When Jesus desires baptism, he does it as the sole good one, the one without sin, the one who does not need forgiveness, different from all human beings. As the good one, he desires baptism, even though he does not need it for himself, for the sake of those who need it, for the sake of sinners. Precisely because he is the sole good one, he doesn’t allow himself to be separated from sinners; he does not become a Pharisee who wants to claim what is good for himself. The sinlessness, the goodness of Jesus, is attested precisely in his unconditional love for sinners. Jesus goes to baptism not out of penitence but out of love and in this way takes the side of sinners.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditation on Epiphany, January 1940
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St. Maximus of Turin on Epiphany
What sort of baptism is this, when the one who is dipped is purer than the font, and where the water that soaks the one whom it has received is not dirtied but honored with blessings? What sort of baptism is this of the Savior, I ask, in which the streams are made pure more than they purify? For by a new kind of consecration the water does not so much wash Christ as submit to being washed.
St. Maximus of Turin, Sermon 13A -
All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.I like to think
Richard Brautigan, All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace. -
You Don’t Need A Full-Size Pickup Truck, You Need a Cowboy Costume
Brett Berks article, You Don’t Need A Full-Size Pickup Truck, You Need a Cowboy Costume, provides a good look at truck culture and the disconnect between how trucks are marketed and how they are actually used by owners. On one hand there’s no accounting for taste, on the other hand I appreciate the statistic that I use my mid-size SUV for towing more than the median pickup truck owner.
Hey, America: You Don’t Need a Full-Size Pickup Truck, You Need a Cowboy CostumeThe full-size pickup truck has become America’s best-selling vehicle by a country mile. But most Silverado, Ram, and F-Series buyers would be better served with a cheaper means of role-playing.
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Bill Fletcher Jr. on Responses to COVID
Yes, people were angry about restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic, I got that, but what was being proposed in opposition? What was being proposed in response to the very real problem of dealing with a virus?
An almost humorous response from the US right came from the lieutenant governor of Texas who argued that we should be willing to sacrifice our lives in defense of the economy. Turn away from mass vaccines, contract COVID, in the name of all mighty capitalism. I was looking forward to the lieutenant governor being the first sacrificial lamb. I mean you just can’t make this up.
The response to COVID that was led by right wing authoritarian forces was coded rightwing libertarianism rhetorizing about freedom. It was a strange combination of self suicide and genocide, in other words, there was nothing here with which to offer critical support. And this movement has now expanded to address an alleged right to refuse vaccinations in the name of self control over one’s body, a hideous use of the call of the pro-choice movement.
Bill Fletcher Jr. -
N.T. Wright on the Pace of the Kingdom
Somehow Jesus wanted his followers to live with the tension of believing that the kingdom was indeed arriving in and through his own work, and that this kingdom would come, fully arrive, not all in a bang but through a process like the slow growth of a plant or the steady leavening of a loaf.
N.T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part 1 -
January 2025
Housing
In December we finalized the purchase of a new house, and sold our current house (in a brief 3 days). We celebrated Christmas but also spent a lot of time oacking for thr move. Moving into January, the focus is now the move itself which will happen mid-month and getting settled into the new place.
This website
December saw some improvements to this website, but it still falls short of what I’d like it to be. January should see some improvements to the homepage, which content gets promoted to the blog page, and pages for media that I’ve read / watched / listened to.
Game design
An idea I had previously, inspired by the Amazon Prime series 007: Road to a Million was to create a interactive geolocation based game. To flesh out that idea further, I am rewatching 007: Road to a Million and reading the book The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell.
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Maxwell H. Brock on Art
I will talk to you of art,
For there is nothing else to talk about,
For there is nothing else.Life is an obscure hobo,
Maxwell H. Brock
Bumming a ride on the omnibus of art. -
Can Architecture Trigger Neuroinflamation?
Studies have established that architecture can trigger a stress response, but stress is more than a mental response – it triggers a whole host of compensating mechanisms in our bodies including hormonal changes.
Cleo Valentine is doing interesting research, taking the impact of architecture one step further, by examining whether persistent exposure to stress caused by architecture can cause the same long term impacts of other stress such as chronic inflammation, anxiety, and depression.
Cleo Valentine Researchcargo.site -
The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society
After the Second World War, philosophers were playing a bit of a game of catch up behind the scientists. The war machine had driven all sorts of advancement, but there wasn’t a lot of thought about the impacts to people or society of these advancements. Norbert Wiener’s book The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society brings a sociologists perspective to examine the impacts resulting from automation and communication.
