Do You Have a Reference for Your Beliefs?
I’m thinking Christianity and the bible, but the question is valid in a lot of other ways too! For anything you believe, what is your basis?
I run into a lot of people who say things like “I’m a Christian, but I don’t read the bible.” Or “I believe in God but I don’t believe the bible.” Many people, Christian or not, seem to think the bible is just too weird or can’t be trusted. I can certainly agree the bible is challenging. I’m not ready to toss it out though.
If you don’t believe, or trust, the bible, then what is the basis for your belief? Can you have real belief if there is no reference point?
The book Fantasyland, by Kurt Anderson, pokes pretty hard at all our different Christian denominations and how much we argue with each other, and how it seems we are mostly “making it up as we go.” Does that make any sense? Many denominations claim to be bible-based; yet many seem to be overly focused on a few verses rather than the message of the entire bible. Many have valid arguments as far as they go.
It’s one thing to base your views on the bible, potentially getting a few things wrong. But if you don’t even try to base your views on the bible, then what do you have? I’d really like to understand what “non-Biblical Christianity” means.
For now, I’ll continue to struggle with the awkwardness of some of the bible (actually, only a small part is all that awkward). Yeah, I might get part wrong. When that’s pointed out to me, I’ll adjust appropriately.
I choose to continue to be a biblical truth seeker. I’m OK with never reaching 100% understanding! What’s the alternative?
What is the cost of healthcare services?
What is the actual cost of any health procedure?
Excerpt from a medical form:
You go for a procedure, the “cost” is say, $350, it’s billed to insurance, and the “agreed to” price is like $175 and that’s what insurance pays, and seemingly everybody is happy. Per the above excerpt, basically just for the asking, the “cost” is reduced by 30%, or maybe even 45%. So … is the doctor/ practice making money? I would assume so. Does that mean the reality is that the “cost” was way less than what was billed, so that after adjustments, we finally get back to the actual, “reasonable,” cost of the procedure?
I would love to see the realistic cost for a procedure. Does anybody even know any more?
I want to see transparency in pricing. I just wonder if there is any such thing?
Put Dates on Things!
Just feel like being nit-picky today. These are things that are very important. Well, to me.
This might be a Peter Drucker idea, although I don’t really remember where I got it. Just sounds like him. Put a date on everything! A real date, including year. If only I could retroactively teach this to my ancestors. Amazing how many documents I find that have only a month and day for date. Or worse, no date at all. History items with no way to know when written, and often even who wrote the piece.
For at least 20 years, I’ve made it my habit to put a full date on everything. Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, that date goes at the top right. I wish all the old print photographs I have had a date on them!
How about Staples vs. Paperclips?
Not directly related to the above, except it’s just a good habit. Again, might be a Drucker thing. Staples are good, paperclips are bad. Paperclips have a bad habit of letting go of things they should hold onto, and holding onto things that weren’t intended to be together. There are probably some semi-funny quotes on that.
There’s also a right and wrong place to put a staple. Near the corner, near the edge, parallel to the edge. Diagonal is common. Why?
For another day, why do we in the US put dates in MM/DD/YYYY order? It makes no sense! YYYY/MM/DD would be ideal because it sorts so well, or DD/MM/YYYY fits because it’s least significant to most significant. Oh well.
Do you have more than one priority?
If so, how is that working for you?
Priority used to be a simpler word. It was, by definition, just one thing. Maybe we should go back to that. At least, only one priority per day. Can you stretch that to a week? A month? Imagine if you focused your attention on just one thing for an extended period of time. How much might you accomplish?
Much like the idea from years ago of “top down programming,”
Also called “stepwise refinement,” it is a software development technique that imposes a hierarchical structure on the design of the program. It starts out by defining the solution at the highest level of functionality and breaking it down further and further into small routines that can be easily documented and coded.
This is a daily battle (but a good one) for me, to focus on my one main thing. That one thing may change from time to time. Ideally after many weeks or months, not daily!
I like multi-tasking (or task switching) as much as the next person. It took me a lot of years to believe that wasn’t the best way to use my time.
How about you?
#Essentialism
Of course, for some of us, choosing that priority can be a challenge.
(Thanks Keith L)
Stepping Back in Time
Over the weekend I needed to hand draw a scale drawing of some construction plans. I’ve had most of this stuff, and a lot more, since my days in Engineering Graphics 101 at Georgia Tech. What a fun reminder of a time long ago!
Excellent Advice for Living
This may have far more good advice than my “100 things” will ever have!
What a great and simple book. Heads-up, there’s probably very little in it that you haven’t already heard. The book is written, mostly, as very short sayings or quotes that are easily tweetable if that’s what you want to do.
Kevin Kelly, the author, wasn’t a name I instantly recognized. Until you suddenly realize he is the guy behind Wired Magazine! (and a few others publications and early websites and networks.) Another book by Kelly, What Technology Wants, has some surprises in it. Kelly has little use for a Smart Phone or even a TV!
The subtitle is “Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier” and the idea is to share this with someone (anyone!) who’s younger. Let’s give future generations a great jump start on life. I plan to share this book with my sons and others and expect it will foster some little short conversations, or texts, along the lines of “Did you read the second item on page 23? What a great idea!” (or I guess some could be terrible ideas that you can disagree with, but still good conversation starters.)
I have two annoyances with this book, and they are small. First, I wish each item was numbered, so I could simply refer to “item 49” instead of “the third item on page 16.” This would help with my second annoyance too, which is that as an audiobook, it’s sometimes a little tricky to tell when one item is done and the next begins. Like I said, these are small issues!
For a book that has nothing new in it, it’s a great book.
Thanks to Mickey Mellen for recently referencing it and inspiring me to give it a read.