a glob of nerdishness

September 10, 2011

You are never alone

written by natevw @ 7:00 am

Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; but his word and Spirit only do sufficiently and effectually reveal him unto men for their salvation.

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amirite?

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Should you google that to help decide, you’ll find that:

  • I’ve copied two paragraphs verbatim from a Catechism
  • nerd version: Instructional FAQ
  • cynical nerd version: Instrument of Sheeple Opium

Some healthy cynicism is warranted: I’m quoting from the translation of the Westminster Larger Catechism accepted by the “Orthodox Presbyterian Church”. Read that like a DNS entry: “Orthodox” names a split among Presbyterians, who have denominated themselves apart from the Church, which in this case refers to Protestants who left the once-Καθολικός religion, that as far as those go was an (eventually three)-way split between Abraham’s sons.

If you think that’s cause for concern, just imagine the mayhem when half the “Orthodox Christian Reformed [protestant] Church” members fall into heresy.

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ridiculous.

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Like all our goals,

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alone.

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Jesus Christ — who BTW can raise sons for Abraham out of rocks — promised that he would never leave what he’s created alone.

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That’s why I’m struggling and remain dogmatic about this The Goal: to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Goals are hard, and staying sure of Them is harder, especially when our minds let Goals lead us into jaols lest They fade into ghosts.

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Practically imposible. Severe budget constraints.

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But if God is not dead, whether we killed him or not.

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Then that is a comfort.

Which you may call a crutch.

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You may be right but I’m a perfectionist, and while time has proven very competent at making humanity and its Goals, bigger.

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It seems They never get, better.

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Or closer; on their own.

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so

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Here’s to the crazy one.

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September 9, 2011

Goals 2: Lost in Zen York

written by natevw @ 5:00 pm

So the question is why?

Obviously, our goals are the why we have other goals.

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but what’s The Goal?

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I mean, why have the goals in the first place?

To recap: we have goals, and goals whose goal is to make those goals possible, but What’s. The. Goal. ??

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To back up a bit: do we have big goals that we attain by setting little goals? Or do we have little goals that we achieve by big goals?

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Or both?

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I’ve now written “goal” so often, it’s feeling like ghoul and reading like gaol. Which is either a typo, or a British correctional facility.

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goal goal goal goal
goal goal
goal goal goal

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Or only one?

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(Aside:

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Zen and the art of zen writing…maintenance.)

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We may disagree on The Goal. Even though neither of us probably’s actually really figured out — learned? — what it is yet, even.

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(Do they really still spell jeeaol that way, in the English translation of English?)

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At least I haven’t, which is probably why I’m a bit dogmatic.

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(fully figured out the goal)

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To be continued.

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p.s. — it’s not Learning.

September 8, 2011

Goals, or: You are not alone

written by natevw @ 12:02 pm

I am a perfectionist, which is difficult but probably more difficult for my family and friends. I am also sloppy, which is difficult for a perfectionist.

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When I started working at &yet, the team then were all throwing themselves into one exciting project. Those days are gone, and these days I find myself stuck with “the mess”, while “those responsible” have scattered.

I also find myself having to just build more mess, because that’s the best I can do. And wanting to scatter.

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We can do better, and must.

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The perfectionists need to learn patience with people. People change, even are made anew, and sometimes suddenly but never from the outside in.

The slopsters need to learn patience with products. Products change, are in need of constant refactoring, and to build them suddenly rarely leaves anything salvageable behind.

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We can’t do better alone.

That’s the thing. If I were fired from &yet tomorrow (HI ADAM!) this, what I have learned, would be my severance package (JUST KIDDING ADAM!):

You can’t do better alone.

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We have really lofty goals — we do don’t we? — they are Ridiculous Goals. If we think we can accomplish them more ideally or more quickly alone.

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So my goal is to teach, a team to teach.

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