Monthly Archives: May 2024

A Joyful Announcement (And a Humble Request)

I am delighted to announce that Sorin Starts a School has been officially adopted by Ave Maria Press.  It is now available on their website and on Amazon.

We are thrilled to partner with a ministry of the Congregation of Holy Cross on a book that foregrounds their charism.

And might I hazard a request of your time today?  In the world of Amazon, a lot hinges on the number of reviews for a given book.  Might you click through and write up a short review today?

(If you don’t have your copy handy, I’ll take a minute to read it to ya. :D)

What’s the Problem Here?

Over the past months, I’ve been trying to learn how to interact productively with ChatGPT 4 on a programming project. I am only at the beginning of my understanding, and, while it is certainly not perfect, it is shocking useful at many tasks. 

(Aside: Haven’t thought about using one of the new AI models or not sure where to start or not sure what to make of it all? Co-Intelligence is an outstanding read.)

And there is something AI can’t do, insofar as I can tell: It can’t tell me if I am focusing on the right problem.  

It cannot tell me if I am focusing on the real issue or a sideshow that will waste time and energy.

This is a hugely important skill, and one that we do well to focus on cultivating more intently, even apart from the expanding capability of our tools.

So, before engaging any tools at our disposal, it is good to ask: What is the problem I am trying to solve? What is all of this effort for?

The Immense Call of the Particular

This child.

This spouse.

This project.

This tree or bird or blossom.

This interaction.

This prayer.

This moment.

Today, we have been given some things – not all those other hypothetically “better” (as whipped up by an anxious mind) things – but these things that are here, now.

These things, in their particularity, call to us.

Let’s attend to and answer the immense call of the particular.  Grace lies within.

Less Than God Desires

It is possible to do more than God requires and less than God desires.

In fact, this may be the default way of living in our culture, even inside of the church.

What, then, does God desire?  

Well, undoubtedly more than we might ever comprehend, but perhaps primarily to know how profoundly we are loved.  To accept the gift of the wonder of being alive, of this world.

Knowing oneself as infinitely loved by God changes everything, and enables clearer vision of what might, then, be required.