Symmetry and God

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Remembrance

Do you remember, love, my angel? Prancing upon the clouds, Beneath our feet, the stars, alighting, Dancing our melody.

How I pray

This isn't anything special, but it's what I do and perhaps someone else can get some ideas from it.

Jesus

It's 10pm. I'm tired of pouring my heart out to you. I strive. I know they say I shouldn't, but I don't know the alternative. If I sit in silence it's the same. Nothing. A though here, a whisper there. I know it's you, God. But it's not enough.

Artificial chemistry

Since I was in middle school I've been fascinated by artificial chemistry. I remember creating simulations in ActionScript of little billard balls bouncing around and reacting. I spent my time battling little darwinbots, and designing rulesets and little "creatures" in golly. I even had a little Core Wars phase. Tim Hutton was my secret hero, and his java applet (rewritten here) and his many wonderful papers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) opened my eyes to what might be possible to create. I'd sit through college classes on UML dreaming of different representations of particles, rules, and the kind of "life" they'd enable.

Loneliness

It is the lonely who are close to God. Not because, as so many simply assume, they have no one else, But because the loneliness of God can be known only by these.

Name it and claim it

We've all heard the qualifiers. The reasons why God won't answer your prayer. "It's not his will". "No is an answer too". "There's likely sin in your life".

Who do I want to be

I want my life defined by courage. This means expecting the best possible outcome, not the average case. This is faith. I don't want to live in fear, which is expecting the worst-case outcome.

The most important aspects of your character

These are the most important aspects of your character: your love/attitude towards: 1. God Other people Yourself

True humility

I used to think humility was the most important quality a person could pursue. If you're humble you can "fix" any other deficient quality, because you'll listen to the people who are giving you feedback.

The silence is more dangerous than the noise

I spent some time with a homeless man the other day. He said something I've been thinking about since: "Sometimes the silence is more dangerous than the noise".

Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58 changed everything for me. For a long time I made seeking and knowing God the goal of my life. It was straightforward. Not easy, but straightforward. Spend time alone with him. Feel what's on his heart. Thank him for the countless ways I've been overwhelmed by his love. Put on some music and sing to him, dance with him. I felt him, so many nights, alone and desparate for his presence, he poured out his love on me.

Omniscience

I wonder if God likes knowing everything. I don't know if I would. Surprises are fun. Constraints make him more powerful.

An argument against recreational drugs

For a long time I've held a neutral view on light recreational drugs. I tried to base this on my interpretation of the Bible. My interpretation is that most guidance related to drugs refers to being sober-minded, which in my experience, is a pretty clear boundary that can be kept within.

Blind dancers

There's a place where darkness hangs, A cloud of misery and of pain. And though it never comes to mind, A swarm of demons flies inside.

Tapestry

I've walked for miles, chasing you, Down long and winding roads. Fleeting glimpses, wind and smoke, Whisper you are close.

Scaffold

This is the primary model of computation today:

A minimal and pure yet useful language

At a number of points in my career I've desired a small, jq-like language for representing a transformation from some input to an output. I'd like it to be simple enough for things like loop counters to be simply i + 1, while flexible enough to process sequence mappings and reductions. I'd like it to be pure and deterministic, allowing the embedder to handle IO and any interaction with the world. I'd like it to be minimal, even to the point of the embedder providing things like numbers and strings. Some environments will want numbers to be python-like bigints, while others might want a simple double. Finally, I'd like it to be eventually fast and able to be compiled.

What God can't do

You gave up your son for me, I raise up my hands. You laid down your life for me, I fall to the ground.