For All My Geeks Out There

The great thing about using 24-hour time is that once a day your clock reminds you that you are 1337.

It Doesn't Have To Be This Hard

Matthew 25: 37-40

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?"

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

The striking things about this quote is that the righteous haven't realized what they've done, and the truth is so simple. I've wasted many years worrying about whether I was following God's will for my life. It is easier than that.

I like the way Kurt Vonnegut put it in The Sirens of Titan.

"Only an Earthling year ago," said Constant. "It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."

The day-to-day spirtual life lies more in wisdom and responsibility than in "spirituality" as it is often presented. Barry Ritholtz made the following statement about financial investing, but I think the application is wider.

As the magnitude of the awesome responsibility of taking control--and responsibility--sets in, it tends to sharpen the mind. It is empowering.

I think Spider-man may have gotten in backwards: With responsibility comes great power.

This rings true. Consider Proverbs 14:23, "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." If God intended to tell me exactly what to do with myself, then why did Solomon need to write Proverbs 15:22, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."?

The opportunity to be spiritual is always right in front of me, and easily accessible. I only have to take responsibilty, and serve others. It's been humbling to integrate this into my life.

The primary venue for my service is at work, because that is where I spend most of my time, but also because that is where people are most dependent on me. This is challenging because work is the place where people master the art of avoiding responsibility and reassigning blame. There are many opportunities to practice the art of forgiving, and even more to practice the art of self-examination. Sometimes I spend more of the day worried about or furious with how things are going than acutally getting things done. I've had some late nights with God, in tears, telling him that this is not the person I want to be. Anxiety always comes down to trusting Him.

Holiday Party

Christmas at the Office

We had an intra-office Christmas decoration competition. The developers chose a Muppets theme.

The Story as Told by Matthew

Before I left Scott encouraged me to read through the gospels as stories, and that's proven to be a very rich approach. You pick up context, mood, and flow that you wouldn't when breaking the text down paragraph by paragraph. Matthew is a strange book. It's certainly the gospel I've read the least. He doesn't dwell long on any story. Jesus is full of fire, healing , teaching, rebuking, and laying down the parables. His teaching is hard. For instance, chapter 13, The Parable of the Sower. Linger on verse 22:

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns

is the man who hears the word,

but the worries of this life

and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it.

At the end of chapter 18 we find The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. The servant in question begs for and receives forgiveness for a fortune in debt that he owes him master, but when he finds a fellow servant who owes him a few bucks he has him thrown in prison. When the master finds out he is furious and locks up the unmerciful servant for good. Jesus finshes the story with these words in verse 35:

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you

unless you forgive your brother from your heart.

Jesus is a leader you can follow. He is someone who inspires fear. He loves you.

Where I Live

I started out in the condo in Escazu, but when my roomate Joe D's wife came down to visit for the Holiday Party I had to move to the Trax "compound". It's two townhomes side-by-side (soon to be three) where all the Scottsdale employees can live in community. Unfortunately, I was the only person in the newly acquired second townhome, and besides lots of sawdust it only contained my bed and one working shower (no sinks). There were no mirrors either, so I got to comb my hair at the office. It was a long day.

On Sunday we had the party. In Scottsdale it takes envelopes with cash to get people on the dance floor, but down here that's no problem. They dance the night away. I had a great time. Wednesday put me back in the Escazu condo for the next few months, until we acquire a fourth townhome in the compound.

This morning I went for my second, long, Sunday morning Escazu walk. It's beautiful here. I can go right up the hillside among big homes, lush greenery, and look out over the city. After a long shower I walked down to Tre Fratelli, an Italian restaurant, for a breakfast of steak, bacon, eggs, cheese, and (of course) rice and beans. With a long nap I think I've finally recovered from the week that began with late-night dancing, included lots of hours at the office, and my first outdoor soccer game.

I should say more about the soccer game since it ended 15-1. We were very proud of that one goal. It was Trax vs. some other team. I never got the name. I can't see a thing without my glasses, and certainly not the other side of full-size soccer field. Occasionally I got to touch the ball. When that lucky occurance happened I'd boot it toward the other side. I obviously couldn't make out my teamates. Our team is a bunch of casual guys who just enjoy a game after work. They were practiced athletes who worked as a team. In the end the experience was a lot like being blindfolded then shoved and kicked again and again over an hour. Maybe we should practice before next time. Maybe we should be in shape.

Below are pictures from the Escazu condo, and the Trax office.

The X Continents

Hernan trapped me with a question at lunch today. He asked me how many continents there are. I assumed he was joking around and wanted to argue that "Central America" is a continent, so I gave him the strait answer of seven. This got a round of exclamations from the table as he explained to me that outside of the US they are taught only six. The continent we live on is America--it's not divided into North and South America. Additionally, I learned that Australia is not a continent but is a part of Oceania which includes New Zeland and South Pacific islands. It turns out that the number and division of continents is a contentious subject throughout the world (not too surprising) and among geographers and geologists, but nevertheless hearing that there is a different answer to something I took for granted from childhood through my late 20's is a very unnerving experience. I haven't experienced that feeling talking about politics or religion or other serious topics, because I expect profound differences. But the number of continents? Who would've thought?