Father, we love You.
We praise You and adore You.
Glorify Your name in all the earth!
Glorify Your name, glorify Your name,
Glorify Your name in all the earth!
In all that’s going on, in all we’re keeping inside. In all we’re experiencing, and in all that’s out in the open.
In all we’re concerned with, in all we’re totally oblivious about. In all we’re aware of, and in all we’re choosing to ignore.
In all we’re afraid about, in all we’re confident about. In all we’re focused on, and in all we couldn’t care less about.
In all things, in all ways, in all events, in all circumstances – in all activity, and in the silence:
Father, indeed – glorify Your name in all the earth; glorify Your name in all.
Sorry, I guess I’m trying to make articles feel like worship services, where we start with praise, and then the message and/or meditations, exhortations and testimonies follow.
Let’s get back into it.
I’ll say it again: I believe writing is one of the best ways for us to get our minds right, to get our thoughts together, to make space, and/or to organize space in our heads. There seems to be no problem in that front regarding thoughts and memories that come into the brain – they’re handled through writing, and oh, through prayer as well.
In fact, when you look at both writing and prayer, they’re both similar in that they’re acts of unloading – except, I guess, now that I’m writing about it, it’s prayer that has an edge because whereas your writing serves its purpose as to letting your thoughts out, the wonderful thing about prayer is Who’s listening, or where the thoughts go – No better listener than the Creator of the Universe Himself, loving you as a Father.
It’s important that we have an internal system to handle all the thoughts that come in. They’re processed, redirected, ignored, etc; but, well, let me specify – it’s important that we have an internal system to unload thoughts, as necessary. Fortunately, what works for me, and may work for you, is simply writing and praying.
Side story. Well, it’s really a thought that I’d like to just integrate here and hope the entire article put together works together.
When we were kids, the jokes we tell each other would keep us laughing for weeks, then months, and even reach to years if one of us brings them up when we’re older.
We happened to be the generation that witnessed and experienced the transition of the entire world into embracing the internet into their daily lives. We shifted from recording tapes from radio stations, to burning music and videos on CDs then DVDs, to downloading questionable files using our 56k dial-up modems… now, to high-speed video and audio on-demand, on the go.
Yes, I’m old. But anyway, we also shifted from the jokes stored in our brains (and the brains of our friends), to forwarding emails with consolidated funny (and not-so-funny) pictures, and those would last us days, and even weeks, depending on how often we would bring ’em up during our chance encounters at the water cooler.
Today, we’re dealing with things in such higher scale – higher-quality reels sent not just once, but three times at a time, to different group chats; Each reel has our attention for just enough seconds to press a ‘Haha’ react (not even a message ‘Haha’).
Our brains must make the necessary adjustments. There are exponentially more sources of thoughts and ideas than we’re apparently unable to handle at one time. ‘Information overload’ seems to be more of the norm.
Yes, I have my own rudimentary system that ensures that enough thoughts are collected, processed, and redirected, returned, recycled, or removed…
…I’ve noticed, however, that my YouTube ‘Watch Later’ playlist is getting bigger and bigger. My Saved posts on X and Instagram (the latter started with just memes but now there’re other motivational and even educational things in there) are increasing in number, but I’m not able to address them, much like I don’t really imagine myself sitting down and actually watching the entire length of videos I have pending in YouTube.
I’m thinking, right about now – is there an AI that can be locally installed to collect all the information, lessons, data, etc. from each of these posts from these networks, for easier analysis, processing; For redirection, return, recycling and removal?
I only ask about locally installed AIs because I want to hit two birds with one stone – I have a pretty old 10-year old laptop, and another desktop with not-so-recent but still more or less competitive specs that are just gathering dust here. Not sure if anyone would want any of these devices but until I do see anyone who does need these outdated pieces of equipment, I’m not about to let them rot here.
It’s a long shot, but can they be used for AI? And if not, what can I use them for? Is there such a thing as ‘machine consolidation’ – to put out-of-date hardware together to keep up with the times?
To be honest with you, I don’t have any ideas on how to get started – or, well, no. I’m not exactly being truthful there. I think a good first step is to see what my current gear is capable of with regards to local and offline AI.
It’s funny because in the past – well, even up until now, actually – there were rows and rows of vendors selling pirated games and cracked software; I wonder, if I go to the same rows and rows today, will I still be seeing the same DVDs in plastic and a cheap-printed sheet with copy-pasted ads presenting what’s in the disc – Or, will there be AI’s, ready to install and run?
Well, okay. Speaking of AIs, I ran this article by Claude. The AI’s response reminded me that this issue I’m bringing up, which is certainly an issue the entire connected world is going through right now (even if they’re probably not aware of it), is information management.
Claude suggested some pretty viable approaches. I could assign scheduled times, first to audit the lists and to see which items are no longer relevant, and second, to spend possibly fixed amount of times to ‘take out’ whatever we can from the lists, processing them for redirection, return, recycling and removal. I could also be stricter with what I do add into my lists, to keep them from growing too big, too soon.
Claude also advised that the extra equipment I have in mind may not be able to run AI – in fact, it was pretty straight up in telling me that AI may not necessarily be the best and most prioritized solution. After I go ahead and post all this I may go ahead and take a look, not at AI tools, but at ‘Content Aggregation’ tools that could help me take items out of my lists.
Funny, back in the day all we had were Unread messages in our email inboxes. But, yeah, these are different times – and as sure as waste management and ice plants aren’t going away, so the internet may not be going away, and as long as the internet is with us, so we’re going to need a solution for information management.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him, all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen.
The One who was, is, and is to come is alive in us, and we are alive in Him. Our immediate proximity to the Creator of All, and the pleasure of the Ancient of Days being with us is all because of the Son – Jesus Christ – and His finished work.
By the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, He has fully reconciled us to God, that we call Him our Father; And He has completed our absolute union with Him, by way of the Holy Spirit. Through Christ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the receipt and the guarantee of our righteousness – our right-standing.
It is because of this that we are brought to sing, in deed, with all creation, with all the heavens – Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!
Sorry, and thank you. I just needed that ‘commercial’ – sort of works the same way as me taking a quick walk in between writing and thinking.
While I’m already doing some consolidation of ‘Watch Later’ thoughts (which are more like ‘Write Later’ thoughts) here, I thought I’d go ahead and share a quote by Naval Ravikant, something I’d like to dive deeper on:
“The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.”
My first reaction to this is, what if you don’t know what you want out of life? Or what if what you want is simple – so simple, that you do get it every day? Have you therefore ‘passed’ the real test of intelligence?
While I was writing that, I recall one of Bill Watterson’s unorthodoxly arranged Sunday strips – Calvin asked Hobbes if he could wish for anything, what would he wish for?
Hobbes paused, and Calvin egged him on, reminding him that he could have ‘Anything at all!’; To Calvin’s frustration, all Hobbes wished for was …a sandwich.
“A SANDWICH!? WHAT KIND OF STUPID WISH IS THAT!? Talk about a failure of imagination! I’D ask for a trillion billion dollars, my own space shuttle, and a private continent!”
…the next panel showed Calvin by a table with a continued, adamant defiance, while Hobbes spoke with a full mouth after taking a bite out of what looks like a peanut butter sandwich: “I got MY wish.“
Maybe part of the real test of intelligence (and imagination, for that matter) is not only observing the power and capability of how to get what we want out of life, but in our defining what we want out of life in the first place.
Maybe this also plays in why my Watch Later, my read-later or write-about-later lists are growing – because I haven’t really answered that I wanted out of life, and each post and each video is a possible answer trying to fill that void in.
Maybe it’s a matter of tearing down all the grandiose plans into simple sandwiches that we could get every day, peanut butter sandwiches leading up to the Serendipity 3’s quintessential Grilled Cheese Sandwich (valued at $214 as of at least 8 years ago).
Maybe it’s realizing that all this, wishing, imagining, desiring, is done in the presence of our God, whom we call our Father, who is for us and not against us; It’s realizing that while we have our own ideas of what is best for us, and/or what gives us the most pleasure and satisfaction, He’s the One who actually knows what’s best for us, from the highest scale down to the tiniest of details;
Maybe it’s our realizing that God actually gave ALL of us what was best for all of us through Christ – who is the Best OF ALL, IN ALL. We toiled for the Billionaire (a wagyu/caviar sandwich which costs ~$312 as of 2021), and/or we thought we’d settle for peanut butter sandwiches… but through it all, we had the Bread of Life.
So two things are in my head now regarding the burden of information management – and like the prophetic Ram in Daniel 8, one horn is bigger than the other.
First, it really does help for us to not merely simplify, but more importantly, DEFINE what we want. Until then, every video is going to be that much more liable to make it in our Watch Later lists, every post is going to be thrown into our Read/Write About Later lists.
When we’re specific about what we want, and when we’re that sure about it, then other things not connected to it are easily lopped off of our Lists.
Second, and this is really more important, really more critical – We have the King of Kings and Lord of Lords with us. Christ is the best that could ever happen to us, the best that HAS already happened to us, and the best that WILL happen to us, to infinity and beyond.
Our musings – or, okay – my personal musings about what I really want at any given moment are not merely done in the majestic presence of the Creator of All… No, just now I’m realizing that as we have the mind of Christ, so He TAKES PART in crafting what we want at any given moment. Christ, who is the best for us, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that He IS the best by guiding us to the best in all things, big and small.
The Best points to the best.
Yesterday was a trip. I started off my writing for Valentines’ Day by just dumping all the frustrations I’ve had in love, lamenting and grieving in a void of hopelessness until, like Job, I was presented by the overwhelming nature of God; Except in my case, I not only got off easy, but while Job got a divine cease-and-desist from our God, I got the Comprehensive Package of Grace – Scripture, a collection of promises from His Word that says, TRUST IN ME.
I feel, still feel like I’m not getting what I want, and in the light of our writing today, I’m realizing I don’t have a good-enough picture of what I DO want in the first place. Sure, I’m aware that it’s certainly more than an orgasm, but I don’t think I’m going to invest as much thought into it.
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”Ecclesiastes 3:11
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
“The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.”
Maybe we already have what we’ve always wanted in Christ. Oh, Lord, help us to truly realize this. Maybe that’s the real sign – not necessarily of intelligence, but our having the mind of Christ.
Think I’ll stop here for now. I pray all is well, for us and for the families we represent.
Until the next post, God bless us all.
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JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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