s word?
6:41–7:26