The following articles have been selected because they are informative, instructive, entertaining, or simply interesting. Articles appearing in Your Friday Five do not represent an endorsement.
Has the Pandemic Transformed the Office Forever?, By John Seabrook
David Corns, the California managing director of R/GA, a global advertising and marketing agency, needed to decide whether to renew the lease on the company’s office in downtown San Francisco. It was spring, 2020, and the lease was set to expire on August 31st. Before the covid-19 pandemic, commercial real estate was pricier in San Francisco than it was anywhere else in the country, including New York, where R/GA has its headquarters. Since leaving the office on March 13th, the hundred-person S.F. staff—the creatives, designers, strategists, account execs, and technologists who make digital products and services for Slack, Reddit, and Airbnb, among many other brands, along with support teams—had been working from home. “We have seen productivity go through the roof,” Corns told me. So why did the staff require so much expensive office space? Did they need any at all?
Disciple’s Pursuit, By Tim LaFleur
The Disciple’s Pursuit: Holiness
In his classic work The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges beautifully illustrates the dual nature of the development of practical holiness in the life of a believer. By “dual nature,” I mean God’s part and a believer’s part.
The illustration Bridges uses is that of a farmer. The farmer has the responsibility to plant, water, cultivate, and harvest the crop but knows full well that only God can cause the seed to grow and yield fruit. Bridges concludes the illustration by saying, “The farmer cannot do what God must do and God will not do what the farmer should do.”
An executive order marginalizing women and girls, By Dr. Katie McCoy
On Inauguration Day, hours after President Joe Biden’s calls for unity and promise to represent all Americans, platitudes gave way to policies. In 880 words, Biden mandated a government definition of gender discrimination and equality that guaranteed biological men access to women’s social spaces.
Argentina’s abortion law enters force under watchful eyes, By Almudena Calatrava
Argentina’s groundbreaking abortion law went into force Sunday under the watchful eyes of women’s groups and government officials, who hope to ensure its full implementation despite opposition from some conservative and church groups.
When Expressive Individualism Kills, By Trevin Wax
Does expressive individualism—the “be true to yourself” framing of life that finds purpose in “finding” and then “expressing” the real you inside—work? Does it satisfy? Or does it fall apart due to internal contradictions?