I wrote up some thoughts regarding the current moment in the U.S. More here.
Click here to read more about private posts, including how to request access. Let us go back to the origin of the Church, to the day of Pentecost. Let us look at the Apostles: some of them were fishermen, simple people accustomed to living by the work of their hands, but there were also others, like Matthew, who was an educated tax collector. They were from different backgrounds and social contexts, and they had Hebrew and Greek names. In terms of character, some were meek and others were excitable; they all had different ideas and sensibilities. They were all different. Jesus did not change them; he did not make them into a set of pre-packaged models. ... Let us now focus on ourselves, the Church of today. We can ask ourselves: “What is it that unites us, what is the basis of our unity?” We too have our differences, for example: of opinions, choices, sensibilities. But the temptation is always fiercely to defend our ideas, believing them to be good for everybody and agreeing only with those who think as we do. And that's a bad temptation that divides. But this is a faith created in our own image; it is not what the Spirit wants. ... Here we come to understand what the secret of unity is, the secret of the Spirit. It is gift. For the Spirit himself is gift: he lives by giving himself and in this way he keeps us together, making us sharers in the same gift. It is important to believe that God is gift, that he acts not by taking away, but by giving. Why is this important? Because our way of being believers depends on how we understand God. If we have in mind a God who takes away and imposes himself, we too will want to take away and impose ourselves: occupying spaces, demanding recognition, seeking power. But if we have in our hearts a God who is gift, everything changes. ... Dear brothers and sisters, let us look within and ask ourselves what prevents us from giving ourselves. There are, let us say, three enemies of the gift -- the main ones, three -- always lurking at the door of our hearts: narcissism, victimhood and pessimism. One of the silver linings in this COVID-19 crisis is the wonderful spirit of generosity that many people and institutions demonstrate. One example is the academic book publishing company Springer, which has made hundreds of books available for free as PDF and EPUB files.
For example, one book that I've downloaded and I'm looking forward to reading, as someone who is trying to learn application development, is Foundations for Designing User-Centered Systems. It's for anyone who designs applications or systems. Hello friends!
It has been about a month since I posted here, so I thought I'd drop by and say hello, although I don't have time to write as much as I'd like to! (click here to read the rest of this private post) Click here to read more about private posts, including how to request access. Affinity Photo is the affordable alternative to Photoshop, available for Windows, Mac and iPad. They also offer Designer (competes with Illustrator) and Publisher (competes with InDesign). I own and recommend all 3.
And for the next 90 days, they're all 50% off with a free trial. ...sometimes we all get a bit mixed up in these trying times.
(For the record - the logos are incorrect, the labels are correct.) ...and I really, really want to get back to normal as quickly as possible.
Click here to read the article on Medium. Quick, you have until some time on Thursday. For the low, low price of $0, you can pick up an absolutely splendid, family-friendly PC game called "A Short Hike" over at the Epic Games Store.
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