relationships

Excerpts from Psalm 62

On 03/27/2018, in faith, global / globalization, relationships, society, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 62 — from biblegateway.com
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

¹Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
²Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

…

⁵Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
⁶Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷My salvation and my honor depend on God;
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.

From DSC:
I wish I could always be able to experience/live out the words King David wrote here. Finding rest. Never being shaken.

But things aren’t always perfectly tranquil and calm in my soul. I can find myself like Peter, who tries to go out to Christ on the water…but he started to sink and he quickly needed to reach out to the LORD for help. I appreciate that the LORD is patient, kind, and good. His patience is incredible to me. “O ye of little faith” applies to me at times, but I thank the LORD for His patience.

That said, the LORD *is* my refuge, a shelter in times of trouble but also when times are good. I like how King David urges us to communicate freely and openly with the LORD…pouring out our hearts to Him. It seems to me that strong/solid relationships need that level of communication.

SXSW 2018: Key trends — from jwtintelligence.com by Marie Stafford w/ contributions by Sarah Holbrook

Excerpt:

Ethics & the Big Tech Backlash
What a difference a week makes. As the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke last weekend, the curtain was already coming down on SXSW. Even without this latest bombshell, the discussion around ethics in technology was animated, with more than 10 panels devoted to the theme. From misinformation to surveillance, from algorithmic bias to the perils of artificial intelligence (hi Elon!) speakers grappled with the weighty issue of how to ensure technology works for the good of humanity.

…

The Human Connection
When technology provokes this much concern, it’s perhaps natural that people should seek respite in human qualities like empathy, understanding and emotional connection.

In a standout keynote, couples therapist Esther Perel gently berated the SXSW audience for neglecting to focus on human relationships. “The quality of your relationships,” she said, “is what determines the quality of your life.

Psalm 139:17-18

On 03/07/2018, in faith, global / globalization, relationships, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 139:17-18 New International Version (NIV) — from biblegateway.com

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

Image from hdwallsource.com

“Fake videos are on the rise. As they become more realistic, seeing shouldn’t always be believing” [David Pierson Fe]

On 02/19/2018, in 21st century, 3D, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, emerging technologies, ethics, morals/values, political science, relationships, simulations, social media, society, sociology, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, by Daniel Christian

Fake videos are on the rise. As they become more realistic, seeing shouldn’t always be believing — from latimes.com by David Pierson Fe

Excerpts:

It’s not hard to imagine a world in which social media is awash with doctored videos targeting ordinary people to exact revenge, extort or to simply troll.

In that scenario, where Twitter and Facebook are algorithmically flooded with hoaxes, no one could fully believe what they see. Truth, already diminished by Russia’s misinformation campaign and President Trump’s proclivity to label uncomplimentary journalism “fake news,” would be more subjective than ever.

The danger there is not just believing hoaxes, but also dismissing what’s real.

…

The consequences could be devastating for the notion of evidentiary video, long considered the paradigm of proof given the sophistication required to manipulate it.

“This goes far beyond ‘fake news’ because you are dealing with a medium, video, that we traditionally put a tremendous amount of weight on and trust in,” said David Ryan Polgar, a writer and self-described tech ethicist.

From DSC:
Though I’m typically pro-technology, this is truly disturbing. There are certainly downsides to technology as well as upsides — but it’s how we use a technology that can make the real difference. Again, this is truly disturbing.

Psalm 98:4-9

On 02/16/2018, in faith, global / globalization, relationships, society, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 98:4-9 New International Version (NIV)

⁴Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
⁷Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

Philippians 4:8

On 01/26/2018, in faith, global / globalization, relationships, society, by Daniel Christian

Philippians 4:8 — from the New International Version (NIV)

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything
is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8-9 from The Message:

^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling
your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable,
authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst;
the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard
and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything
work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Psalm 8: Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

On 01/24/2018, in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 8 New International Version (NIV) — from biblegateway.com
For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.

2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,

8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

On 01/19/2018, in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society, by Daniel Christian

Matthew 7:12 New International Version (NIV) — from biblegateway.com

¹²So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Some verses from Psalm 118

On 01/11/2018, in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 118:22-24 (NIV)

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

…

²²The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
²³the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.

…

²⁸You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.

²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Merry Christmas! Some scripture from the Book of Luke re: the birth of Jesus.

On 12/22/2017, in faith, global / globalization, relationships, society, by Daniel Christian

Luke 1:26-33 New International Version (NIV) — from biblegateway.com

The Birth of Jesus Foretold
²⁶In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

——

Luke 2 New International Version (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

²¹On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Merry Christmas!

Innovating Pedagogy 2017 — from iet.open.ac.uk

Excerpt:

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This sixth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Learning In a NetworKed Society (LINKS) Israeli Center of Research Excellence (I-CORE). We proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. We then pared these down to ten that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in secondary and tertiary education. Lastly, we drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in an approximate order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation.

From Psalm 100 – “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise”

On 11/22/2017, in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

¹Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Trying to count my blessings is like…

On 11/17/2017, in Daniel S. Christian, faith, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, by Daniel Christian

…which reminds me of Psalm 40:5 (NIV)

⁵Many, Lord my God,
    are the wonders you have done,
    the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
    were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
    they would be too many to declare.

A doxology from Romans 11:33-36

On 11/06/2017, in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society, youth, by Daniel Christian

Romans 11:33-36 New International Version (NIV)

Doxology

³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!
³⁴“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵“Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?”
³⁶For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.

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