Gary was the geek of the group. He was the one who came up with the MetaWing. The wing that had changed everything.
Before Gary was rich and famous... he was just a socially awkward geek. He spent most of his time as a recluse... designing on his computer like Michelangelo (at least in his own mind). Experimenting like Edison... he wished. But he had to work as a business software developer to fund his experiments. Boring work, but it paid the bills.
His work didn't allow for much fashion or hygiene . Jeans, a t-shirt, flip-flops... with some rumpled hair... that was Gary almost 24/7.
Gary liked to talk about meta-data and meta-programming. People tended to nod and say "oh... okay". But since Gary would frequently pull off minor miracles with his databases, folks would tolerate his weirdness. His weirdness hadn't been well-tolerated in his youth. Schoolkids can be so cruel.
When his software clients nicknamed him "Meta", Gary could feel an element of love, but he also knew he was way different. He knew he wasn't really understood.
As an adult, Gary often attempted to share his out-of-the-box designs. But he could tell folks weren't really receptive. He felt like everyone dismissed him as a dreamer.
But he knew. He knew he could come up with something big.
And when he finally got something big, it was huge. The MetaWing revolutionized aviation.
The wing could morph radically and transform itself from "fighter jet sleek" to "hang-glider slow". The MetaWing lift system was light, inexpensive, fuel-efficient, fast and safe.
The MetaWing combined some traditional composite wing surfaces with something Gary named the MetaFoils. In the tuck state, wing look almost like any other wing. But if you knew what you were looking for, you could see that the wing could split into a top wing and a bottom and the MetaWing would in essence change into an old fashioned biplane.
Of course that meant that there was much more drag and the plane was a lot slower... but that meant safer. And since Gary was incredibly risk averse, he felt safer was good!
But if two wings were better than one, Gary thought, what if there were 10 wings? There would be tremendous drag and lots of lift and a wing that could fly really slow.
And that was the genesis of the MetaFoils. After the single wing would split apart and morph into a biplane configuration, a set of para-foils that looked sort of like venetian blinds would spread out and catch the air between the biplane wings. This created such tremendous lift and drag that the MetaWing could be landed at 20 mph, even with a good sized load.
General aviation was never the same. And neither was Gary the Geek. He had embraced his nickname and created a new and improved image as "Meta". The money and the fame had definitely helped to heal some of the old wounds. But if you dug deep, Gary the Geek was still there. The old hurts... the old shame... it was there. Waiting there.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Prop 8, Evil Masquerading as Good
It has been said we are in a culture war. And this is the justification of the Religious Right. So they cast their votes Yes for California Proposition 8, a proposition to effectively outlaw gay marriage. They thought they were fighting the good fight. Fighting the culture war.
Two thousand years ago, their ancestors of the Religious Right cast stones, not ballots. If Jesus were to have spoken to the Religious Right, they would have heard him say "Let he who is without sin, cast the first ballot for Proposition 8".
How did Evil masquerade as Good? People believed they were voting for a good thing when they voted for proposition 8. But they were mistaken because the Yes votes disgraced Christianity. The Yes votes make Christians look judgmental and harsh. The Yes votes turn some people away from Christianity. The ugliness of these votes obscures the beauty of the Grace of God for ALL sinners and replaces it with guilt and condemnation for those unfortunate minorities. Christianity becomes ugly and Evil has control over the church.
Was it a satanic force that urged the Biblical mob to cast the stone and kill the sinner? Is it a satanic force that urges urges some to "cast the ballot" at the gays?
Why is a vote for Proposition 8 so ugly? It's a stigma. Its underlying message: you don't deserve to be loved. My sin is better than your sin.
When I witness to people, and I tell them, God wants us to be free, to live and let live. To lead lives of grace. We need to extend the grace we have been given to others. We are allowed to sin. We need to let others sin. And know that they are loved anyway.
Jesus would say to you... let he who is without sin, cast the first ballot for Proposition 8.
You cannot fight a culture war against sin and win. God gives people the right to sin, to swear, to abuse His name, to be blasphemous. God lets people choose evil. And we all choose evil at some point. Let's drop the guilt, and embrace the Grace.
Let's vote for a revival of Christian Grace! Let's Repeal Proposition 8, in Jesus name, Amen.
Two thousand years ago, their ancestors of the Religious Right cast stones, not ballots. If Jesus were to have spoken to the Religious Right, they would have heard him say "Let he who is without sin, cast the first ballot for Proposition 8".
How did Evil masquerade as Good? People believed they were voting for a good thing when they voted for proposition 8. But they were mistaken because the Yes votes disgraced Christianity. The Yes votes make Christians look judgmental and harsh. The Yes votes turn some people away from Christianity. The ugliness of these votes obscures the beauty of the Grace of God for ALL sinners and replaces it with guilt and condemnation for those unfortunate minorities. Christianity becomes ugly and Evil has control over the church.
Was it a satanic force that urged the Biblical mob to cast the stone and kill the sinner? Is it a satanic force that urges urges some to "cast the ballot" at the gays?
Why is a vote for Proposition 8 so ugly? It's a stigma. Its underlying message: you don't deserve to be loved. My sin is better than your sin.
When I witness to people, and I tell them, God wants us to be free, to live and let live. To lead lives of grace. We need to extend the grace we have been given to others. We are allowed to sin. We need to let others sin. And know that they are loved anyway.
Jesus would say to you... let he who is without sin, cast the first ballot for Proposition 8.
You cannot fight a culture war against sin and win. God gives people the right to sin, to swear, to abuse His name, to be blasphemous. God lets people choose evil. And we all choose evil at some point. Let's drop the guilt, and embrace the Grace.
Let's vote for a revival of Christian Grace! Let's Repeal Proposition 8, in Jesus name, Amen.
The Tai Chi Tennis Master
"Tai Chi Tom" didn't look too unusual as he stepped out onto the tennis court. But there was that long flowing hair. Coming out from under his backwards mounted baseball cap. He was still hanging on to that early Agassi look into his middle age.
Even though Tom had lost a step of his once stellar speed, Tom could still definitely project his chi on the tennis court. Tom explained his chi that first day in our tennis class.
It didn't take us long to see it. He had an inner force. And yet he was calm, smooth and effective. He made it look effortless. His energy just flowed. He taught us how to flow on a much smaller scale, but we did it.
Tom knew how to gracefully sidestep things. It was visible as he would glide to the optimal hit point, marshall his chi, and then step into the ball. It would look like it was slow-motion, yet his hits would frequently surprise his opponents with their pace.
Tom also knew how to navigate his clientele; his BRATs, he lovingly called them. Brats? Beautiful / Rich / with ATtitude. There were egos to manage, to nurture, to massage. There were egos that needed to be controlled. Sometimes there were some real challenges, but Tom usually made it look easy.
That is, except when it came to Jessica. Jessica just had a power over Tom. And the usually cool Tom could sense he was losing control. She put him out of his comfort zone. She put him off his game.
Everybody knew Jessica was stunning. She was gorgeous, athletic, intelligent and financially successful. She had this incredibly charming personality most of the time... and then there were events. Events that left Tom obsessed, angry and worst of all... dazed, confused ... and scared.
Even though Tom had lost a step of his once stellar speed, Tom could still definitely project his chi on the tennis court. Tom explained his chi that first day in our tennis class.
It didn't take us long to see it. He had an inner force. And yet he was calm, smooth and effective. He made it look effortless. His energy just flowed. He taught us how to flow on a much smaller scale, but we did it.
Tom knew how to gracefully sidestep things. It was visible as he would glide to the optimal hit point, marshall his chi, and then step into the ball. It would look like it was slow-motion, yet his hits would frequently surprise his opponents with their pace.
Tom also knew how to navigate his clientele; his BRATs, he lovingly called them. Brats? Beautiful / Rich / with ATtitude. There were egos to manage, to nurture, to massage. There were egos that needed to be controlled. Sometimes there were some real challenges, but Tom usually made it look easy.
That is, except when it came to Jessica. Jessica just had a power over Tom. And the usually cool Tom could sense he was losing control. She put him out of his comfort zone. She put him off his game.
Everybody knew Jessica was stunning. She was gorgeous, athletic, intelligent and financially successful. She had this incredibly charming personality most of the time... and then there were events. Events that left Tom obsessed, angry and worst of all... dazed, confused ... and scared.
Tai Chi Tennis
So I have this idea about a different way to teach tennis. And I would like to put together some video and post it on YouTube. I'm struggling with the title, though...
>> Tennis Made Simple?
>> Tennis Best Practices?
>> The Great Wall of Chi?
>> The Simple Zen of Rock Star Tennis?
>> Avoiding tennis elbow!
When I watch the average players at our club, there are so many of them that hit the ball late. I think footwork and point of contact should be mastered before anything else. The very best players have the very best footwork. The best players step into the ball.
They float to the ball and given time, they plant their feet, stride into the ball and groove these beautiful shots. I can visualize Justine Henin's topspin backhand. She is this teeny thing and yet she generates so much power because she steps into the ball and takes it really early.
So my idea is a combination of tai chi steps and visualization and initially slow, simple, easy "best practices" to teach players to flow to the ball, step into the ball and take it early: create the wall. Be the wall. Get everything back.
Then once the consistency is there, add the racketspeed to generate the rockstar wicked topspin groundstrokes.
>> Tennis Made Simple?
>> Tennis Best Practices?
>> The Great Wall of Chi?
>> The Simple Zen of Rock Star Tennis?
>> Avoiding tennis elbow!
When I watch the average players at our club, there are so many of them that hit the ball late. I think footwork and point of contact should be mastered before anything else. The very best players have the very best footwork. The best players step into the ball.
They float to the ball and given time, they plant their feet, stride into the ball and groove these beautiful shots. I can visualize Justine Henin's topspin backhand. She is this teeny thing and yet she generates so much power because she steps into the ball and takes it really early.
So my idea is a combination of tai chi steps and visualization and initially slow, simple, easy "best practices" to teach players to flow to the ball, step into the ball and take it early: create the wall. Be the wall. Get everything back.
Then once the consistency is there, add the racketspeed to generate the rockstar wicked topspin groundstrokes.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Playing Tennis and Living with Grace
Okay... so how does tennis fit into the prophecy? Gracefully I hope...
Will a match that starts at love end in love?
So how does one live life? So how does one play tennis?
Sometimes I play gracefully. And then there are other times.
Sometimes I live gracefully. And sometimes I fall short.
In tennis, and in life, it is all about an appropriate response.
Sometimes we lose in tennis because we overreact. Many beginners swing way too hard and miss many shots. Even experienced players will overhit on slow easy balls. Overreaction, an inappropriate response... on the court and in life. I know these things... and yet I still overreact.
Sometimes we lose in tennis because we don't react enough. If the ball is hit short, you need to run up and get it. There are times that urgent action is necessary. I often have an inadequate response to events in my own life.
In tennis, there are some really graceful players that hit with a soft touch at times and with force and strength at others. Graceful players have appropriate responses... they react the right amount at the right time.
So, let's try to have graceful responses... :)
Will a match that starts at love end in love?
So how does one live life? So how does one play tennis?
Sometimes I play gracefully. And then there are other times.
Sometimes I live gracefully. And sometimes I fall short.
In tennis, and in life, it is all about an appropriate response.
Sometimes we lose in tennis because we overreact. Many beginners swing way too hard and miss many shots. Even experienced players will overhit on slow easy balls. Overreaction, an inappropriate response... on the court and in life. I know these things... and yet I still overreact.
Sometimes we lose in tennis because we don't react enough. If the ball is hit short, you need to run up and get it. There are times that urgent action is necessary. I often have an inadequate response to events in my own life.
In tennis, there are some really graceful players that hit with a soft touch at times and with force and strength at others. Graceful players have appropriate responses... they react the right amount at the right time.
So, let's try to have graceful responses... :)
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Ultimate Reconciling Item... Grace
A graceful Christian is not coercive.
A graceful Atheist doesn't need to be hostile to religion.
Let us spread God's grace.
Let us live and let live.
--amen
A graceful Atheist doesn't need to be hostile to religion.
Let us spread God's grace.
Let us live and let live.
--amen
Friday, December 5, 2008
A Life at the Intersection... of Faith and Reason
I want to share with you a life at the intersection of faith and reason... and the ultimate reconciliation.
The Origin of My Faith...
The Origin of My Faith...
- I was born at a very early age... :) ... to some very loving but very fundamentalist Southern Baptists.
- I was baptized as a 5 year old of my own free will. I had walked the aisle. I had stepped forward and said I believed.
- The preacher was skeptical. So they had a little quiz for me to make sure I understood.
- I passed the quiz. I felt saved... and loved. They said I was saved. They also said... "once saved, always saved".
- There was a time when my beliefs were unrestrained.
- When I hit my teenage years, logic began to create doubt.
- There were obvious logical flaws in the Bible, a text our family considered the undisputed Word of God. Nothing could be questioned.
- The book was the foundation of our faith. But the flaws were cracks in the foundation!
- My belief was shaken. Darwin and biology are very convincing.
- It appeared obvious... "elephant in the room" obvious, that chunks of the Bible are fiction.
- After hearing the dogmatic "It's all truth!", there was a tendency to rebel and say "it's all fiction!".
- There was a time when I considered Atheism. I could see the logic of Ayn Rand and an objectivist philosophy. "If we can't observe something in an objective experiment and see consistent proof..."
- My career is based on logic. My accounting degree and CPA put me into the reconciliation business.
- I became an auditor. Could we reconcile the cash balance per the company to the bank statement?
- Reconciling meant finding the differences, and in the process, identifying the shared truths.
- My career took me into computer programming and development. I automated reconciliation processes, making it easy.
- My hobby was trying to philosophically reconcile between atheism and faith.
- So on one side, my father is a very intelligent man. And as you may have guessed, he asserts Biblical Inerrancy.
- On the other, as my son matured and showed his genius, he adopted a fairly hard atheist position.
- I felt a strong personal need to be able to reconcile this...
- I had a life of logic...
- Interspersed with religious experiences that were really intense...
- As I got close to truth and beautiful things, I would feel this incredibly electric feeling. It was just chilling! I suspect the 80% of the people that have spiritual beliefs have probably had similar feelings when they felt near to a divine presence.
- And yet, when I heard the call to legislate morality, I felt revulsion.
- We need to lead with Grace.
- The truth is, we all have a God given right to believe as we wish.
- The grace that we are given, we should extend.
- A graceful Christian is not coercive, and should not legislate morality or wage culture war.
- A graceful Atheist should not be hostile to religion.
- Let us reassert the God-given right for each to believe as they wish.
- Let us spread God's grace.
- Let us live and let live.
- --amen
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Solomon and the Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the United States of America.
And to the republic for which it stands
one nation
under God
indivisible
with liberty and justice for all.
---------------------
Solomon sat on the court when the "Pledge of Allegiance" case was heard. And it was argued left and right, back and forth. Did the phrase "one nation under God" violate the rights of atheists?
Of course some argued that it violated the separation of church and state. Solomon could see that.
But Solomon considered that as a nation, we have never really defined God. So when a Jewish, or Islamic or Christian says the pledge, they might have slightly different opinions on God. Those folks' opinions of God are informed by the Torah, or the Quran, or the Bible. But the nation as a whole is guided by God, because the people feel guided by God.
So Solomon felt that if you are an Atheist, you believe that God was created by man. And if that is true, the image and message of God can be twisted and manipulated. And Solomon was certain the message of God has been perverted at times. Solomon knew that people have been encouraged to kill and maim and wage war in God's name.
Solomon looked at the Atheist father who wanted to protect his child. And Solomon said to the Atheist father, here is what I suggest you tell your child.
We need to embrace God as a shared set of values that has the potential to be used for good instead of evil. We need to embrace God to help us find peace and understanding. We need to embrace common shared values that will get us to live and let live.
God in His Grace, gives us the right to believe as we wish. When we extend that grace to others, we reduce conflict.
Let us find peace with God. And as usual, you get to define the meaning of the term. But still, let us find peace with God. And then let us find peace with each other.
to the flag
of the United States of America.
And to the republic for which it stands
one nation
under God
indivisible
with liberty and justice for all.
---------------------
Solomon sat on the court when the "Pledge of Allegiance" case was heard. And it was argued left and right, back and forth. Did the phrase "one nation under God" violate the rights of atheists?
Of course some argued that it violated the separation of church and state. Solomon could see that.
But Solomon considered that as a nation, we have never really defined God. So when a Jewish, or Islamic or Christian says the pledge, they might have slightly different opinions on God. Those folks' opinions of God are informed by the Torah, or the Quran, or the Bible. But the nation as a whole is guided by God, because the people feel guided by God.
So Solomon felt that if you are an Atheist, you believe that God was created by man. And if that is true, the image and message of God can be twisted and manipulated. And Solomon was certain the message of God has been perverted at times. Solomon knew that people have been encouraged to kill and maim and wage war in God's name.
Solomon looked at the Atheist father who wanted to protect his child. And Solomon said to the Atheist father, here is what I suggest you tell your child.
Well sweety, most people believe in God. They believe that God loves us and wants the best for us. They believe that when we sin, we cause pain and suffering. So God has rules he wants us to live by to avoid problems caused by sinning. Their beliefs are frequently comforting to them. Their beliefs are empowering, because they have faith. They believe God helps them to be a better person.
You will hear atheists talk about God, but atheists believe God is the creation of man, as opposed to man being a creation of God. But as practical atheists, we realize that God, even if a creation of man, God is a force in our nation.
So when the Jews and Gentiles say the pledge, we let them define God however they see fit. And as atheists, when we say God in the pledge, we get to define God as we see fit. So hear is the new atheist version of the pledge of allegiance:
I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the United States of America.
And to the republic for which it stands
one nation
under God
(whom we deem to be created by man but it would
benefit us all if we define God to be a loving, peaceful,
tolerant God that wants us to embrace freedom)
indivisible
with liberty and justice for all.
The truth of the matter is that everyone is free to define God as they see fit. You get to believe what you want to believe. And that is the truth, we are a nation under God, whether real or imagined. The impact of the belief is the same.So when the Jews and Gentiles say the pledge, we let them define God however they see fit. And as atheists, when we say God in the pledge, we get to define God as we see fit. So hear is the new atheist version of the pledge of allegiance:
I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the United States of America.
And to the republic for which it stands
one nation
under God
(whom we deem to be created by man but it would
benefit us all if we define God to be a loving, peaceful,
tolerant God that wants us to embrace freedom)
indivisible
with liberty and justice for all.
We need to embrace God as a shared set of values that has the potential to be used for good instead of evil. We need to embrace God to help us find peace and understanding. We need to embrace common shared values that will get us to live and let live.
God in His Grace, gives us the right to believe as we wish. When we extend that grace to others, we reduce conflict.
Let us find peace with God. And as usual, you get to define the meaning of the term. But still, let us find peace with God. And then let us find peace with each other.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Simple Truths...
The Uncertain Prophet said... we believe in simple truths. Seek ye the truth and the truth will make you free.
God wants us to be free. God wants us to live and let live. He wants us to live in peace. God doesn't want us to try and control one another. Control efforts create conflict and disturb the peace. God grants us freedom to live and make poor choices. This freedom that God has given should NOT be restricted by the state. We should not legislate morality. Let us extend the grace that God and our friends give us, and ask us to forgive and forget the selfish sins of whatever nature or choice. Our sharia mandates religious freedom; no one is under attack. However, we WILL defend ourselves from terrorists! God wants us to be free.
God wants us to lead lives of grace. Graceful relationships are possible. We need to figure out how to be graceful children that accept instruction, graceful parents that gently lead and finally graceful adults that allow each other freedom. All children, parents and adults need to learn to forgive and forget; to let go; to live with grace. Our sharia mandates religious freedom; adults are allowed to sin. God wants us to lead lives of grace.
We need to burn less and grow more. There is too much carbon in the air. We are polluting our world. We need more plants and trees to soak up the sun and the carbon. Our planet will be greener and cooler if we grew more plants. We need more life. We need to promote life in our barren spots. We need more surface area for plant life. We should colonize the seas with floating farms, forests and marshes. We need to burn less and grow more.
Whatever you tax, you discourage. We should be smarter about what we tax. We are idiots for taxing employment, because we discourage employment. We need a different tax system. We need a Natural Tax system. Instead of discouraging human resources (jobs), we should tax natural resource usage. We'd discourage big wasteful behavior. People would live cleaner and smaller or pay a lot in natural taxes for being such a polluter. People would be encouraged financially to burn less. Whatever you tax, you discourage. Let's encourage people to burn less and stop discouraging employment.
God wants us to be free. God wants us to live and let live. He wants us to live in peace. God doesn't want us to try and control one another. Control efforts create conflict and disturb the peace. God grants us freedom to live and make poor choices. This freedom that God has given should NOT be restricted by the state. We should not legislate morality. Let us extend the grace that God and our friends give us, and ask us to forgive and forget the selfish sins of whatever nature or choice. Our sharia mandates religious freedom; no one is under attack. However, we WILL defend ourselves from terrorists! God wants us to be free.
God wants us to lead lives of grace. Graceful relationships are possible. We need to figure out how to be graceful children that accept instruction, graceful parents that gently lead and finally graceful adults that allow each other freedom. All children, parents and adults need to learn to forgive and forget; to let go; to live with grace. Our sharia mandates religious freedom; adults are allowed to sin. God wants us to lead lives of grace.
We need to burn less and grow more. There is too much carbon in the air. We are polluting our world. We need more plants and trees to soak up the sun and the carbon. Our planet will be greener and cooler if we grew more plants. We need more life. We need to promote life in our barren spots. We need more surface area for plant life. We should colonize the seas with floating farms, forests and marshes. We need to burn less and grow more.
Whatever you tax, you discourage. We should be smarter about what we tax. We are idiots for taxing employment, because we discourage employment. We need a different tax system. We need a Natural Tax system. Instead of discouraging human resources (jobs), we should tax natural resource usage. We'd discourage big wasteful behavior. People would live cleaner and smaller or pay a lot in natural taxes for being such a polluter. People would be encouraged financially to burn less. Whatever you tax, you discourage. Let's encourage people to burn less and stop discouraging employment.
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