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8/11/25
Curation to me is really a good word. It’s become overused on the internet to the point that it seems to just mean picking something — like you can “curate” your Instagram page or have a “curated” skincare routine. But human curation goes back to the real meaning of the word, which literally comes from ancient Roman urbanism where there were curators who took care of certain parts of the city, like the Colosseum games or the river.
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8/10/25 →
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always
those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without
you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; Amen.
8/6/25 →
O God, who on the holy mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thy well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with thee, O Father, andthee, O Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, worldwithout end. Amen.
8/4/25 →
“The future of the Church, once again as always, will be reshaped by saints. Those whose minds probe deeper than the slogans of the day, who see more than others see, because their lives embrace a wider reality.”
Joseph Ratzinger
7/30/25 →
“For by the Father’s hands, namely the Son and the Holy Spirit, man—and not part of man—is made to the image and likeness of God. … [it is] the mingling and the union of all these [the soul and body and mind] that makes the perfect man.”
St. Irenaeus of Lyons
7/27/25 →
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal.
7/23/25 →
“To write well and speak well is mere vanity if one does not live well.”
St. Bridget of Sweden
7/22/25 →
Note to self: There are enough hours in the day. You would not thrive if there were more. If you cannot get it all done in a day, perhaps you were not designed to get it all done in a day. Turn off the screen. Smell the outside. Wrestle a small child. And then start again tomorrow.
7/9/25 →
The relationship between being and doing is dripping throughout the lectionary next Sunday.
OT: become a new people after Egypt
NT: become saints in light of the cross and resurrection
Gospel: “What must I DO?” is answered by Jesus telling the lawyer to “BE a neighbor”
7/5/25 →
My recent desire on walks to recognize—by sight and sound—the birds of our neighborhood has nothing to do with turning forty. Right? Just a renewed desire to know and appreciate the world around me. Right?
7/2/25 →
Before you can intentionally form a human child, you have to understand what a human child is, and what a human child is for. Unfortunately, most of the modern educational movements of the past century have, as their foundation, a woefully inadequate anthropology.
livingchurch.org/covenant/…
6/25/25 →
My contribution to an essay series commemorating the Council of Nicaea was published today.
In it I offer a thought experiment I have used to teach the Councils and Creeds over the years.
https://livingchurch.org/covenant/the-nicene-creed-deciding-the-rules-of-the-game/
6/23/25 →
From MIT’s recently published study Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task:
“Participants who were in the Brain-only group reported higher satisfaction and demonstrated higher brain connectivity, compared to other groups.”
That “higher satisfaction” and “higher brain connectivity” were associated with those who had no access to LLMs confirms the hunch that many of us have had all along:
Avoiding LLMs in academic work is better FOR YOU.
You can read the whole study here: arxiv.org/pdf/2506….
6/21/25 →
A window pops up, blocking content, to encourage me to download the app for a better reading experience. In the app, a window pops up, blocking content, to encourage me to rate the app. All the while, I have unread paper books next to my bed.
6/19/25 →
We are increasingly convinced that newer is always better in every arena of life. But what if there are older, better ways to think about what it means to be human?
Read more from a preview of the Introduction to my next book: Rhythms of Habit.