Leftsider Exploring Lowest Common Values.

By the Grace of God

I'm the kind of guy who spends a lot of time thinking about things... too much, usually. One thing I feel I always should ponder is who I should thank.

It's more complicated than it seems. For example, if I had not become friends with a certain kid named Jason my freshman year of high school, I'd have never met my wife, would never have gotten the job that allowed me to go to Korea, nor would I have been in a position to take advantage of the opportunity to work at Twitter (have I written about that?).

Jason did nothing but befriend me, but he is one of the most influential people in my life. I did nothing to deserve much of what I've enjoyed in my life. I feel I've been a pretty mediocre performer in much of what I do, and I dont hide this fact. There's a term I love, "unmerited favor," that I think is a big part of my life. This term is also a definition for "grace."

At the beginning of the Pledge and Law I learned so many years ago, there lies a condition to all that a Pathfinder is and that one might become: by the grace of God. Considering that most of my childhood friends have criminal records, most of my high school friends are divorced, and most of my family hasn't seen the other side of this country--let alone the other side of the world, I consider myself privileged far beyond what I deserve, and favored in ways I can't explain.

The happiness I enjoy is not the culmination of my efforts, but the gracious gift One was kind enough to bestow. It's good to remind myself of that, and to start my intentions from a point of thankfulness.

Pledge and Law

When I was young I was a member of Pathfinders, a youth activity program that is directed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. My parents were involved in running the program, so even before I was old enough to participate (Pathfinders are generally aged 10-15) I was attending workshops, camping and enjoying the program.

A lot of the direction and the instruction I remember of my youth came from that period of my life. Even now I remember the Pathfinder pledge and law as if I still recited it regularly:

The Pathfinder Pledge:

By the grace of God I will be pure, kind, and true I will keep the Pathfinder Law I will be a servant of God and a friend to man.

The Pathfinder Law is for me to:

• Keep the Morning Watch
• Do my honest part
• Care for my body
• Keep a level eye
• Be courteous and obedient
• Walk softly in the sanctuary
• Keep a song in my heart, and
• Go on God's errands

I feel very fortunate to have embedded such earnest, uncomplicated life goals at such a young age. Decades later, I can see the pattern these credos have placed on my actions and decision-making as an adult.

There's a significant chance I'll take some (or all) of these concepts and expound on them individually. Even so, what early developmental elements do you see guiding the way you live and operate today?

Refining a Melody

Among the many excuses I've spouted for not writing, the most nearly removed is a need to transition from Movable Type to an open-source variant, Open Melody.

There are a number of reasons why I made the switch. First. MT's parent company, Six Apart, is no longer extant. Next, While I've threatened for years to write an entry about there not being one competent, consistent and available MT developer in existance, I have enjoyed the discussions I've had with the developers of Open Melody, largely through work I've down with Endevver. And finally, because I find the MT markup language elegant and useful enough to disuade me from learning anything else (a stab at working in Wordpress for a recent project had me wanting to stab my eyes out).

There are certainly some issues I'm encountering during the transition, but my intent is to apply daily attention to this task so that, little by little, the job is done. I'm already fully migrated and now just tweaking design and effects.

One thing I am considering is the removal of comments. I'm wondering if commenting is dead and perhaps integration with Facebook, Twitter and Google+ would better serve conversation. We'll see where that leads.