TwentyTwoTwenty

Base Camp has a new book out about how to work. It’s not agile, it’s not waterfall. Shawn Blanc’s team works this way. Really appreciate the thought they put into shaping work, and deciding what not to do.

‘And who are all these young men and women on each side?’ ‘They are her sons and daughters.’ ‘She must have had a very large family, Sir.’ ‘Every young man or boy that met her became her son—even if it was only the boy that brought the meat to her back door. Every girl that met her was her daughter.’ ‘Isn’t that a bit hard on their own parents?’ ‘no. There are those that steal other people’s children. But her motherhood was of a different kind. Those on whom it fell went back to their natural parents loving them more. Few men looked on her without becoming, in a certain fashion, her lovers. But it was the kind of love that made them not less true, but truer, to their own wives.’ ‘And how … but hullo! What are all these animals? A cat–two cats–dozens of cats. And all these dogs … why, I can’t count them. And the birds. And the horses.’ ‘They are her beasts.’ ‘Did she keep a sort of zoo? I mean, this is a bit too much.’ ‘Every beast and bird that came near her had its place in her love. In her they became themselves. And now the abundance of life she has in Christ from the Father flows over into them.’ -CS Lewis, The Great Divorce, pp 119-120.

Map of power plants in the US, including size and fuel type. Really interesting to see all the nuclear plants.

Not one Christian blushes or repents, unless it be for not having been a Christian sooner. If a Christian goes to trial, he goes like a victor, with the air of a triumph; if he is impeached, he glories in it; if indicted, he makes no defense at bar; when interrogated he frankly confesses, and when condemned returns thanks to his judges.

What a monster of wickedness is this, that has not one shape or feature of wickedness belonging to it ? Nothing of fear, or shame, or artifice, or repentance, or the desponding sighs of criminals attending on it. What a strange-natured evil or reverse of wickedness is this! That makes the guilty rejoice, and ambitious of accusation, and happy in punishment. Nor can you charge these odd appearances as the effects of madness, since you are altogether unacquainted with the powers of the Christian religion.

I saved this in my journal four years ago today. It’s from Tertullian’s apology (defense) of the faith. When Christians are prosecuted for their faith, when they faced torture and death, when they stand accused as being Christ’s followers, what do they do? They don’t repent of their faith, the only thing they repent of is “for not having been a Christian sooner”.

What a testimony.

I’m not big on computer games personally. But my eldest son, Sam, is an absolute crackerjack at them. It’s a point of tension in our relationship. I don’t think he ought to spend so much time there, and he thinks he’s not given enough. Though I try to hide my distaste because I know how much he loves playing Off Road Fury and Delta Force, it’s pretty obvious when I never play with him. Just yesterday Sam said to me, “You and Mom don’t like computer games, so I feel like you don’t like me.” Ouch. I missed a part of his glory, shamed a part of his heart. How many an artist has been crushed in a family that prefers a “rational” approach to life? How many an engineer dismissed by a family of musicians? How many of us are lost in life simply because no one in our early world saw our glory and affirmed it?

“How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?” (Ps. 4:2). These blows aren’t random or incidental. They strike directly at some part of the heart, turn the very thing God created to be a source of celebration into a source of shame. And so you can at least begin to discover your glory by looking more closely at what you were shamed for. Look at what’s been assaulted, used, abused. As Bernard of Clairvaux declared, “Through the heart’s wound, I see its secret.”

Let me put it this way: What has life taught you about your God—given glory? What have you believed about your heart over the years? “That it’s not worth anyone’s time,” said a woman whose parents were too busy to really want to know her. “That it’s weak,” confided a friend. He suffered several emasculating blows as a boy, and his father simply shamed him for it. “That I shouldn’t trust it to anyone.” “That it’s selfish and self-centered.” “That it’s bad.” And you … what have you believed?

Those accusations you heard growing up, those core convictions that formed about your heart, will remain down there until someone comes to dislodge them, run them out of Dodge.
-John Eldredge. Waking the Dead. pg 118

I read this the other day and it really stuck with me. As parents it’s so easy to be dismissive of whatever new fad your kid is into. As leaders, too.

It bothers me when leaders shame kids for being kids. I just spent a week with 6th graders at summer camp. I love that they are goofy and hyper-active and loud and messy. One day they won’t be but that’s what 6th grade is for. My small groups were short and distracted. That’s ok. I refuse to shame little kids for acting like little kids. They only get this season and this time once and the entire world will do plenty of shaming and crushing of all of their hopes and dreams. May it never be said of me that I participated.

Dallas Willard on God’s joy:

He is full of joy. Undoubtedly he is the most joyous being in the universe. The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable from his infinite joy. All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink [Willard includes the sea in all its beauty, or a wonderful movie, or music] … God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth and richness.

(as quoted in Waking the Dead by John Eldredge, pg 210)

C.S. Lewis, from “Membership”

The very word membership is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all meaning. In any book on logic you may see the expression “members of a class.” It must be most emphatically stated that the items of particulars included in a homogeneous class are almost the reverse of what St. Paul meant by members. By members he meant what we should call organs, things essentially different from, and complementary to, one another, things differing not only in structure and function but also in dignity. Thus, in a club, the committee as a whole and the servants as a whole may both properly be regarded as “members”; what we should call the members of the club are merely units. A row of identically dressed and identically trained soldiers set side by side, or a number of citizens listed as voters in a constituency are not members of anything in the Pauline sense. I am afraid that when we describe a man as “a member of the Church” we usually mean nothing Pauline; we mean only that he is a unit – that he is one more specimen of some kind of things as X and Y and Z. How true membership in a body differs from inclusion in a collective may be seen in the structure of a family. The grandfather, the parents, the grown-up son, the child, the dog, and the cat are true members (in the organic sense), precisely because they are not members or units of a homogeneous class. They are not interchangeable. Each person is almost a species in himself. The mother is not simply a different person from the daughter; she is a different kind of person. The grown-up brother is not simply one unit in the class children; he is a separate estate of the realm. The father and grandfather are almost as different as the cat and the dog. If you subtract any one member, you have not simply reduced the family in number; you have inflicted an injury on its structure. Its unity is a unity of unlikes, almost of incomensurables.

(h/t Alan Jacobs)

You’ve probably heard about the great Pacific garbage patch. There’s some new hope in cleaning up that giant mess, and it all started when an 18 year old had an idea and gave a TED talk. Now his idea has been built (thanks to some crowdfunding) and is ready to start cleaning up.

Really hope this works, and it inspires people to work on challenging engineering projects that improve earth.

Ok, this is just really cool.

God gives good gifts and the Sabbath is one of my favorites. To a nation of freed slaves, He commanded them (it’s one of the top ten! That’s how good God is) “Thou Shalt Taketh A Dayeth Offeth”. (New AJ Paraphrase, © 2018)

But as someone that sucks at taking Sabbath rest, how do you do that? The Gospel Coalition has 7 suggestions. My favorite is number five, find a hobby:

I think one of the reasons people don’t rest well is they don’t have hobbies. Hobbies are helpful because they occupy our minds and energies during Sabbath rest. That’s often more balancing and more restorative than simply sitting on the couch and watching TV. Sabbath rest is not just about ceasing activity, but redirecting activity into alternative, life-giving channels. Once again, Sabbath rest takes work.

Often it’s good, I think, for our hobbies to be different from our profession. For instance, if you have a desk job, join an intramural sports team. Or if your job is highly relational and fast-paced, find a hobby that is leisurely and provides solitude. Pastors and others who work in a Christian environment can often benefit from having hobbies that put them into close contact with non-Christians and/or in a non-leadership role.

I do a lot of crafting and I’m very artistic — that’s ironic, I know — so I do this with clothes, and paint colors, and ribbon, and thread. I’ve done it so many thousands of times it doesn’t even feel weird for me anymore. It’s like I’m on autopilot. “Hi, my name is Brooke. I have color vision deficiency. Could you tell me which one of these is bright red?” At the beginning you can see in their face they’re thinking, what is this person about to do? Is this some kind of Candid Camera thing? I explain that I’m serious, that I really can’t tell what color something is, and then their face softens and they smile and want to help.

This was such a great read. I have a super mild red-green color deficiency but it was amazing to read Brooke’s experience with colors and how she perceives some colors as being different but not really being sure why.

Great Twitter thread on all of the attention that went into making Apple’s new visitor center accessible.

Chris Bowler’s email newsletter today was so timely. When you start to feel overwhelmed, take a break and figure out why. Reasses what’s most important. Stop focusing on what is not getting done. In particular, I love this:

There’s a tricky balance to be found here. Systems, habits, and routines are wonderful tools, but terrible masters. I’m in control — and every so often the system needs a reboot, not me.

We’ve spent $15.3 billion on vaccines over the past 18 years. And it’s been a terrific investment. Better immunization is one reason why the number of children who die has gone down by so much, from almost 10 million in 2000 to 5 million last year. That’s 5 million families that didn’t have to suffer the trauma of losing a daughter or a son, a sister or a brother.

5 million kids saved. Blows me away, and this is a really well written letter answering some really hard questions.

We never introduce ourselves to his highness for the first time, or reintroduce ourselves suspecting he’s too important and busy to remember our name. Prayer is not a conversation we start, but a response to the God who speaks first, calls first, and claims us as his own, even before we return interest in faith and prayer.

Albert Dros talks about, in great detail, his process for finding this perfect shot of an erupting volcano and the milky way. There’s a ton to learn from here if you’re into photography at all.

Love this video where Matt Ragland shows us what his bullet journalling looks like. I love these views into how people organize their productivity. In particular, I was intrigued with his monthly mood tracker:

There is a check-in for the morning and the evening and it gives him a quick view into how he’s doing. He also showed off a yearly grid he’s going to work on in 2018 to get a bigger view over the whole year. I definitely struggle at times with annual fall depression, so that idea of tracking how you’re feeling and getting more data really resonated with me.

(h/t Shawn Blanc)

Before air
Or light
Or spinning spheres
Before laughter, shouting, joy, or tears
Before everything we’ve ever touched
Or held or stroked or tried to reach
Or thought to say, or tried to teach
Before oceans, and creatures, and soaring heights
Before depths and mysteries
And first winged flights
Before anything that we now see
And love or long for, or want to be
Before all the dreaming and inventions
Before all the scheming and conventions
Before all the cultures and the nations
Before all life’s great and strange sensations
Before everything we’ve ever seen…
…And done
He was
And is
And is to come

The illustration of this poem is simply marvelous. And now it’s available as a book.

For 7 consecutive days I will be posting a series of 50+ Megapixel Panoramic Photographs shot on an @apple iPhone 7, from the belly of a LearJet from 20,000 feet above the earth.

This is beautiful, and such a cool idea.

So this is pretty cool, you can export any curl command as a mini-C program. Just pass --libcurl foo.c.