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A new perspective is always a good thing.

Take the B&B contract found in NUMBERS, chapters 22-24.  The book called Numbers is fascinating in itself.  But this story has been a literary gem over centuries – even millenia!

A consultant, know for their wisdom and sources, is asked by a fierce competitor/CEO to predict the outcome of a possible takeover.  Money doesn’t seem to be an object – and I suppose the fierceness of the CEO was a good reminder to do your best work.

The consultant checks the sources (well, actually the top/leading source only).  Each time the news is not good for the CEO.  The source not only predicts a strong victory for those arranging for the take over – there is even an additional “and they are going to do really well” thrown in.

Three times. 

The CEO gets mad and jumps up and down (well, probably did some not so nice “clapping” to get attention).  The consultant then says – “I’m out of here”.  And as a final gesture, tells the CEO what is going to happen to his company of people, what will happen to other rivals in the area, and what will happen to the takeover people.

Fun story – in the end the point is – don’t mess with the consultant who has the source!

A quote (from Carey Nieuwhof) attributed to Tim Keller, academic, activist and active Christian pastor:

“I would say that as a man who was 69 years old, I actually was pretty unfocused . . . but I was tending to do whatever anybody asked me to do… if I finally had one year left, two, three, four, five years—what should I be doing? I didn’t have that focus. Now I do.” (2021)

Pancreatic cancer was discovered in the beginning of the 2020’s.  He lived until earlier this year.  Unfocused?  He wrote, spoke and affected a generation of Christian leaders – myself included in that number. 

I’m 69!  Am I unfocused even though I have an interesting and extensive CV? 

Good question!

I love this phrase – technologically mediated epistemology.

My life is about seeking truth.  That is epistemology – that which is over and above the things that happen below and often.  Of course, we seek this out in various ways – what we would call “mediated”.  And the latest development – or more rightly the latest outpouring has come through technology.

I love the idea of AI (artificial intelligence).  As a researcher I keep thinking that I am constantly trying to learn more – to increase my intelligence.  I wish I had the capacity that computer programs have to search a broad spectrum of primary and secondary sources.  Once those sources are found, then to synthesize the thoughts in to an organized whole.  That is my love of computers!

My dislike of computers!  People program and run them.  And people are not necessarily known for strong moral convictions when it comes to the power that synthesized information gives.

And so, a person can create “misinformation” through technology by apparently having searched all known internet sources and then come to a conclusion.  We are expected to accept that as truth.  Out of my own background in information literacy I’m always a little leery of this “truth”.  This takes a lot of faith!

Transfer this over to a phrase from the past.  Three things remain – faith, hope and love.  In order to live joyfully in this world we need to put our faith in something or someone.  When we do so we extend hope into the future.  But, as the saying continues, the greatest of these is love.  Which makes it so much easier to live with other people.

We are nearing the end of the “culling” project at the Eston College library.  Around 3,000 items will be discontinued in the library collection – making it much easier to move to Regina over the summer.

Have you noticed a shift in reading materials and format?  With the digital age, we now have amazing access to the world’s books (some good, some not so much – of the making of books there is no end!).  Of course, this comes at a price and right now subscription is a strong one vying for our dollars.  You can buy ebooks but the next big thing will be storage wars (which have slowly happened but when we are talking terrabytes of data somehow we get lost in the “small numbers” of monthly storage fees).

Some libraries have gone totally digital.  As I work in an academic environment, this is noticeable.  Libraries have been turned into internet searching areas along with lounge capabilities.  Students enjoy the cut and paste of digital approaches and AI is giving us a whole new look at search capabilities. 

But I still like a book in hand, an actual turn of a page and the enjoyable feeling of falling asleep as my book tumbles to the floor.