Why I Can't Stop Thinking About Iran Right Now

I usually talk about other things here, but I feel like I have to speak up about what’s happening in Iran. To me, it’s the most important story in the world right now.

Over the last week, we’ve seen tens of thousands of Iranians take to the streets to stand up against a regime that has been brutally repressing them since 1979. It’s not just about politics, though; it’s about survival. The economy there is basically in a freefall. To give you an idea of how bad it is, one U.S. dollar is now worth 1.47 million rials. The currency lost 80% of its value in just one year. People can’t afford food, and they’re dealing with constant power outages and water rationing.

What makes it even more infuriating is the hypocrisy. You have a government that brutalizes young girls for how they wear a hijab, while the families of those same officials are all over social media flaunting their wealth and “living it up.” The corruption is everywhere.

On the global stage, we know Iran is the main sponsor behind groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. They were the only major country to actually celebrate the October 7th attacks. It reminded me of Masih Alinejad, a dissident living in New York. The regime didn't just arrest her family back home to silence her; they actually sent assassins to her house in Brooklyn. It’s a miracle she’s still alive.

There’s really no other word for this leadership than evil.

Despite the government’s “savage” response—shooting protesters, making thousands of arrests, and cutting off the internet—the people are still marching. Every hour feels like history in the making. Seeing the courage of everyday Iranians, young and old, is honestly inspiring. They are literally risking everything for a chance at a normal life. It feels like this time, things might actually change.

But the reality is, they probably can’t do it alone. We’ve already seen the U.S. take action with the strikes on nuclear facilities six months ago, and there’s been a clear warning that there will be consequences for killing protesters.

In my opinion, the world—and especially the U.S.—would be so much better off if this regime fell. This is a once-in-a-generation moment to support people who are fighting for the same freedoms we often take for granted.

I really hope we don't let this opportunity pass.

If America stands for anything, it should be moments like this.

There is a moment in Revelation 7 that almost no one slows down long enough to feel. The world is bracing for judgment. The seals are opening. History itself feels like it is holding its breath. And then, suddenly, everything stops. Winds are restrained. Angels pause mid-motion. Heaven interrupts its own momentum. And God says, in effect, “Wait.” That pause is not a delay of wrath. It is the revelation of mercy. Revelation 7 is not about numbers, charts, or timelines. It is about God’s heart refusing to let the storm fall before His people are marked.

That is the emotional core of this chapter. Not fear. Not doom. But protection. Not destruction. But sealing. Not chaos. But deliberate love moving ahead of catastrophe. When you read Revelation 7 carefully, it does not feel like a cold apocalyptic spreadsheet. It feels like a Father stepping between His children and a coming fire, saying, “Not yet. They belong to Me.”

This is why Revelation 7 sits where it does in the flow of Revelation. The first six seals of chapter 6 have shaken the earth. Conquest, war, famine, death, persecution, and cosmic disturbance have already been released. The sixth seal ends with terrified humanity crying out, “Who can stand?” And Revelation 7 answers that question—not with a theory, but with a picture. The ones who can stand are the ones who have been sealed by God.

That word “sealed” matters far more than most readers realize. In the ancient world, a seal was not a sticker. It was not symbolic. A seal meant ownership, authority, and protection. When something was sealed by a king, it meant no one else had the right to touch it. To break that seal was to challenge the king himself. So when Revelation 7 says God seals His servants on their foreheads, it is not talking about a visible tattoo or a barcode. It is talking about divine ownership and spiritual jurisdiction. These people are under God’s authority and protection in a way that cannot be overridden by hell, by the beast, or by the chaos of the last days.

And that is why the angels are told to hold back the winds. The winds represent destructive forces, judgment, upheaval, and calamity. They are told not to harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until the servants of God are sealed. In other words, God refuses to allow the storm to touch anything that belongs to Him before He has clearly marked it as His.

This changes how you should read the entire book of Revelation. It is not a book about God losing control and then trying to fix things at the end. It is a book about God being so sovereign that even the release of judgment is governed by mercy, timing, and purpose. Nothing is random. Nothing is out of control. Even the end of the world is organized by love.

Then comes the part that has confused, divided, and obsessed readers for generations: the 144,000. Twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. This number has been turned into everything from a secret rapture club to a symbolic headcount of elite believers. But Revelation 7 itself gives us clues that this is not meant to be read like a literal census spreadsheet.

First, the tribes are listed in a strange order. Judah comes first, not Reuben. Dan is missing. Joseph appears alongside Manasseh. This is not how Israel is normally listed in Scripture. That is a clue. It tells you something theological is happening, not merely genealogical. This is not a tribal registry. It is a spiritual portrait.

Second, the number itself is a theological number. Twelve is the number of God’s people: twelve tribes, twelve apostles. A thousand in biblical language represents fullness, completeness, and magnitude. So twelve times twelve times a thousand is not a small elite club. It is a picture of God’s people in full, complete, and overwhelming number. It is a way of saying, “All who belong to Me, in their fullness, are sealed.”

But John doesn’t stop there. He hears the number, but then he looks—and what he sees is not a small, numbered group. He sees a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. This is one of the most powerful literary moments in Revelation. John hears a symbolic number that represents completeness, and then he sees the reality: an uncountable, global, redeemed humanity.

This is not God saving a tiny remnant. This is God saving a vast, beautiful, diverse family.

And notice what they are doing. They are not hiding. They are not running. They are standing. The same question at the end of Revelation 6—“Who can stand?”—is now answered. They can. The ones who are sealed. The ones who belong to the Lamb. The ones who have been washed in His blood.

They are clothed in white robes, which in Revelation always represents purity, victory, and righteousness given by God, not earned by humans. They hold palm branches, symbols of victory, celebration, and deliverance. This is not a funeral. It is a triumph.

They cry out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” This is not quiet worship. This is victorious, defiant praise in the face of everything hell tried to do to stop them. They are saying, “We made it. Not because we were strong, but because He is faithful.”

And then heaven responds. Angels, elders, and living creatures fall down and worship. Heaven joins the chorus. That is another key insight of Revelation 7: heaven does not stand above redeemed humanity. Heaven celebrates them. Heaven joins them. The story of salvation is not God tolerating humans. It is God delighting in them.

One of the elders then asks John a question that seems simple but is deeply revealing: “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and where did they come from?” John doesn’t answer. He defers. “Sir, you know.” And the elder explains: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

This line destroys the idea that these people avoided suffering. They did not escape tribulation. They came out of it. They went through it. But they were not destroyed by it. The seal of God does not always mean you are spared hardship. It means you are preserved through it.

And notice what makes them clean. Not their endurance. Not their theology. Not their moral perfection. The blood of the Lamb. That is the gospel inside the apocalypse. Even at the end of time, salvation is still by grace.

This multitude now serves God day and night in His temple. He dwells among them. They hunger no more. They thirst no more. The sun does not strike them. No scorching heat. The Lamb becomes their Shepherd. He leads them to springs of living water. And God wipes away every tear from their eyes.

This is not poetic decoration. This is the destination of redemption. Revelation 7 lifts the curtain and lets you see where everything is going. Not to annihilation. Not to despair. But to healing, rest, intimacy, and joy in the presence of God.

And here is the part that almost no one connects: Revelation 7 is not only about the end of the world. It is about the nature of God. It shows you that even when judgment is coming, His first instinct is to protect His people. Even when history is shaking, His priority is to mark those who belong to Him. Even when the storm is ready, He pauses for love.

That means something for you right now.

Because most people think they live in Revelation 6. Chaos. Fear. News cycles that feel apocalyptic. Politics that feel like earthquakes. Cultures cracking. Families breaking. Anxiety everywhere. People are still asking, “Who can stand?”

Revelation 7 answers: the ones who belong to Jesus.

You are not sealed by perfection. You are sealed by belonging. You are not kept by your strength. You are kept by His ownership. You are not standing because you are unshakable. You are standing because He is.

The world may feel like it is unraveling. But Revelation 7 shows you something deeper: God knows exactly who is His, and He will not let the storm take what He has claimed.

And that means you are not as fragile as you think.

The Lamb who shed His blood to save you is the same Lamb who now stands as your Shepherd. The hands that were pierced are the hands that hold you. The voice that cried out on the cross is the voice that calls heaven to wait until you are sealed.

Nothing about your life is accidental. Nothing about your future is unprotected. Nothing about your faith is unseen.

The storm may be real.

But the seal is stronger.

And Revelation 7 was written so you would know that.

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Now we will continue the full legacy depth, including the deeper spiritual meaning of the sealing, the connection to Ezekiel, Passover, the mark of the beast, modern fear culture, and how Revelation 7 reshapes how Christians live without panic.

Revelation 7 does something quietly revolutionary that most readers miss because they are too focused on end-times charts to notice it. It takes the idea of being “marked” and flips it completely. The world is obsessed with the mark of the beast, but Revelation 7 shows you that the mark that actually matters comes first. Before evil brands anyone, God seals His own. Before deception claims territory, love draws its boundary. Before fear gets a microphone, heaven puts its hand over the earth and says, “These are Mine.”

That idea of sealing did not originate in Revelation. It is rooted deep in Scripture. In Ezekiel 9, God tells a heavenly messenger to go through Jerusalem and place a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve over sin and injustice. Everyone without the mark would face judgment, but those who were marked would be spared. That mark was not visible to the public. It was visible to God. It was a sign of belonging. Revelation 7 is deliberately echoing that moment. History is repeating on a cosmic scale. The same God who marked His faithful in ancient Jerusalem is marking His people before the final shaking of the world.

The Passover story does the same thing. Blood on the doorposts was a seal. It was not about the quality of the house or the goodness of the people inside. It was about the blood. Judgment passed over what was marked. Revelation 7 is Passover on a global scale. The Lamb has already shed His blood, and now God is marking His people with that same covenantal protection.

This is why the mark of the beast in Revelation 13 is so powerful and so dangerous. It is a counterfeit of the seal of God. Satan does not invent new things. He imitates what God does and twists it. The beast marks people with allegiance to a system of fear, control, and self-exaltation. God seals people with allegiance to a Lamb who gave His life. One mark enslaves. The other sets free. One mark binds you to a collapsing world. The other anchors you to an unshakable kingdom.

Revelation 7 tells you something very important about spiritual warfare that modern Christianity often forgets. The battle is not first about what you do. It is about who you belong to. You are not sealed because you behaved well. You are sealed because you were purchased. The blood of the Lamb bought you, and God placed His seal on what He paid for.

This is why the enemy fights so hard against identity. If he can get you to doubt that you belong to God, he can get you to live like you are unprotected. Fear always grows in the soil of forgotten identity. Revelation 7 uproots that fear. It says, “You are known. You are marked. You are kept.”

That multitude in white robes is not just a future crowd. It is the destiny of every believer. Every tear you have cried is on its way to being wiped away. Every hunger for meaning is on its way to being filled. Every exhaustion from surviving in a broken world is on its way to rest. Revelation 7 is God pulling back the curtain to show you the finish line so you do not give up in the middle of the race.

This is why the vision is so gentle. No more scorching heat. No more thirst. No more hunger. No more tears. It is not just about surviving the end. It is about being healed after it. The Lamb who suffered becomes the Shepherd who leads. The One who was slain becomes the One who sustains.

There is something deeply personal about that. God is not outsourcing your care to an angel. The Lamb Himself tends to His people. He leads you to living water. He walks with you out of every tribulation. He does not just save you from judgment. He saves you into relationship.

This chapter also changes how you should view suffering. It does not deny that tribulation is real. It does not minimize pain. But it reframes it. These people did not come from comfort. They came out of great tribulation. Their robes are white not because they avoided suffering, but because they trusted Jesus in the middle of it.

That means your pain is not proof that God has forgotten you. It may be proof that you are being carried through something that will not destroy you. You are not sealed from storms. You are sealed through them.

Revelation 7 is God’s answer to the anxiety of every generation. When the world feels like it is breaking, God is still marking His people. When culture feels hostile, God is still building His family. When fear shouts, heaven is still singing.

The sealed do not panic. They worship.

And that is the secret power of this chapter. It does not tell you how to predict the future. It tells you how to live without fear in the present. If you know who you belong to, you do not have to be terrified by what is coming.

You are not waiting to find out if you are loved.

You are already sealed by it.

You are not hoping the Lamb will notice you.

He already shed His blood for you.

You are not standing because you are strong.

You are standing because heaven itself is holding you.

And that is why Revelation 7 exists. Not to scare you. But to steady you. Not to make you anxious. But to make you unshakeable. Not to focus your eyes on disaster. But to focus them on a Shepherd who will never let you go.

No matter what happens in this world, the seal remains.

No matter how loud fear gets, belonging is louder.

No matter how dark the storm becomes, the Lamb is still your light.

And in the end, you will be standing, in white, with a palm branch in your hand, surrounded by a family so vast it cannot be counted, singing a song so strong that it shakes heaven itself.

Because you were never meant to be lost.

You were meant to be sealed.

Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph

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Si vous suivez de près l'actualité de l'intelligence artificielle, vous êtes probablement déjà familier avec Claude Code. Depuis l'automne 2024, Anthropic entraîne ses modèles non seulement à discuter, mais à naviguer et utiliser des ordinateurs à la manière d'un humain. Jusqu'à présent, cette vision s'exprimait principalement via un agent de codage destiné aux développeurs, leur permettant d'automatiser des tâches techniques fastidieuses. Mais dès aujourd'hui, la donne change radicalement. L’entreprise ouvre ces capacités au grand public avec le lancement d'une nouvelle fonctionnalité en prévisualisation baptisée Claude Cowork.

Anthropic présente Cowork comme une méthode simplifiée permettant à n'importe qui (et pas seulement aux ingénieurs informatiques) de collaborer directement avec Claude. Le principe est étonnamment simple et puissant. Une fois que vous accordez au système l'accès à un dossier spécifique sur votre ordinateur, l'IA peut lire, éditer ou créer de nouveaux fichiers en votre nom. C’est une évolution qui transforme cette dernière d'un simple chatbot passif en un véritable agent actif capable d'exécuter des tâches concrètes.

https://youtu.be/WBNZpAWhw5E

Pour illustrer le potentiel de cet outil, l’entreprise américaine met en avant plusieurs cas d'usage quotidiens qui pourraient changer notre façon de travailler. Imaginez demander à Claude de mettre de l'ordre dans votre dossier de téléchargements en renommant intelligemment chaque fichier pour qu'il soit identifiable en un coup d'œil. Plus impressionnant encore, vous pourriez lui soumettre des captures d'écran de factures et lui demander de générer automatiquement un tableur pour le suivi de vos dépenses.

Grâce à un plugin Chrome et au framework Connectors maison, Cowork peut même naviguer sur le web ou interagir avec des applications tierces comme Canva. L'objectif est de fluidifier le travail. Vous n'avez plus besoin de copier-coller du contexte manuellement ou de reformater les réponses de l'IA. De plus, il est possible de mettre des tâches en file d'attente pour que Claude les traite en parallèle, sans attendre qu'il ait terminé une action pour en suggérer une autre.

Naturellement, l'idée de laisser une telle technologie accéder à ses fichiers locaux peut susciter des inquiétudes légitimes. Anthropic se veut rassurant en précisant que Claude ne peut ni lire ni modifier ce qui ne lui a pas été ouvert explicitement. L'entreprise ne cache pourtant pas certains risques. Le système pourrait théoriquement effectuer des actions destructrices, comme la suppression accidentelle d'un fichier important ou une mauvaise interprétation d'une commande. C'est pourquoi il est vivement recommandé de fournir des instructions extrêmement claires et sans ambiguïté. Anthropic avertit également sur les risques d'injection de prompt, soulignant que l'utilisation d'un agent autonome demande plus de vigilance qu'une simple conversation textuelle.

Pour la société, le défi est de taille. Il s'agit de convaincre le grand public de l'utilité de ces agents là où d'autres, comme Copilot de Microsoft, peinent encore à s'imposer malgré des années de présence. Le succès critique de Claude Code auprès des développeurs pourrait toutefois jouer en leur faveur. Pour l'instant, l'accès à Cowork reste un privilège. Il est réservé aux abonnés de la formule onéreuse Claude Max possédant un Mac avec l'application installée. Les autres devront patienter sur une liste d'attente, le temps que cette technologie prometteuse mûrisse.

I felt happy today:

After lunch and numerous long meetings, I made a fresh cup of hot coffee, put some 2Pac on, and started refactoring some unit tests. It’s like sudoku, but I can have my mind wandering or else focus deeply — up to me.

And 2Pac sings about shooting some other gangsters while I drink my coffee and look out through the window at the dark evening sky, and the snow.

The clock isn’t even that much, it all feels absurd.

Why this short moment filled me so with joy, I cannot explain.

It’s not like I don’t have anything to worry about

Who doesn’t?

Each day, I make a sincere effort to journal using two distinct pages. One is a weekly page that allows me to track daily and weekly habits on one side and to reflectively plan for the week on the reverse. The other is dated blank page that provides space for writing down memories, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and initial interpretations of my day. I say initial, because even through the lens of contemplative examination, I want to hold open the possibility that a more nuanced and anchored understanding of the experience might emerge through my ongoing practice and meditation.

When I write, aside from brief corrections when I misfire with my pen, I don’t edit while I’m reflecting. I simply let whatever flows from the pen land on the page and trust that what I have added is essential in some way, and that what I have already forgotten is not something I should worry about.

This is less about making sense of what I have experienced than it is about documenting my experience and providing mile markers that I can use to ponder later, though not forever as rumination is not the same thing as meditation. In fact, I have made a practice of looking over things within the quarter in which I write them, and then I recycle the removable pages from my journal like the temporary art of a sand mandala. Each new quarter brings a chance to be present with what is happening now while gently setting down the work of what has gone before. In my experience, that which is going to resurface over time, simply will if I give space in the silence.

I really enjoy the analog experience of writing with pen and paper, and while I try not to accumulate endless journals or notebooks, I do keep my daily pages separate from my planner, my poetry/prayer journal, and my meeting notes. I prefer the focus that comes with having fewer purposes in one set of pages, though you may want to experiment with the system that works best for you.

Practice:

Here are some tips for beginning your own daily pages journal.

• Decide how many purposes this journal will have, fewer total uses might allow for greater focus.
• Blank pages or bullet pages offer the greatest flexibility for laying out a single day
• You may want to find inserts or a page layout for a habit tracker/weekly look ahead to remind you of your intentions for the week
• Don’t edit or revise while writing. Your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and initial impressions are worthy in their own right.
• Make a plan for what to do with your journal when it is full? Will you save it? For how long? How can you hold these first impressions loosely and allow the Spirit to continue its work in you?
• Don’t panic if you miss a page. There’s a really good chance that you chose the most necessary thing instead. Return to the practice as soon as you can, and with grace and gentleness.

There is a kind of love that burns hot and bright, and then there is a kind of love that burns slow and true. One dazzles the eyes. The other changes the soul. Most people grow up believing the first one is what they should chase, because it is the kind that movies are made of, songs are written about, and social media is flooded with. But the kind of love that builds a life, a family, a faith, and a future is rarely loud. It is faithful. It is steady. It is quiet enough that many people miss it entirely while looking for something more exciting.

Fireworks are impressive, but they are not a home. They flare for a moment and then vanish, leaving darkness behind. Yet so many people keep choosing fireworks over foundations. They want the rush of being seen, the thrill of being desired, the surge of being emotionally overwhelmed, but they are unprepared for the long, slow work of being truly loved. Real love does not shout its arrival. It shows up. It stays. It keeps choosing you even when there is nothing glamorous about the moment.

This is why so many hearts are exhausted. They have been running on emotional adrenaline instead of spiritual stability. They keep mistaking intensity for intimacy and passion for permanence. They chase relationships, careers, ministries, and even versions of God that feel dramatic, because drama feels like meaning. But when the drama fades, they are left wondering why they feel empty. The truth is simple but uncomfortable. Fireworks do not sustain. Faithfulness does.

God never promised us a life of constant emotional highs. He promised us His presence. And His presence does not come in explosions. It comes in constancy. Scripture does not say His love is loud. It says His love endures forever. Endurance is not flashy. Endurance is stubborn. It is the refusal to walk away when walking away would be easier. It is the decision to remain when everything inside you wants to escape. That is the kind of love God has for us, and it is the kind of love He is trying to grow inside us.

When the Bible describes love, it does not sound like a romance novel. It sounds like a covenant. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not give up. Love does not fail. These are not emotional experiences. These are choices repeated over time. Love, in the biblical sense, is not something you feel your way into. It is something you decide your way into, and then you keep deciding it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.

This is where so many people struggle, because they want love to feel like being swept away. God wants love to feel like being held. Being swept away is thrilling, but it is unstable. Being held is quiet, but it is safe. Fireworks can make you gasp, but they cannot carry you through grief, illness, betrayal, or doubt. Faithful love can.

Jesus never loved us with fireworks. He loved us with endurance. He did not come to impress us. He came to save us. He did not appear for a moment and then vanish. He walked with humanity through misunderstanding, rejection, exhaustion, and pain. He kept showing up when people failed Him. He kept teaching when people doubted Him. He kept loving when people betrayed Him. That is not emotional romance. That is covenant faithfulness.

The cross itself was not dramatic in a glamorous way. It was brutal, humiliating, and slow. But it was the greatest love story ever told. Jesus did not die in a blaze of glory. He died in obedience. And that obedience was love in its purest form. He did not feel His way to the cross. He chose His way there.

This is why we must be careful not to build our understanding of love on feelings instead of faithfulness. Feelings rise and fall. Faithfulness remains. Feelings are shaped by circumstances. Faithfulness is shaped by commitment. When we chase emotional intensity, we end up building fragile relationships, fragile faith, and fragile identities. But when we learn to value consistency, we begin to experience peace instead of chaos.

So many people are quietly disappointed with God because He does not perform the way they expected. They wanted miracles that look like fireworks, and He gave them mercies that look like mornings. They wanted dramatic breakthroughs, and He gave them daily bread. They wanted lightning from heaven, and He gave them quiet strength to keep going. But what He gave them was better. He gave them what lasts.

The miracle of God is not always that He changes your circumstances. Often, the miracle is that He stays with you inside them. He does not leave when you are confused. He does not withdraw when you fail. He does not vanish when you doubt. He remains. That is love.

And if God loves us that way, He is inviting us to love that way too. Not just in marriage, but in friendship, in family, in ministry, and even in how we treat ourselves. We have to stop expecting every season to feel like a highlight reel. Some seasons are about showing up. Some seasons are about staying. Some seasons are about quietly doing the right thing when no one is watching.

Faithfulness does not feel impressive. It feels boring. It feels repetitive. It feels small. But it is the most powerful force God has given us, because it is how He transforms lives over time. A faithful prayer prayed every day is more powerful than a desperate prayer screamed once. A faithful marriage built over decades is more beautiful than a passionate romance that burns out in months. A faithful walk with God will carry you farther than any emotional high ever could.

The enemy wants you addicted to fireworks, because fireworks keep you restless. They make you chase the next high. They make you believe that if something does not feel intense, it is not worth keeping. But God wants you rooted. He wants you grounded. He wants you anchored in something deeper than your moods.

This is why so many people leave relationships, churches, callings, and even their faith. Not because God left them, but because the feelings changed. They confuse discomfort with disobedience. They confuse boredom with brokenness. They confuse the end of excitement with the end of love.

But real love does not end when excitement fades. That is when it finally begins to show its true strength.

There is a holy beauty in choosing someone again when the butterflies are gone. There is a holy beauty in praying again when you do not feel spiritual. There is a holy beauty in serving again when no one says thank you. This is where God does His deepest work. Not in the fireworks, but in the faithfulness.

You do not have to be extraordinary to be faithful. You just have to be willing. Willing to keep going. Willing to keep loving. Willing to keep trusting God even when your emotions are quiet. God is not asking you to feel inspired every day. He is asking you to stay.

And staying is an act of love.

There are moments in life when you realize that the loudest things were never the truest. You look back at what once felt unforgettable and see how quickly it disappeared, and you begin to understand that what lasts is rarely what dazzles. What lasts is what stays. This is one of the most sacred truths about love that God is trying to teach us in a world addicted to spectacle. Real love is not designed to overwhelm you for a moment. It is designed to hold you for a lifetime.

Faithfulness is the language of heaven. God does not speak in emotional spikes. He speaks in promises. He does not build His relationship with us on our moods, but on His unchanging character. When Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it is revealing something profound about the nature of divine love. It is stable. It is reliable. It is not swayed by circumstances. That is the love we are invited into, and that is the love we are meant to reflect into the world.

One of the greatest lies modern culture has taught us is that if something feels ordinary, it must be broken. We have been trained to believe that love should always feel new, exciting, and dramatic, as if the absence of adrenaline is proof of failure. But God sees ordinary very differently. He sees it as the place where trust is built. He sees it as the place where character is formed. He sees it as the place where roots grow deep enough to survive storms.

When a marriage settles into routine, when prayer becomes quiet, when faith becomes steady instead of thrilling, something holy is happening. God is shifting you from infatuation to intimacy. He is teaching you to love not with your nerves, but with your soul. This kind of love is not fueled by novelty. It is fueled by commitment.

Think about how God treats us. He does not withdraw His love when we become predictable. He does not get bored of our prayers. He does not abandon us because we are not impressive. He continues to show up, again and again, even when we are messy, inconsistent, and slow to grow. That is the kind of love that heals us, because it tells us we are safe even when we are not spectacular.

This is why faithful love is so deeply threatening to a culture built on performance. Faithful love does not need applause. It does not require validation. It simply keeps being present. And presence is more powerful than passion, because presence is what allows healing to happen. When someone stays, you begin to believe you are worth staying for.

So many people are carrying wounds not because they were unloved, but because they were loved only when they were exciting. They were valued when they were new. They were desired when they were impressive. And when the novelty faded, so did the affection. That kind of love does not build confidence. It builds anxiety. It makes you feel like you have to earn your place every day.

God’s love is the opposite. You do not have to impress Him to keep Him. You do not have to perform to be held. You do not have to be extraordinary to be cherished. You just have to exist. His love rests on you because He chose you, not because you dazzled Him.

This is the model of love we are meant to live from and live out. When you love someone faithfully, you tell them, “You are not disposable. You are not replaceable. You do not have to earn your place in my life.” That kind of love has the power to restore broken hearts and rebuild shattered identities.

Even our faith is meant to be faithful, not fiery. There will be days when worship feels electric and days when it feels dry. There will be seasons when prayer feels alive and seasons when it feels heavy. There will be times when God feels close and times when He feels silent. But He has not moved. He is still there. He is still working. He is still loving you in ways you cannot yet see.

Faith is not about how intensely you feel God. It is about how deeply you trust Him. Trust grows through consistency, not excitement. It grows when you keep walking even when the road feels long. It grows when you keep praying even when the answers are slow. It grows when you keep loving even when it hurts.

Fireworks are easy to love. Faithfulness is harder, but it is holy.

If you are in a season that feels quiet, do not assume it is empty. God often does His most important work in silence. Seeds grow underground before they ever break the surface. Roots spread before branches appear. What feels uneventful may be the very place where your future is being formed.

This applies to every area of life. If you are building a relationship, do not measure its worth by how dramatic it feels, but by how safe it is. If you are walking with God, do not judge your faith by how emotional it feels, but by how consistently you show up. If you are chasing a calling, do not quit because it feels slow. God works through steady obedience far more than sudden success.

The most beautiful stories are not written in moments of fireworks. They are written in years of faithfulness.

And one day, when you look back on your life, you will not be most grateful for the moments that made you gasp. You will be grateful for the moments that made you stay. The people who stayed. The God who stayed. The love that stayed.

That is the love that lasts.

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph

Support the ministry by buying Douglas a coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/douglasvandergraph

Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph

#Faith #RealLove #Faithfulness #ChristianLiving #Hope #SpiritualGrowth #GodsLove #Marriage #Healing #Purpose

Poem by Frank O'Hara

I am not a painter, I am a poet. Why? I think I would rather be a painter, but I am not. Well,

for instance, Mike Goldberg is starting a painting. I drop in. “Sit down and have a drink” he says. I drink; we drink. I look up. “You have SARDINES in it.” “Yes, it needed something there.” “Oh.” I go and the days go by and I drop in again. The painting is going on, and I go, and the days go by. I drop in. The painting is finished. “Where's SARDINES?” All that's left is just letters, “It was too much,” Mike says.

But me? One day I am thinking of a color: orange. I write a line about orange. Pretty soon it is a whole page of words, not lines. Then another page. There should be so much more, not of orange, of words, of how terrible orange is and life. Days go by. It is even in prose, I am a real poet. My poem is finished and I haven't mentioned orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery I see Mike's painting, called SARDINES.

Attrapez votre pop-corn, installez-vous confortablement dans votre canapé (probablement acheté chez IKEA parce que vous avez tout dépensé en abonnements streaming) et préparez-vous. Le feuilleton le plus palpitant du moment ne se trouve pas dans le catalogue “Nouveautés”, mais dans les salles de réunion de Hollywood et les tribunaux du Delaware. C’est l’histoire d’un triangle amoureux corporatif qui ferait passer les intrigues de Succession pour un épisode de Oui-Oui.

Warner Bros Discovery et Netflix sont sur le point de conclure l'affaire du siècle. Un mariage arrangé à 82,7 milliards de dollars qui donnerait naissance à un titan du divertissement capable d'avaler tout cru le reste de l'industrie. Les bans sont publiés, la robe est achetée. Sauf que voilà, au fond de l'église, il y a un ex-petit ami très riche et très jaloux qui vient de se lever pour hurler son opposition. Cet ex, c’est Paramount. Et son PDG, David Ellison, n’est pas venu jeter du riz, mais lancer une poursuite judiciaire.

Paramount a donc officiellement porté plainte contre la Warner. L'ambiance est électrique. Le premier accuse essentiellement les dirigeants du second de jouer à cache-cache avec la vérité. Selon lui, les actionnaires ont besoin de savoir pourquoi WBD préfère se jeter dans les bras de Netflix pour 82 milliards, alors que Paramount est là, sur le trottoir d'en face, agitant une liasse de billets totalisant une offre hostile de 108,4 milliards de dollars (soit 30 dollars par action, en cash, s'il vous plaît).

Pour Ellison, c’est incompréhensible. Il affirme dans une lettre aux actionnaires que Warner invente des excuses de plus en plus créatives pour ignorer son offre. C’est un peu comme si vous refusiez un rendez-vous avec Brad Pitt pour sortir avec votre comptable, sans jamais expliquer pourquoi, sauf que le comptable a des dettes et que Brad Pitt a une valise pleine d'argent liquide. Paramount exige donc que le tribunal force la Warner à dévoiler les calculs magiques qu'ils ont utilisés pour justifier que l'offre de Netflix est supérieure. Ellison veut voir les reçus, les notes de bas de page et probablement l'historique de navigation internet du conseil d'administration.

Mais attendez, ce n'est pas tout ! Comme dans tout bon drame, les voisins s'en mêlent. Et quels voisins ! Nous assistons à une alliance cosmique aussi rare qu'une éclipse solaire. Donald Trump et Bernie Sanders sont d'accord sur quelque chose. Oui, vous avez bien lu. Le dictat… président américain a exprimé son mécontentement sur Truth Social, relayant l'idée que si Netflix avale Warner, ils deviendront le gardien culturel le plus puissant de l'histoire. Il a même rencontré Ted Sarandos, le co-PDG de Netflix, pour lui dire en face que ce monopole sentait le roussi. De l'autre côté de l'échiquier politique, Elisabeth Warren et Bernie Sanders hurlent aussi au loup, craignant que cette fusion ne transforme votre facture mensuelle de streaming en un second loyer, tout en écrasant la classe moyenne. Quand la droite US craint pour la culture et la gauche pour le portefeuille, on sait que l'affaire est sérieuse.

Pendant ce temps, la Writers Guild of America (les scénaristes) regarde tout cela avec horreur, brandissant les lois antitrust comme des gousses d'ail face à un vampire. Tout le monde craint pour les emplois, la diversité des films et le prix de l'abonnement qui a déjà grimpé plus vite que la tension artérielle d'un trader sous caféine. Malgré le refus répété de Warner, Paramount ne lâche rien. Ils prévoient même d'infiltrer leur conseil d'administration en nommant leurs propres directeurs pour bloquer le mariage avec Netflix. C’est de la haute voltige financière, c'est brutal et c'est absolument fascinant.

Au final, peu importe qui gagne cette guerre des trônes médiatique, le prochain abonnement va faire mal, mais au moins, le spectacle actuel est gratuit.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of distro hopping: openSUSE, Debian, openSUSE, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, and Debian again.

At least it's relatively limited. But Arch and nixOS also keep tempting me.

However, I believe that I need to get to know one distro really well. So in 2026, I will only use Debian Stable on my two main computers (PC and laptop).

No more distro hopping until 2027.

Of course, anything goes on my hobby Thinkpad. So that you can check up on me, the header of this page counts (Javascript must be enabled).

hawthorn and blackthorn billhooked down will outstrip the wire-head by summer

Sing so they will remember you.

NARRATOR:

A pronouncement against the wilderness of the sea
It is coming like storm winds that sweep through in the south, From the wilderness, from a fearsome land.

A harsh vision has been told to me: The treacherous one is acting treacherously, And the destroyer is destroying. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all the sighing she caused.

That is why I am in great anguish. Convulsions have seized me, Like those of a woman giving birth. I am too distressed to hear; I am too disturbed to see.

My heart falters; I shudder in terror. The twilight I longed for makes me tremble.

“Set the table and arrange the seats! Eat and drink! Get up, you princes, anoint the shield!”

JEHOVAH:

Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.

NARRATOR:

And he saw a war chariot with a team of horses, A war chariot of donkeys, A war chariot of camels. He watched carefully, with great attentiveness.

WATCHMAN:

Upon the watchtower, O Jehovah, I am standing constantly by day, And I am stationed at my guardpost every night. Look at what is coming: Men in a war chariot with a team of horses!

“She has fallen! Babylon has fallen! All the graven images of her gods he has shattered to the ground!”

NARRATOR:

O my people who have been threshed, The product of my threshing floor, I have reported to you what I have heard from Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel.

A pronouncement against Dumah: Someone is calling out to me from Seir: “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”

WATCHMAN:

The morning is coming, and also the night. If you would inquire, inquire. Come again!

NARRATOR:

A pronouncement against the desert plain: In the forest in the desert plain you will spend the night, O caravans of Dedan.

Bring water to meet the thirsty one, You inhabitants of the land of Tema, And bring bread for the one fleeing.

For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, From the bent bow, and from the cruelty of the war.

JEHOVAH:

Within one year, like the years of a hired worker, All the glory of Kedar will come to an end. The remaining bowmen of the warriors of Kedar will be few, For Jehovah the God of Israel has spoken.

---

NARRATOR:

A pronouncement about the Valley of Vision
What is the matter with you that you have all gone up to the roofs?

You were full of turmoil, A boisterous city, an exultant town. Your slain were not slain with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.

All your dictators have fled together. They were taken prisoner without need of a bow. All who were found were taken prisoner, Even though they had fled far away.

ISAIAH:

That is why I said: “Turn your eyes away from me, And I will weep bitterly. Do not insist on comforting me Over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

NARRATOR:

For it is a day of confusion and of defeat and of panic, From the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, In the Valley of Vision. There is a demolishing of the wall And a cry to the mountain.

Elam picks up the quiver With manned chariots and horses, And Kir uncovers the shield.

Your choicest valleys Will become full of war chariots, And the horses will take their positions at the gate, And the screen of Judah will be removed.

“In that day you will look toward the armory of the House of the Forest, And you will see the many breaches of the City of David. And you will collect the waters of the lower pool. You will count the houses of Jerusalem, And you will pull down the houses to reinforce the wall.

And you will make a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool, But you will not look to its Grand Maker, And you will not see the One who formed it long ago.”

NARRATOR:

In that day the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, Will call for weeping and mourning, For shaved heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

But instead, there is celebration and rejoicing, The killing of cattle and the slaughtering of sheep, The eating of meat and the drinking of wine. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

JEHOVAH:

This error will not be atoned in your behalf until you people die.

NARRATOR:

This is what the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, says: “Go in to this steward, to Shebna, who is in charge of the house, and say, ‘What is your interest here, and who is there of interest to you here, That you hewed out a burial place here for yourself?’

He is hewing out his burial place in a high place; He is cutting out a resting-place for himself in a crag.

‘Look! Jehovah will hurl you down violently, O man, and seize you forcibly. He will certainly wrap you up tightly and hurl you like a ball into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be, A disgrace to your master’s house. And I will depose you from your position And throw you out of your office.”

JEHOVAH:

In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, And I will clothe him with your robe And firmly bind your sash around him, And I will give your authority into his hand.

And he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem And to the house of Judah.

And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder. He will open and no one will shut; And he will shut and no one will open.

I will drive him in as a peg in a lasting place, And he will become as a throne of glory to the house of his father.

And they will hang on him all the glory of the house of his father, The descendants and the offspring, All the small vessels, the bowl-shaped vessels, As well as all the large jars.

In that day, The peg that is driven in a lasting place will be removed, And it will be cut down and fall, And the load that it supported will fall to ruin, For Jehovah himself has spoken.

---

NARRATOR:

A pronouncement about Tyre
Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For the port has been destroyed; it cannot be entered. From the land of Kittim it has been revealed to them.

Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland. The merchants from Sidon who cross the sea have filled you.

Over many waters went the grain of Shihor, The harvest of the Nile, her revenue, Bringing the profit of the nations.

Be ashamed, O Sidon, you stronghold of the sea, Because the sea has said: “I have not had birth pains, and I have not given birth, Nor have I brought up young men or raised young women.”

As when they heard the report about Egypt, People will be in anguish over the report about Tyre.

Cross over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!

Is this your city that was exultant from long ago, From her early times? Her feet used to take her to distant lands to reside.

Who has decided this against Tyre, The bestower of crowns, Whose merchants were princes, Whose tradesmen were honored in all the earth?

Jehovah of armies himself has decided this, To profane her pride over all her beauty, To humiliate all those who were honored throughout the earth.

Cross over your land like the Nile River, O daughter of Tarshish. There is no longer any shipyard.

He has stretched his hand out over the sea; He has shaken kingdoms. Jehovah has ordered the annihilation of Phoenicia’s strongholds.

And he says: “You will exult no more, O oppressed one, the virgin daughter of Sidon. Get up, cross over to Kittim. Even there you will find no rest.”

Look! The land of the Chaldeans. This is the people—Assyria was not the one— They made her a place for those haunting the desert. They have erected their siege towers; They have stripped bare her fortified towers, Reducing her to a crumbling ruin.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold has been destroyed.

In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, The same as the lifetime of one king. At the end of seventy years, It will happen to Tyre as in the song of a prostitute:

“Take a harp, Go around the city, O forgotten prostitute. Play your harp skillfully; Sing many songs, So that they will remember you.”

At the end of seventy years, Jehovah will turn his attention to Tyre, And she will return to her hire And prostitute herself with all the world’s kingdoms On the face of the earth.

But her profit and her hire will become something holy to Jehovah. It will not be stored or laid away, Because her hire will be for those dwelling before Jehovah, So that they may eat to satisfaction And wear elegant clothing.

Accrochez-vous bien à vos chaises de bureau ergonomiques et vérifiez la température en enfer, car il semblerait qu'il y gèle à pierre fendre. Nous vivons une époque formidable où les chiens et les chats signent des traités de paix, où l'eau et l'huile décident de se mélanger et où, tenez-vous bien, Apple décide d'appeler Google à la rescousse. La firme de Cupertino, celle-là même qui aime construire des murs infranchissables autour de son jardin luxuriant, a officiellement annoncé qu'elle allait utiliser le modèle d'intelligence artificielle Gemini de Google pour propulser la prochaine version de Siri.

C’est un peu comme si Batman demandait au Joker de venir l'aider à sécuriser la Batmobile parce qu'il a perdu les clés. Dans un communiqué qui restera sans doute dans les annales de l'humilité corporative (ou du désespoir stratégique, c'est selon), Apple a déclaré avoir déterminé après une évaluation minutieuse que la technologie de Google offrait la fondation la plus capable pour ses modèles. En langage humain décodé, cela signifie probablement qu'ils ont regardé l'état actuel de Siri, ont pleuré un bon coup et se sont dit qu'il valait mieux s'allier à l'ennemi juré plutôt que de continuer à expliquer pourquoi leur assistant vocal ne sait toujours pas faire cuire un œuf virtuel sans mettre le feu à la cuisine.

Cette annonce intervient après une période que l'on pourrait poliment qualifier de flottement artistique. Rappelez-vous, cela fait près d'un an que la marque à la pomme a retardé sa grande mise à jour de l'IA, admettant du bout des lèvres que cela prenait un peu plus de temps que prévu. C'est l'euphémisme du siècle. C'est comme dire que la construction de la Sagrada Família a pris un léger retard. Bloomberg avait déjà vendu la mèche l'année dernière en rapportant que l’entreprise américaine lorgnait sur Gemini pour une fonctionnalité de réponses basées sur la connaissance mondiale. L'idée est de vous permettre de chercher des informations et de recevoir des résumés générés par l'IA, plutôt que la réponse classique de Siri qui consiste à vous afficher trois liens web en disant “voici ce que j'ai trouvé” avec un air faussement serviable.

Les coulisses de cette décision semblent avoir été aussi chaotiques qu'un épisode de Game of Thrones, mais avec plus de codeurs en sweat à capuche. John Giannandrea, le grand patron de l'IA chez Apple, a d'ailleurs rendu son tablier le mois dernier suite à ces revers. On imagine l'ambiance à la cafétéria. Il faut dire que la tâche était titanesque, transformer Siri, cet assistant sympathique mais un peu simplet qui excelle surtout pour régler des minuteurs pour les pâtes, en une entité omnisciente capable de rivaliser avec ChatGPT.

D'ailleurs, Apple n'a pas seulement fait les yeux doux à Google. La rumeur court que Tim Cook et sa bande ont joué les Bachelors de la Silicon Valley, explorant des partenariats potentiels avec tout ce que l'industrie compte de gros cerveaux artificiels, notamment OpenAI, Anthropic et Perplexity. Le PDG, toujours diplomate, a précisé que l'entreprise prévoyait de lancer des intégrations avec plusieurs entreprises d'IA au fil du temps. C'est une façon polie de dire qu'ils ne mettent pas tous leurs œufs (numériques) dans le même panier, même si le panier de Google semble être le plus gros pour l'instant.

Alors, à quoi devons-nous nous attendre cette année ? À un Siri qui comprend enfin le contexte, qui ne vous demande pas de déverrouiller votre iPhone pour vous donner la météo, et qui, grâce à la magie de Google Gemini, pourra peut-être répondre à des questions complexes sans bégayer. C'est une alliance de raison qui promet de changer notre quotidien, ou du moins, de rendre nos conversations avec nos téléphones un peu moins frustrantes. Reste à voir si Siri développera une personnalité schizophrène, tiraillé entre son âme d'Apple et son nouveau cerveau Google. En tout cas, le futur de nos assistants vocaux vient de devenir beaucoup plus intéressant et ironiquement, beaucoup plus Google.

Nous sommes le 12 janvier, il fait froid, vous n'avez probablement pas encore tenu vos résolutions du Nouvel An, mais ne désespérez pas, Mozilla est là pour mettre un peu de soleil dans votre vie numérique. Comme à leur habitude, nos amis du renard de feu ont publié les versions finales de Firefox 147 sur leur serveur FTP juste avant l'annonce officielle prévue pour demain. Alors, qu’est-ce que la fondation nous a concocté pour cette 147ème mouture ? Spoiler, c’est du lourd et votre carte graphique va enfin pouvoir arrêter de simuler le décollage d'une fusée Ariane.

Commençons par le graal pour les utilisateurs de Linux, ceux qui aiment avoir les mains dans le cambouis mais le bureau bien rangé. Firefox 147 prend enfin en charge la spécification XDG Base Directory de Freedesktop.org. Après des années à éparpiller des fichiers de configuration un peu partout comme un adolescent laisse traîner ses chaussettes, le renard apprend enfin à ranger sa chambre. C’est un petit pas pour le navigateur, mais un bond de géant pour la propreté de votre dossier Home.

Mais ce n'est pas tout. Si vous avez un GPU AMD, réjouissez-vous, le décodage vidéo matériel “zero-copy” est de la partie. En langage humain, cela signifie que regarder des vidéos de chats en 4K ne transformera plus votre ordinateur en radiateur d'appoint. La lecture sera fluide, soyeuse et votre ventilateur vous remerciera par un silence religieux. Les utilisateurs de Mac avec puces Apple Silicon ne sont pas en reste, car le support WebGPU arrive pour tout le monde. C'est le moment de lancer des simulations graphiques complexes (ou juste des jeux par navigateur) sans faire fondre votre machine.

Pour rester sur Linux (décidément, ils sont gâtés), la version 147 améliore le rendu sur GNOME avec Mutter. Fini le texte flou sur les écrans à mise l'échelle fractionnaire qui vous donnait l'impression d'avoir besoin de nouvelles lunettes. Les pixels sont désormais alignés sur la grille réelle, offrant une netteté chirurgicale, peu importe la taille de la fenêtre. Vos rétines vont apprécier.

Parlons vitesse, car on n'a jamais assez de temps. Firefox intègre le support des “Compression Dictionaries” (RFC 9842). Derrière ce nom barbare se cache une technologie capable de réduire drastiquement le nombre d'octets transférés. Mozilla promet que cela va booster le chargement des pages, surtout si votre connexion internet date de l'époque du 56k ou si votre colocataire télécharge l'intégrale d'une série en 8K.

Côté ergonomie, une fonctionnalité va changer la vie des multitâches compulsifs, le Picture-in-Picture automatique. Auparavant caché dans les tréfonds de Firefox Labs, c'est désormais activé par défaut. Lancez une vidéo, changez d'onglet pour faire semblant de travailler, et hop ! La vidéo vous suit automatiquement dans une petite fenêtre flottante. C'est magique, c'est pratique et c'est terrible pour votre productivité, mais on adore ça. De plus, les paramètres des onglets ont été réorganisés en trois catégories logiques: Ouverture, Interaction et Fermeture. C'est tellement clair que même votre grand-oncle qui clique partout pourrait s'y retrouver.

Pour les paranoïaques de la sécurité (et vous avez raison de l'être), la version Android active l'isolation de site par défaut pour contrer les attaques type Spectre. Votre téléphone sera désormais aussi forteresse que votre PC. Sur Windows, des correctifs viennent régler des soucis de sélection d'onglets sur certains moniteurs, parce qu'il n'y a rien de plus frustrant que de cliquer à côté.

Enfin, pour les développeurs web, ces magiciens du code, Firefox 147 apporte une hotte pleine de jouets: API de navigation, positionnement d'ancrage CSS et de nouvelles unités relatives aux polices. Vous pourrez même importer des feuilles de style via JavaScript. Bref, de quoi vous occuper jusqu'à la version 148.

La sortie officielle est donc pour demain, 13 janvier, accompagnée des versions ESR. Mais si vous êtes du genre impatient, foncez sur le FTP de Mozilla. Pour les autres, profitez de votre dernière journée avec la version 146, elle va vite vous sembler préhistorique !

Pour Elon Musk, les enjeux n'ont jamais été aussi élevés. À travers ses interventions lors des conférences sur les résultats financiers, ses interviews en podcast et un flux constant de publications sur X, le PDG iconoclaste a passé l'année écoulée à préparer le terrain pour une vague de nouveautés matérielles et logicielles. Selon lui, ces innovations définiront l'avenir de Tesla. « 2026 sera quelque chose de spécial », affirmait-il le 1er janvier.

Les promesses de la marque automobile américaine pour cette année charnière reposent sur quatre piliers: le logiciel de conduite autonome pour les voitures grand public, un service de robotaxi entièrement autonome, des robots humanoïdes et la présentation d'au moins un nouveau véhicule attendu de longue date. Pour les analystes, l'avenir de l'entreprise ne dépend plus que d'une seule variable, la capacité de son intelligence artificielle à fonctionner à grande échelle. 2026 sera surtout l’année de la preuve pour l'activité de robotaxi. C'est ce segment qui devrait être le principal moteur de croissance.

Depuis juin dernier, des Tesla Model Y et Model 3 transportent des passagers à Austin, au Texas, sans intervention humaine au volant, bien que des conducteurs de sécurité soient toujours présents pour intervenir en cas de besoin. L'attention se porte désormais sur la régulation. Où la marque sera-t-elle autorisée à opérer ses véhicules autonomes ? Et plus que tout, aura-t-elle assez confiance en sa technologie pour retirer définitivement les humains des sièges avant ? Actuellement, ces robotaxis circulent déjà à Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin et Atlanta.

Le Cybercab entre en production de masse

Lors de la présentation des résultats du troisième trimestre, Musk a annoncé que le Cybercab, le véhicule autonome dédié maison, entrerait en production de volume dès avril. Ce biplace, dépourvu de volant et de pédales, est optimisé pour une autonomie totale. Le milliardaire prédit une demande assez folle pour ce modèle futuriste. Tesla revendique une avance considérable sur ses concurrents en matière de données de conduite autonome, avec plus de six milliards de kilomètres parcourus par ses clients en mode Full Self-Driving (supervisé). La concurrence s'intensifie pourtant. Nvidia vient de dévoiler sa nouvelle plateforme de voiture autonome au CES de Las Vegas, tandis que Rivian, Ford et General Motors accélèrent le déploiement de leurs propres technologies. Elon Musk balaie ces menaces, affirmant sur X que Tesla a cinq ans d'avance sur Nvidia.

Des révélations produits très attendues

Tesla prépare également le retour de la Roadster de deuxième génération. Cette voiture de sport électrique, dévoilée il y a plus de huit ans et maintes fois retardée, devrait être présentée à nouveau le 1er avril. Musk promet une collaboration avec SpaceX incluant une technologie de fusée, qualifiant l'événement à venir de révélation de produit la plus mémorable de tous les temps (rien que ça…). Parallèlement, le Semi, un camion électrique, devrait sortir de l'usine du Nevada au premier semestre 2026, après des tests pilotes réussis avec Pepsi et Walmart. Enfin, Optimus, le robot humanoïde, reste un pari important. Bien que la fabrication soit un défi d'ingénierie immense, le PDG vise une production élevée pour des clients externes dès cette année.

L'autonomie face à la réalité des ventes

Malgré cet optimisme technologique, la réalité commerciale est plus nuancée. Si Musk est un visionnaire qui a résolu des problèmes que d'autres jugeaient impossibles, la voie vers la domination automobile se rétrécit. En Chine et en Europe, le concurrent BYD a dépassé Tesla en proposant des prix plus attractifs. Tesla a d’ailleurs enregistré deux années consécutives de baisse des ventes, et 2026 pourrait bien être la troisième, d'autant plus que les incitations fiscales américaines ont disparu. La gamme actuelle commence à vieillir face à une concurrence qui propose des designs et des performances rafraîchis. Pourtant, la bourse continue de croire en la vision d’Elon Musk, l'action ayant bondi récemment. Pour transformer l'essai, Tesla devra impérativement proposer un véhicule électrique véritablement abordable, seule clé pour séduire un grand public encore hésitant face aux prix actuels.