Our Father Who art in heaven Hallowed be Thy name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil

Amen

Jesus is Lord! Come Lord Jesus!

Come Lord Jesus! Christ is Lord!

🇨🇦

Of Great Exclaim

The way war was an abuse And hearing sirens’ call I must have been alone And felt true But buy this coal Claimed a piece of Andrew And surely felt well Upon this day But these fears The way of time, In just a mouse And had left me here, Inept, For just a minute

🌨️

North

I can’t understand Why Wisdom blue And Earth’s time Upon and edge The stellar plane Appears and whistles For conduct court But you a day In this great white ambulance Out of my way With flowers in hand For the USA Its day of forgiving From way up North In Heaven games C++ and lonely dreams To bless the ones Who dial as such And maybe two Accept this missile For the mausoleum Of freeborn men

In Sparrow’s view A gentle castle Protecting cats And difference made The early Brit Who headed West And one aseated Upon the desk

We come across an urgent land But five is plenty In fires of Rome And we sign peace Unto the moon But on this Earth We march within- And not against- As men in Rome Who hold the cares Of sovereign Man- And rain, and due course- And figures of eight And God blessed Trudeau In subsequent tales For peace within respect And not some reason- Unseen

We pray for peace Within toward The President on time To rectify this fear Who runs astray- Generally not far But placing days On heads of steel Fortune plaid In sixty seek

We’ll run this test And talk to Rome About within That Heaven’s departure For dolphins hear This express tune And know the weary Live at one

It's 2026 already, and not even the first day of the new year. For the rereading Project, that means a chance to share some of the exciting things we're looking forward to in 2026!

Committee Nominations

Governance continues to be the highest priority for the rereading Project. To kick that off, we'll shortly open a Community Forum post where you can nominate yourself or others to be inaugural members of the Steering, Partnerships, and Ethics Committees. We hope to shortly have all three Committees up and running, and to fully shift decision making into formal governance.

Expanding Arcalibre

We'll have more to say soon, but in parallel with starting up formal governance, we're also expanding our goals for Arcalibre, our AI-free fork of Calibre. Arcalibre was started with the idea of producing an “archival” version of Calibre with all AI antifeatures removed, serving as a basis for other forks in the future.

Since then, there's been a lot of excitement for continued development of an AI-free e-book manager, as well as new opportunities to streamline the Calibre build process. Meeting that excitement and taking advantage of those opportunities means treating Arcalibre as a living body of software, and expanding beyond an archival fork.

Pre-alpha Arcalibre Builds

Recently, two contributors were able to each build and run Arcalibre tests on their own machines (thank you @cthos@mastodon.cthos.dev and @SnoopJ@hachyderm.io!). That's a long way from having downloadable releases that can be easily tested, but we're excited to get Arcalibre into a pre-alpha state early in 2026, so that there's plenty of time to kick the tires and see where we still need to improve.

More Posting

Governance requires transparency, and that means a chance to write more about what's going on at the rereading Project. Writing is good and fun, anyway, so let's do more of that in 2026!

---

There's a lot wrong in the world, but there's also books, people who love reading books, people who love writing books, and the whole community of people sharing that love. That's the love and excitement that we're looking to bring into 2026 with the rereading Project. Thanks for being with us on that journey!

Schermziekte

“Meneer Voorbijgaande Aard u lijdt aan schermziekte” dat zei de arts tegen mij, amechtig hangend in onzekerheid aan de dunne scheidslijn. Voor ze deze diagnose konden stellen hadden ze een data onderzoek nodig van maar liefst zes weken, vijf dagen, drie uur, twee minuten en dertig seconden zei een zeer net sprekende robotstem aan de ene, verre kant van de telefoon. Schermziekte kende ik niet maar ik was heel ontdaan toen ik het te horen kreeg. Ik moest meteen janken, hoelang heb ik nog vroeg ik als eerste, het moest namelijk wel terminal zijn. De arts zei dat ik nog niet in levensgevaar verkeerde tenminste niet meteen, daar was wel wat meer voor nodig dan dit, en omdat ik er zo vroeg bij was kon ik dat vroegtijdig uitloggen eenvoudig voorkomen door toepassing van zeer hardnekkige uitstel want ik verkeerde nog maar in de eerste fase van dit plots opgekomen kwalijke, zeer ongezonde nieuwe euvel.

Ik vroeg dan maar een andere wel bekende vraag voor artsen, welke pillen moest ik waar in pluggen zodat ik hiermee beperkt levend verder kon leven met van al wat is en kan zijn een stuk minder natuurlijk. De man sprak over vijfmaal daags een USB stick en drie keer per week een aangelijnde upgrade van dokter Mirco Google verder moest ik vaker dagen zonder scherm leven om de voortslepende afhankelijksproblematiek danig te verminderen. Die uitspraak deed pas echt pijn, er zijn zoveel dingen die ik moet volgen, de koersen, het veldrijden, de aandelen, de geweldige films op net flix, sky home video en prime video, echt ongelooflijk goed, daar een dag zonder zitten is als een dag niet ademen. Vreselijk moeilijk. De arts begreep dit allemaal heel goed, hij had er vaak mee te maken gehad, ook persoonlijk, nog altijd moest hij het volgen van zijn eigen aandelen en bijbehorende koersen overlaten aan bevriende bankiers. Het was echter een noodzakelijke ingreep om stukken langer gelukkiger te leven. Ik moest het maar zien als een oplossing voor een probleem en niet als een ziekte ook al noemde hij het dus zelf wel zo. Hij had net zo goed kunnen zeggen dat ik leed aan het zelf probleem oplossend vermogen door mijn geheel eigen persoonlijke werkomgeving, het persoonsgebonden lijf.

Ik kon dit niet rijmen met het missen van schermtijd, een intens verlangen daaraan vulde hele dagen, vooral de lange, bij het opstaan dacht ik aan alles wat ik later zou gaan beleven al zittende turend naar het leven van anderen op geruime afstand van mijn werkelijkheid, mensen laverend door een grote variatie aan bedenkelijke landschappen, teksten van anderen declamerend alsof ze het zelf zo wouden zeggen, rond banjeren met schietwapens, in het kader van een of 't andere boodschap mensen zogenaamd vermoorden voor een vrij vaag goed bedoeld doel, de boodschap van de predikant regisseur overhevelen van grote grauwe grijze hersenmassa in iets minder grijze massa, ik hier zij heel ergens anders, driftig bezig met overleggen en sponsor gelden optrommelen via een tam tam voor een nieuw vers komend film met serie potentieel project, iets over verraderlijke lege machten die een heel land meeslepen naar een hel van ongekende proportie en een stel helden met enorm geweldige krachten, ogenschijnlijk heel normale acteurs maar dan opeens zetten ze zichzelf om in meneer en mevrouw blockbuster, die met raket aangedreven anus, vuurspuwende oren en ongekend harde scheldwoorden de aarde redden van een andere serie van oorzaken en gevolgen, en dan later na de basis film volgt cultuurlijk een hele serie waarin Blok en Buster vrienden maken, verliezen in de bikkelharde strijd tegen de oerlelijke maar uiterst pientere vijand, gemaakt uit een combinatie van natuur en ai (marimba) door een zootje waanzinnige wetenschappers, biologen en micro computer biologen of zo en ik dat dan moeten missen omdat ik lijd aan schermziekte dat zou te erg zijn, erger dan dood gaan denk ik. Daar hoor ik namelijk nooit goede verhalen over van die arme mensen die daar eenmaal over lijden. Als er een god en hemel is of duivel met hel dan beschikken die vast en zeker over alles bedwingende zwijgcontracten.

De dokter zei dat ik misschien moest overwegen om ergens anders naar te turen. Hij noemde geen voorbeelden daarom vroeg ik, de vers bakken patiënt inmiddels in onzekerheid verkerend, door, over en weer door. Waar dan naar? Wie, wanneer, met welke ogen en hoe laat? Ik bedoel die schermen zijn er toch voor, ze zijn speciaal gemaakt voor langdurig turen, de programmatuur er op aangepast, leuk gemaakt voor dat ene doel, kijken en soms een beetje luisteren, mijn hersenen vinden dat enorm leuk, mijn ogen hebben geen enkele moeite met kijken naar ingebeelde verhalen, ook al zijn ze in principe niet van mij afkomstig toch maak ik ze mij meteen eigen. Geef me alsjeblieft werkzame, schermziekte genezende tips geneesheer! De dokter zei dat ik naar bladzijden kon kijken. Ja, nou, alsof die zo vreedzaam en goed zijn, daar zitten dezelfde predikanten aan het taal spinnewiel, makers en herhalers van dezelfde soort verhalen, waarin mensen die doen alsof met elkaar praten alsof ze echt zijn daar zijn en doen alsof ze ergens zijn waar ze nooit waren, zullen zijn, alsof ze zo willen wezen, ze zijn er misschien ooit geweest maar nooit niet op die ene dag en dat ene moment en al helemaal niet dachten ze wat ze volgens de auteur van het vehikel moesten denken en meestal ook niet deden zoals wel wordt beschreven, fake!!! riep ik, dit is van het zwart en de pot met de ketel gerukt, trouwens aan iedere episode op een scherm gaat zo'n boekwerk vooraf. Dit is meer van hetzelfde maar misschien nog wel ernstiger. Het lijkt op wel zeer gerichte marketing, direct contact met de hersencellen van mij, een onschuldig heerschap, oog in oog met een hoop donkere lettergrepen in conclaaf met klemtonen figurerend op een bleke achtergrond, ik in onmacht gezeteld op een zetel voor zitten lijden aan het einde maken der tijden gemaakt, mijn tijd aan het verdoen en dat nog wel op advies van u een heerschap die ik zeer hoog acht, enorm, een ongelooflijk geweldig en zeer kunstig en kundig mediageniek persoon. Kom bedenk iets beters ter verbetering, verheffing van mijn volkse en slaafse kijk aard, u zit toch ook niet dag in dag uit te turen naar schermen en blaadjes niet wiegend in de wind, waar kijkt u zo al naar als u ogen voorwaarts zijn gericht?

De arts zei dat ik misschien wegkijken moest overwegen dat als er iets was dat heel erg dringend aanwezig is, zo goed als zeurt om aandacht, gewoon door daar te zijn met een optie voor aanzetten dat ik dan kijk naar een plek op de muur, plafond of de vloer, en daar dan niks van noch over denk. Dat is onmogelijk dokter, dat kan ik niet, ik ben geen god, ik ben een eenvoudig heerschap maar dan met terminale schermziekte, ik moet ergens heen kijken waar anderen iets doen, bewegen van a naar b, springen, draaien, praten, geluid maken, iets laten waaien in de wind, met een pijl gooien op een klein rond rood oogje schijnbaar residerend in de ogen van een stier, al heeft niemand die stier ooit gezien, en dan een ander aan de zijkant van het spektakel, opgetogen in een zwart pak heel overdreven roepen one hunderd and eighty !!! of een man in een hele dure auto die dan zo snel mogelijk rondjes rijdt op een afgebakend parkoers met een aantal vijanden die hij moet verslaan door sneller over rechte stukken en door bochten te gaan, en dan daar tot hij over dat vooraf bepaalde finishpunt heen gaat met het jammerlijke volk achter hem of erger als die ene rijder mijn voorkeur heeft omdat hij of zij dezelfde taal spreekt en dingen zegt als “het is..” dat ik dan in mineur ben omdat die ene die in een andere auto rijdt en in een andere taal over dezelfde dingen praat voor mijn favoriet eindigt.. daar moet een echt deugdelijk mens naar kijken en het later over hebben tijdens een nabespreking, er iets aan vinden of juist niet, of niet dan. De dokter klonk bij het aandragen van andere opties steeds minder zeker, absoluut niet vol overtuiging van het eigen gelijk, je kon hem al sprekende horen piekeren over eigen gedrag en dat van zijn soortgenoten. Waar kun je zoal naar kijken op een dag, dus alles behalve naar een scherm maar wat is een scherm anders dan een façade, een spiegelbeeld van de geest waarin het leven zich lijkt af te spelen maar waarin eigenlijk niets gebeurt. Dat je als mens je hele leven waarschijnlijk alleen nog maar bij jezelf naar binnen kijkt, je eigen immobiliteit dan voorziet van een aangeleerde geluidsband, een script vol spanning, avontuur en ogenschijnlijke diepgang maar er gebeurt daadwerkelijk niks, helemaal niks, en toch en toch.

De arts wees me er op dat er mensen zaten te wachten op zijn woorden, dat ook zij moesten horen wat er niet aan het lijf en en of geest deugde, op welke wijze ze ongezond waren of juist verkeerden in blakende gezondheid, ze eigenlijk hadden moeten dartelen in de weide in plaats van zitten sippen in zijn preekkamer, mensen vol verlangen en energie in de zenuwen verkerend over een kluwen wrikkende cellen, een wel of niet spoedig naderend einde, een pijntje, een lichte irritatie of meer, helse pijnen! Dus...

En ik dan? U belt mij op na zes weken waarop ik in de zenuwen zat over mijn eigen naderend einde, ik heb me dingen voorgesteld, onvoorstelbare zaken, ik ben al meermaals begraven en weder opgestaan omdat ik er niet hard genoeg in geloofde, het verhaal niet voldeed, ik wil een fatsoenlijke kwaal met een degelijke oplossing, desnoods lange, zware kuren en diverse vormen van therapie, gymnastiek en zware oefeningen waarin ik weer leer denken en of praten misschien die beide wel een keer tegelijkertijd, iets met een doel waar ik naar toe kan werken zodat ik mijn over over over klein kinderen kan zien opgroeien en horen hoe goed ze tv kijken en computer taal leren beheren, het rij bewijs halen of beter het vaar bewijs, dat lijkt me in de toekomende tijd een stuk handiger. Iets waaraan gezonde mensen lijden in plaats van zo'n nieuwerwetse kwaal net gekomen uit de koker van de afdeling medicijnman fictie. Dit is helemaal niks, ik voel me volkomen verloren zeker in dit bedrijvig heden waarin geen mens meer zonder een verbeeldend scherm kan optreden. Heeft u niet iets in de aanbieding waarvoor ik pijnstillers kan slikken en dan tegen beter weten in van de beter wetenschap beter worden dan ik ooit was?

Piep tjielp tjielp piep tjielp piep

U luistert nu naar Bennie, de AI assistent van dokter Kolder, Uw geliefde huisarts heeft eigenhandig de verbinding met u verbroken, hij heeft het zo drug, drug, drug. U kunt echter wel via het economisch efficiënte telefoon menu iedere maand de aan u voorgeschreven zo goed als verplichte medicijnen bestellen om u schermziekte te bestrijden. Wij hebben alle informatie daarover alvast doorgespeeld naar alle daarin belanghebbende derden, vierden en vijfden, partijen die economisch belang hebben bij u in samenwerking met u vele kwalen, de vele bij werkenden van de geneesmiddelen u tijdens het leven voorbeschreven, met onze kennis van zaken hebben we onder andere de volgende partijen ingelicht, publieke en commerciële omroepen, de schrijvende pers, de orerende pers, alle mogelijke internet diensten, data leverancier(s), de leveranciers van de gebrandmerkte schermmiddelen zodat ook zij weten waar op ze moeten letten als u toch erg lang naar het u door eigen toedoen ziekmakende apparaat kijkt, de overheid om u als een simpel statistisch gegeven toe te voegen in hun data bestand over het aantal schermziekte lijders, tevens hebben wij contact opgenomen met een aantal therapeutisch directe belanghebbenden dit aangaande de te volgen therapie om u kwaal in goede beperkte banen en aan goede koper lijnen of glazen vezels te leiden speciaal voor bijzondere mensen zoals u die lijden aan deze ernstige ongeneeslijke terminal kwaal. Wij hopen dat u dit niet bezwaarlijk vindt indien wel, jammer dan. Wij zullen u voortgang blijven monitoren. Dank u voor u bereidwilligheid om door ons gediagnosticeerd te worden, wij wensen u een zo goed als gelukkig mogelijk nieuwjaar en veel progressie bij u [online] therapie.

If you’re ever on Facebook or any other social media platform and have your phone’s microphone on, you’ll always see ads tailored specifically to your wants and desires. For me, it’s always backpacks, notebooks, pencils, and saxophones. It’s a love/hate thing.

Every time I go on Facebook (love Marketplace by the way), I always see some company I’ve never heard of selling genuine leather notebooks, the best journal carrying system, or the newest electronic gadget that supposedly helps you write with few distractions. The Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS) always rears its ugly head and takes your precious time and hard earned money.

Influencers praise these products and services and offer their discount codes to make sure you enjoy them as much as they do (until they move onto the next best thing). What ever happened to grabbing a simple notebook and pen/pencil and just write? Why is writing getting more complicated?

Do we really need devices with e-ink screens to help us write? Or an expensive journaling system forcing us to buy more replacement notebooks and accessories to make us look cool while we write? And do we really need an app just to time us when to start and stop writing?

I know I sound like the old man yelling at the clouds. So let’s just focus on the simple act of writing itself: paper and pen/pencil. And let’s deal with the more complicated stuff, such as publishing your manuscript and the online posts, later when the time comes.

#writing #simple #shinyobjectsyndrome

Gratitude

Manifesting and gratitude are not as simple as they sound. Many of us are living in the storm season of our lives, and when you are in it, it can be hard to see the sunshine at all.

I want to briefly share my 2025 the year manifesting finally clicked for me and I learned how to flow with the universe instead of fighting it.

Due to my disability, I rely on a van service to get to and from destinations. For several years, I spent 2–6 hours a day just commuting because it is a ride-share system. All of that time and energy was simply to get to work and rebuild my life.

At the same time, I had real concerns about healthcare costs. I made good money in my career, but not enough to comfortably cover nursing expenses.

Moving back closer to my job in the city a place I had already claimed as home despite the cost...it felt necessary. Still, money was a real concern.

But I knew the move had to happen. The long rides were exhausting me, and I was not getting enough rest to function properly.

So I made a decision: I was moving, and my needs would be met.

I focused my energy on exactly how I wanted my life to feel. I did not just think about it—I felt it. I lived as if doors were already opening and I was simply walking through them. I did not obsessively check outcomes. I only took action where it was required of me.

Here is what happened.

I was connected with an advocate who helped me secure full healthcare coverage. There was no lying, exaggerating, or manipulating the system. I stayed honest and transparent, and accommodations were made. She still jokes about invoicing me and never sent one, which tells you everything about her heart.

Over ten years ago, I said I would live where I live now because it spoke to my spirit. I would have preferred not to be wheelchair-bound, yet I was still able to secure the apartment. Management ensures my needs are met, and I have never had a complaint.

My nurses and caregivers slowly but surely fell into place. Issues are rare. One even buys groceries and cooks for me, which saves me a significant amount of money.

I also needed new medical equipment and searched everywhere for suppliers willing to help. Nothing worked until I finally found one. My insurance covered everything in full, even though other suppliers could not make it happen. I do not know what occurred behind the scenes, and honestly, I do not care.

Everything worked out because I aligned myself with the abundance already present in my life. Doors open for me because I believe they will.

You may be someone, like I once was, who overthinks this process and fixates on variables such as timing, location, or practical limitations.

Here is another perspective.

A friend of mine, who was previously my nurse, wanted to leave nursing to pursue her passion for music and transition into music therapy. She was struggling financially and has a special-needs child. She aligned herself with purpose and trust.

When we last spoke, she had quit nursing and was working in music full-time. Her external circumstances had not magically changed, yet she had not experienced a single financial crisis. More importantly, she felt fulfilled and aligned with her reason for being here.

Here is what I want you to do.

Something tells me some of you reading this do not need to start small. You need something to shift.

Let us use getting a job as an example.

You know you do not want to remain unemployed. What you do want is a career that pays the bills, allows you to live comfortably, and maybe even take time off to rest.

Close your eyes. Do not focus on desperation. Do not replay how hard life feels right now. Instead, feel what it would be like to already have the job.

Close your eyes. Imagine this.

You enjoy getting up in the morning and going to work. You feel accomplished when you complete your tasks. You are surrounded by coworkers who respect you. You made a difference today. You feel at ease when your paycheck comes in. You are grateful for the person who opened the door for you. You feel valued by your supervisor and respected for your ideas.

Notice the difference. There is no focus on what you do not want. The universe responds to frequency, not resistance.

Allow the opportunity to come to you, but still do your part. Update your résumé. Apply for jobs. Attend conferences if you can. Take advantage of free events. Meet people.

Do not dwell on rejection. You do not know what you were being protected from.

Stay aligned. Trust the timing. The doors will open, and the signs will be clear.

Lastly, be grateful. Being where you are right now is a privilege not granted to everyone.

This is just the beginning..

Prov

Acts 13 is one of those chapters that quietly changes everything. Not because of a miracle that makes headlines or a confrontation that grabs attention, but because something subtle and irreversible happens beneath the surface. This is the moment when the church stops orbiting around its own center and begins to move outward with intention. It is the chapter where Christianity becomes decisively outward-facing, not as an idea, but as a lived mission that will not be contained by geography, culture, or comfort.

Up until this point in Acts, the story has been unfolding in expanding circles, but still largely reactive. Persecution scatters believers. Circumstances push the gospel forward. God uses disruption to advance His purposes. But Acts 13 marks a shift from reaction to obedience. The church in Antioch does not move because it is forced to. It moves because it listens. That distinction matters more than we often realize.

Antioch itself is already a signal that something new is happening. This is not Jerusalem, with its deep religious roots and sacred memory. Antioch is diverse, busy, Roman, multilingual, and unapologetically Gentile. It is a city built on trade routes and cultural collision. The gospel has taken root here not as an extension of Jewish identity but as a living, breathing message that speaks across boundaries. The church in Antioch is a picture of what happens when faith grows in the middle of the real world rather than the safety of religious tradition.

Luke is careful to name the leaders of this church, and their diversity is impossible to miss. Barnabas, the encourager from Cyprus. Simeon called Niger, likely a Black African believer. Lucius of Cyrene, from North Africa. Manaen, who grew up in proximity to political power alongside Herod the tetrarch. And Saul, the former persecutor turned relentless witness. This is not a uniform leadership team. It is a mosaic. Different backgrounds, different life stories, different social locations, all worshiping together and listening for the same Spirit.

That detail alone deserves lingering reflection. Before the Spirit speaks about mission, Luke tells us what the church is doing. They are worshiping and fasting. Not strategizing. Not planning expansion. Not arguing theology. They are seeking God together. Their unity is not based on sameness but on shared surrender. This is one of the quiet truths of Acts 13: mission clarity grows best in communities that prioritize God’s presence over their own agendas.

The Spirit’s instruction is strikingly simple and deeply disruptive. “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” The Spirit does not explain the full plan. There is no map, no timeline, no guarantee of safety or success. The calling is clear, but the outcome is not. And the church responds not with hesitation, but with obedience. They fast again. They pray. They lay hands on them. And then they let them go.

Letting go is often the most costly act of faith. Barnabas and Saul are not expendable leaders. They are central figures. Sending them means the church will feel their absence. It means releasing control. It means trusting that God’s work does not depend on proximity or familiarity. Acts 13 teaches us that a church that refuses to send will eventually stop growing, even if it continues gathering.

Barnabas and Saul do not go alone in spirit, even though they physically depart. The church sends them, and in doing so, participates in their mission. This is not a story about lone heroes. It is about shared obedience. The Spirit sends, the church affirms, and the mission unfolds through human steps taken in trust.

Their journey begins in Cyprus, Barnabas’s home region, which already hints at God’s redemptive pattern. God often begins new chapters in familiar places, but never stays there. In Salamis, they proclaim the word of God in synagogues, starting where there is at least some shared framework. This has been Paul’s pattern and will continue to be. He does not reject Jewish heritage; he builds upon it. Yet Acts 13 will make clear that the gospel cannot be confined to any single audience.

As they move across the island to Paphos, the narrative introduces a confrontation that is more than personal conflict. Sergius Paulus, a Roman proconsul, is described as an intelligent man who wants to hear the word of God. This detail matters. He is not hostile. He is curious. He is open. But standing in the way is Elymas, also called Bar-Jesus, a sorcerer and false prophet. The irony of that name is not accidental. A man whose name means “son of Jesus” actively opposes the message of Jesus.

This is one of the recurring tensions in Acts: opposition does not always come from open enemies. Sometimes it comes from those who trade in spiritual language but resist truth. Elymas attempts to turn the proconsul away from the faith, and for the first time in Acts, Saul is explicitly called Paul. The shift in name aligns with a shift in role. Paul steps forward with authority, not his own, but Spirit-filled.

Paul’s rebuke is sharp, direct, and unsettling to modern ears. He calls Elymas a child of the devil, an enemy of righteousness, one who distorts the straight paths of the Lord. Then, under the Spirit’s power, Elymas is struck temporarily blind. This moment forces us to wrestle with a dimension of God we sometimes prefer to avoid. Grace does not eliminate judgment. Mercy does not negate truth. Acts 13 shows that the same Spirit who comforts also confronts.

The result is not fear but belief. Sergius Paulus comes to faith, astonished not merely by the miracle but by the teaching about the Lord. That phrase is important. The miracle points to the message, not the other way around. Power serves truth. Signs serve substance. The gospel does not rely on spectacle but on the revelation of who Jesus is.

From this point on, the narrative momentum accelerates. Paul emerges as the primary voice. The mission expands beyond Cyprus into Asia Minor. But not everyone who begins the journey finishes it. John Mark, who had accompanied them, leaves and returns to Jerusalem. Luke does not give us his reasons, and that ambiguity is intentional. Faith journeys include moments of withdrawal, confusion, and unmet expectations. Acts does not hide this reality. It records it without commentary, trusting readers to understand that not all calling looks the same at the same time.

When Paul and Barnabas arrive in Pisidian Antioch, Paul delivers one of the most significant sermons in Acts. It is a sweeping retelling of Israel’s history, not as nostalgia, but as revelation. Paul does not discard the story of Israel. He reframes it. God chose the ancestors. God delivered them from Egypt. God sustained them in the wilderness. God gave them judges and kings. And then, from David’s line, God brought Jesus.

This sermon is not a history lesson for its own sake. It is a theological argument rooted in continuity. Paul is saying, in effect, this is not a new religion. This is the fulfillment of an old promise. Jesus is not an interruption of God’s plan but its culmination. Forgiveness of sins and justification, Paul proclaims, come through Jesus in a way the law of Moses could never fully accomplish.

This is one of the most radical claims in the New Testament, and it is delivered inside a synagogue. Paul is not attacking Judaism; he is announcing completion. The law pointed forward. Jesus finishes the story. The warning Paul issues at the end of his sermon is sobering. Do not scoff. Do not dismiss what God is doing now. Familiarity with Scripture does not guarantee openness to fulfillment.

The response is mixed, as it often is. Some are intrigued and want to hear more. The following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathers to hear the word of the Lord. This is where tension rises. The Jewish leaders see the crowds and become jealous. Opposition intensifies. The same message that draws outsiders unsettles insiders. Acts 13 does not sugarcoat this dynamic. When God’s grace expands, it often threatens existing power structures.

Paul and Barnabas respond with clarity and courage. They state plainly that the word of God had to be spoken first to the Jews. But since it is rejected, they turn to the Gentiles. This is not retaliation. It is obedience. They quote Scripture to justify this shift, declaring that God has made them a light to the Gentiles, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth.

The Gentiles rejoice. They glorify the word of the Lord. And Luke records one of the most hope-filled lines in Acts: all who were appointed for eternal life believed. The gospel spreads throughout the region, not because it is fashionable, but because it is true. Yet persecution follows. Paul and Barnabas are expelled from the region, and they respond not with bitterness, but by shaking the dust from their feet and moving on.

This action is not petty. It is prophetic. It signals accountability without hostility. It entrusts judgment to God and frees the messengers to continue their work. Acts 13 ends with the disciples filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit, even as opposition remains. That combination is one of the clearest signs of authentic faith. Joy that does not depend on comfort. Fulfillment that does not require acceptance.

Acts 13 teaches us that obedience is rarely safe, often misunderstood, and always transformative. It shows us a church that listens before it acts, leaders who submit before they speak, and a gospel that refuses to be contained by tradition or fear. This chapter is not merely historical. It is instructive. It asks uncomfortable questions of every generation of believers.

Are we willing to be a sending church, even when it costs us our best people? Are we willing to let the Spirit interrupt our routines? Are we willing to speak truth when it unsettles, and extend grace when it surprises? Acts 13 does not offer easy answers, but it does offer a clear invitation. Follow the Spirit. Trust the mission. Let go when God says send.

The story does not end here. It cannot. Once the church learns to release rather than retain, to obey rather than control, the gospel becomes unstoppable. Acts 13 is the moment when the church steps fully into that reality, and nothing is ever the same again.

Acts 13 does not simply describe the beginning of missionary journeys; it exposes the inner posture required to carry the gospel forward without distorting it. What emerges as the chapter continues is not a triumphalist narrative of unstoppable heroes, but a deeply human story of obedience marked by tension, rejection, resilience, and joy that does not depend on outcomes.

One of the most striking undercurrents in Acts 13 is how deliberately God disrupts expectations. The church in Antioch likely assumed that its future depended on keeping its strongest leaders close. Paul and Barnabas were teachers, anchors, stabilizers. Yet the Spirit insists on movement. This reveals a truth that challenges nearly every institutional instinct: God’s work expands through release, not retention. What feels like loss to us often becomes multiplication in God’s economy.

The sending of Paul and Barnabas also redefines what leadership looks like in the kingdom of God. They are not commissioned because they have mastered technique or strategy, but because they are already living lives of worship, fasting, and attentiveness. In Acts 13, calling does not precede faithfulness; it flows from it. The Spirit speaks into an already surrendered environment. That pattern has not changed. God still entrusts outward mission to those who have learned inward humility.

As Paul’s role becomes more prominent, Acts 13 subtly reframes authority. Paul does not seize leadership; it emerges as he responds faithfully to each situation. His confrontation with Elymas is not driven by ego or impatience but by discernment. His sermon in Pisidian Antioch is not rhetorical performance but theological clarity rooted in Scripture. His turning toward the Gentiles is not emotional retaliation but prophetic obedience. Authority in Acts is never self-generated. It is recognized through alignment with God’s purposes.

The sermon in Pisidian Antioch deserves further reflection because it reveals how Paul understands God’s story. Paul does not treat Israel’s history as a relic of the past or a burden to escape. He treats it as sacred groundwork. God chose. God led. God sustained. God promised. And God fulfilled. Jesus is not presented as an alternative to Israel’s story but as its climax. This approach honors God’s faithfulness across generations while refusing to freeze faith in a previous era.

Paul’s emphasis on forgiveness and justification is especially significant. He does not merely proclaim that sins are forgiven; he insists that through Jesus, believers are justified in a way the law could never accomplish. This is not an attack on the law but an honest assessment of its limits. The law reveals righteousness; it cannot create it. Acts 13 articulates one of the clearest transitions from covenantal obligation to covenantal grace, without dismissing either.

The mixed response to Paul’s message exposes another enduring reality: the gospel does not fail when it divides opinion. In fact, division often reveals where hearts truly stand. The jealousy of the religious leaders is not framed as theological disagreement but as resistance to losing control. The gospel threatens systems built on exclusivity. When grace expands beyond familiar boundaries, it unsettles those who have benefited from keeping it contained.

Paul and Barnabas respond to rejection with clarity rather than cruelty. Their declaration that they are turning to the Gentiles is not a rejection of Israel but an affirmation of God’s global promise. Scripture itself supports their move. God always intended His salvation to reach the nations. Acts 13 simply marks the moment when that intention becomes unmistakably central.

The joy of the Gentile believers stands in stark contrast to the hostility of those who oppose the message. Luke’s description is brief but powerful. They rejoice. They glorify the word of the Lord. Faith spreads. This joy is not shallow enthusiasm; it is the deep relief of people who finally hear that they are included in God’s story. Acts 13 reminds us that the gospel’s power is often most visible among those who never expected to be welcomed.

Persecution follows swiftly, as it often does when the gospel disrupts entrenched interests. Paul and Barnabas are expelled, not because they failed, but because their message succeeded. This inversion of success and rejection is one of the most challenging lessons in Acts. Faithfulness does not guarantee acceptance. Obedience does not ensure safety. But neither rejection nor suffering signals God’s absence.

The act of shaking the dust from their feet is a quiet act of trust. It releases resentment. It acknowledges responsibility without obsession. It leaves space for God to continue working beyond the missionaries’ presence. Acts 13 models a faith that knows when to stay and when to move on, when to speak and when to entrust the outcome to God.

The chapter ends with a phrase that deserves to linger in the soul: the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. This joy exists alongside opposition, not after its removal. It is the joy of alignment, the peace of obedience, the quiet confidence that God’s purposes are advancing even when circumstances suggest otherwise.

Acts 13 reshapes how we understand success in the life of faith. Success is not measured by comfort, applause, or permanence. It is measured by obedience, clarity, and willingness to be sent. The church in Antioch succeeds not because it grows larger, but because it listens better. Paul and Barnabas succeed not because they avoid hardship, but because they follow the Spirit step by step.

This chapter also speaks directly to modern faith communities that wrestle with identity, relevance, and mission. Acts 13 does not call the church to chase culture or retreat from it. It calls the church to listen deeply, obey courageously, and trust that God is already at work beyond familiar boundaries. The gospel does not need protection; it needs witnesses who are willing to move.

At a personal level, Acts 13 confronts the question of surrender. What would it mean to let go of roles, routines, or relationships when the Spirit calls? What if faithfulness requires movement rather than stability? What if obedience means stepping into uncertainty without guarantees? Acts 13 does not promise clarity about outcomes, but it does promise the presence of the Holy Spirit along the way.

The courage to be sent is not reserved for apostles. It is a posture available to every believer. Sometimes being sent means crossing oceans. Sometimes it means crossing assumptions. Sometimes it means speaking truth in familiar spaces where it may no longer be welcomed. Acts 13 reminds us that God’s mission is not constrained by geography. It advances wherever obedience meets opportunity.

The story that begins in Antioch does not end there, and neither does its relevance. Acts 13 stands as a turning point not only in Scripture but in the ongoing life of the church. It marks the moment when faith decisively steps beyond its birthplace and into the world. That step required listening, releasing, confronting, enduring, and rejoicing all at once.

In every generation, the church must decide whether it will be a holding place or a sending place, a gatekeeper or a witness, a preserver of comfort or a participant in mission. Acts 13 offers no middle ground. The Spirit speaks. The church responds. The gospel moves. And the world is never the same.

That same invitation remains. Listen. Obey. Let go. And trust that God is already ahead of you.

Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph

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👋 👀👂✌️

👄

Hello hello

I have got a big heart and it’s not made of steel, like in this expertly written track by Manowar, named ”Heart of Steel“,

I listen to that one a lot, when facing hardships, I too feel like a comet. I too burn the bridge behind me, because there are things worse than death.

I think.

Always one more try!

And the falling snow, indeed will always melt, even though sometimes it takes a long time,

This song lyrics are very accessible for youth and adults alike, indeed the old sometimes forget that they have strayed from their paths somewhere long ago,

And sometimes some of them don’t remember who they once were meant to be.

But that’s not passing judgement, life can grind HARD! Sometimes a battery of circumstances can propel anyone into space or down into a very deep well, so much that the exit seems smaller than a star. And that’s not something I can judge people for, laying as I do, on the yellow sofa.

However, it’s never to late to do the right thing. Even Jesus says so.

Like in this text, it’s not about succeeding, it’s about perseverance. To not give up! It’s all we got?!

But yes! Staying true to the ideal is no easy task.

It requires a heart of steel

I think I have such a heart after all

I must believe I do

When the disciples finally asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, they were not asking out of curiosity. They were asking out of necessity. They had been with Him long enough to recognize a pattern that could not be ignored. Every time Jesus prayed, something shifted. Not just circumstances, but atmosphere. Not just outcomes, but people. There was a steadiness to Him that did not come from temperament or training. There was a clarity in Him that did not come from education alone. And the disciples, many of whom had spent their lives around religious activity, realized they were watching something altogether different. This was not prayer as performance. This was prayer as oxygen.

They did not ask Him how to preach. They did not ask Him how to heal or teach or draw crowds. They asked Him how to pray, because they understood instinctively that prayer was the source. Everything else flowed from that place. They had watched Him withdraw from noise and return with authority. They had watched Him step away from chaos and come back centered. They had watched Him pray before the hardest moments and endure them without losing Himself. And so they asked the most honest question a human being can ask another: how do You stay connected like that?

The Lord’s Prayer was His answer, but it was not a script meant to be memorized and repeated without thought. It was a window into how Jesus Himself related to God. To understand why Jesus taught prayer this way, we have to ask a deeper question first. Where did He learn to pray like this?

Jesus was born into a world already saturated with prayer. He grew up hearing Scripture read aloud. He learned the Psalms not as poetry but as survival language. He knew the ancient prayers of Israel, the blessings spoken over bread, the words whispered at sunrise and sunset. He knew the language of reverence, of awe, of dependence. But Jesus did not merely inherit a prayer tradition. He inhabited it. And then He transformed it.

The prayers of Israel were rich, expansive, and deeply reverent, but for many people they had also become distant. Formal. Carefully measured. Prayer could feel like something you offered upward rather than something you entered into. Jesus did not discard those prayers. He fulfilled them. He drew them inward. He stripped them down to their essential truth and rebuilt them around relationship.

That is why the Lord’s Prayer begins where it does. Not with demand. Not with confession. Not even with need. It begins with identity.

“Our Father.”

Those two words alone reveal more about the heart of Jesus than volumes of theology. Jesus does not begin prayer by reminding us how small we are. He begins by reminding us how held we are. He does not ask us to approach God as beggars hoping to be tolerated. He invites us to approach God as children who belong.

This was not common language. It was not casual or careless. It was intimate in a way that unsettled people. Jesus spoke to God with the closeness of a son who trusted completely, and He invited His followers into that same relationship. Prayer, He taught, begins not with fear but with trust. Not with distance but with closeness.

Jesus learned this posture not from books alone, but from lived communion. Again and again, the Gospels tell us that He withdrew to lonely places to pray. Not because He was weak, but because He understood that intimacy with God was not automatic. It was cultivated. Prayer was where He aligned Himself with the Father before He engaged the world.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Our Father,” He was teaching them where to stand. He was giving them a starting place that would anchor them no matter what came next. Because if prayer does not begin with relationship, it quickly turns into transaction. And Jesus refused to teach prayer as a transaction.

He continues, “who is in heaven.” This is not about distance. It is about perspective. Jesus reminds us that God is not trapped inside our circumstances. Heaven is not a far-off place so much as a higher vantage point. Prayer begins when we lift our eyes beyond what is immediately visible and remember that God sees more than we do.

Then Jesus says, “Hallowed be Your name.”

This is not flattery. It is recalibration. To hallow something is to recognize its weight, its holiness, its significance. Jesus teaches us to pause before we ask for anything and remember who God is. In a world that constantly pulls our attention toward ourselves, this line gently but firmly reorients us. Prayer is not about enlarging our desires; it is about realigning them.

Jesus knew how quickly fear can take over when life feels uncertain. He knew how easily we reduce God to the size of our problems. So He teaches us to begin prayer by lifting God back to His rightful place. Not because God needs the reminder, but because we do.

Only after establishing identity and perspective does Jesus move into purpose. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

This is one of the most misunderstood lines in prayer. Many hear it as passive resignation, as though we are asking God to override our lives. But Jesus is doing something far more profound. He is inviting us to participate in God’s work. This is not about surrendering agency. It is about aligning it.

Jesus lived His entire life under this prayer. Every choice He made flowed from a desire to bring heaven’s values into earthly reality. Compassion where there was exclusion. Mercy where there was judgment. Truth where there was hypocrisy. When He teaches us to pray for God’s kingdom to come, He is teaching us to become people through whom that kingdom is expressed.

Prayer, in this sense, is not escape. It is engagement. It is not about withdrawing from the world; it is about being transformed so that we can live in it differently. Jesus chose this structure because He understood that prayer shapes vision before it shapes outcomes.

Then He brings the prayer into the most ordinary territory imaginable. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

This line is deceptively simple. It is also deeply challenging. Jesus does not teach us to pray for abundance or security or certainty. He teaches us to pray for enough. Enough for today. Enough to keep going. Enough to trust that tomorrow will also be met.

Jesus knew the human tendency to live either in regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow. Daily bread pulls us back into the present. It teaches us that faith is lived one day at a time. Dependence is not a failure of spirituality; it is the foundation of it.

In teaching this line, Jesus echoes the story of manna in the wilderness, where God provided daily provision that could not be stored or controlled. The lesson was not about scarcity. It was about trust. Jesus chose this imagery because He knew that learning to rely on God daily reshapes the soul.

Prayer, He teaches, is not about securing guarantees. It is about cultivating trust.

As the prayer continues, Jesus turns toward the inner life. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

This is not a casual addition. It is central. Jesus understood that unresolved guilt and unhealed resentment distort everything. They cloud our relationship with God and fracture our relationships with others. Forgiveness, in the teaching of Jesus, is not a spiritual add-on. It is a necessity.

By linking our reception of forgiveness with our extension of it, Jesus reveals a hard truth: grace is meant to move. When it stagnates, it becomes corrosive. Prayer is not only about being cleansed; it is about being released. Released from what we have done, and from what has been done to us.

Jesus knew that many people would try to pray while carrying bitterness. He knew how heavy that weight becomes over time. So He placed forgiveness at the heart of prayer, not to burden us, but to free us.

Then, finally, Jesus acknowledges what so many prayers avoid. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

This is not pessimism. It is realism. Jesus does not pretend that life is safe or that faith removes struggle. He teaches us to ask for guidance before we wander, strength before we fall, and rescue before darkness overwhelms us.

Jesus Himself prayed this way. In moments of pressure and pain, He did not deny fear. He entrusted it to the Father. And in teaching His disciples to pray this line, He gives them permission to be honest. Honest about weakness. Honest about danger. Honest about their need for help.

The Lord’s Prayer, taken as a whole, is not a formula for religious success. It is a map for a grounded life. It moves from relationship to reverence, from alignment to dependence, from forgiveness to protection. It reflects the way Jesus Himself lived.

And that is why He taught it this way.

In the next part, we will step deeper into how this prayer reshapes the inner life over time, why it has endured across centuries, and what happens when we stop reciting it and begin living it.

If the Lord’s Prayer were only meant to be recited, it would not have survived the centuries the way it has. Words alone do not endure like this. What lasts is formation. What lasts is truth that reshapes the inner life slowly, quietly, faithfully. Jesus did not give His disciples a prayer to admire. He gave them a prayer to inhabit. And when this prayer is lived rather than rushed, it begins to do something subtle but profound to the person who prays it.

The Lord’s Prayer trains the soul to move in a certain direction. Over time, it teaches us how to stand in the world without being consumed by it. It reorders priorities. It softens hard places. It builds steadiness where anxiety once lived. This is why Jesus chose to teach prayer this way. He knew that what we repeat regularly does not just pass through us; it forms us.

One of the quiet powers of this prayer is its balance. It holds together both intimacy and awe. It reminds us that God is close enough to call Father, but holy enough to be revered. Many people lose one side or the other. Some approach God casually but lose reverence. Others approach God with reverence but lose closeness. Jesus refuses to let us choose. He teaches a prayer that holds both at once. Relationship without reverence becomes shallow. Reverence without relationship becomes cold. Prayer, Jesus teaches, must contain both if it is to sustain us.

Over time, praying this way retrains how we see ourselves. Beginning with “Our Father” slowly loosens the grip of isolation. You are reminded again and again that you are not alone. That your life is not carried by your own strength alone. That you belong to something larger than your fear or your failure. This is not emotional comfort; it is spiritual grounding. The world tells us we must earn belonging. Jesus teaches us to begin prayer from a place of already being claimed.

As the prayer moves into “Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” something else begins to happen internally. We start to loosen our grip on control. This does not happen all at once. It happens through repetition, through daily surrender, through the quiet reorientation of the heart. Over time, the prayer teaches us to ask a different question. Instead of “How can I make this work?” we begin to ask, “What is God already doing here?” That shift changes how we face decisions, conflict, and uncertainty.

Living this prayer does not make life easier. It makes it clearer. It teaches us to recognize where we are resisting God’s work and where we are invited to participate in it. It forms humility, not as weakness, but as strength grounded in trust.

The daily bread portion of the prayer continues this reshaping. When prayed honestly, it confronts our obsession with security. It calls out our tendency to live five steps ahead of the present moment. Over time, it teaches us how to live within the limits of today without fear. This does not mean ignoring responsibility or planning. It means learning to trust that God meets us in the ordinary rhythms of life, not just in extraordinary moments.

Many people struggle with faith not because they lack belief, but because they are exhausted from trying to manage everything themselves. Daily bread prayer gently dismantles that burden. It reminds us that provision is relational, not transactional. That trust grows through consistency, not control.

Forgiveness, placed where it is in the prayer, continues the inner work. It exposes the places we hold onto resentment because letting go feels risky. Over time, praying forgiveness reshapes our understanding of justice and mercy. We begin to see how deeply connected our inner freedom is to our willingness to release others. Jesus did not include this line to shame us. He included it because He knew that unforgiveness chains us to the past.

Living this prayer teaches us that forgiveness is not denial of harm, but refusal to let harm define us. It becomes an ongoing practice rather than a one-time decision. And slowly, often without fanfare, the heart begins to lighten.

The final line about temptation and deliverance completes the formation. It teaches vigilance without paranoia. Dependence without fear. Honesty without despair. When we pray this regularly, we learn to recognize our limits without shame. We learn that asking for help is not spiritual failure. It is spiritual maturity.

Jesus chose to teach prayer this way because He knew that life would test His followers. They would face fear, confusion, persecution, disappointment, and doubt. He did not promise them an escape. He gave them a way to remain anchored. The Lord’s Prayer is not protection from hardship; it is preparation for it.

And perhaps most importantly, this prayer teaches us to pray together. The language is communal from beginning to end. Our Father. Give us. Forgive us. Lead us. Deliver us. Jesus never frames prayer as a solitary self-improvement exercise. Even when prayed alone, it reminds us that faith is lived in community. That our lives are intertwined. That what shapes us individually also shapes the people around us.

This is why the Lord’s Prayer has endured across cultures, languages, and centuries. It speaks to something universal in the human experience: the need for belonging, meaning, forgiveness, provision, guidance, and hope. It is not bound to a single moment in history because it addresses what it means to be human in every age.

When Jesus taught this prayer, He was not only responding to a question. He was passing on a way of life. He was inviting His disciples into the same rhythm that sustained Him. A rhythm of trust. Of surrender. Of daily return to God.

When we pray this prayer slowly, thoughtfully, honestly, we begin to notice something subtle. We become calmer. More patient. Less reactive. More aware of God’s presence in ordinary moments. This is not because the words are magical. It is because the prayer is formative. It trains us to live from a different center.

Jesus learned prayer through communion with the Father, through Scripture, through solitude, and through obedience. He taught it through simplicity, not because it was shallow, but because it was deep enough to carry a lifetime. The Lord’s Prayer does not give us everything we want. It gives us what we need to remain faithful.

And that is why Jesus chose this prayer. Not to impress us. Not to overwhelm us. But to steady us. To remind us who God is. To remind us who we are. And to teach us how to live between heaven and earth without losing our way.

When you pray the way Jesus taught, you are not merely repeating ancient words. You are stepping into a rhythm that has carried countless lives through joy and grief, certainty and doubt, peace and struggle. You are learning to live grounded in trust rather than fear.

This is why the prayer still works.

This is why it still speaks.

And this is why Jesus taught it—not as something to memorize, but as something to become.

Watch Douglas Vandergraph’s inspiring faith-based videos on YouTube

Support the ministry by buying Douglas a coffee

Your friend, Douglas Vandergraph

I thought I'd start a weekly post to try and get into a rhythm with putting stuff out there again. I only managed to write one post in 2025, even though at the end of 2024 I set a new year's resolution to share more. Let's pretend 2025 didn't happen, and I actually do manage to share more thoughts in 2026.

What I've been reading this week

I'm currently reading at least four books in parallel:

• How Life Works by Philip Ball
• Introduction to biotechnology by William J. Thieman
• The PARA Method by Tiago Forte
• Behemoth by Joshua B. Freeman

Reading the first two books in parallel is actually quite fun. How Life Works is a narrative of what we know about biology and DNA, and it's a nice contrast to the textbook style of Introduction to Biotechnology that just describes everything matter-of-factly. Philip Ball was an editor the journal Nature for over twenty years, so when he describes things like introns you get to learn how we came to know they exist and how much exactly we know about them, instead of just seeing them annotated in a figure with a short explanation. I even learned that there is a Star Trek TNG episode called Genesis (Season 7, Episode 19) where crew members have their introns activated at random, causing them to devolve.

The PARA Method is a way of organizing digital information by Tiago Forte, the same guy who wrote Building a Second Brain. It's a short read, and I hope to be able to apply the methods in the book successfully. Something from the book that I found insightful is that it takes time and effort to make private notes shareable. Without adding context and additional definitions, private notes won't make much sense for others. For that reason, it makes most sense to put it the time and effort to share your notes when they're about something you're working on collaboratively with others.

Behemoth is about manufacturing, and it's taking me a while to get through it. I've thought about just abandoning it a couple of times, but every time I read from it I do feel like I'm learning something.

Highlights from this week

And with that I don't necessarily mean personal highlights, but things I've highlighted in articles or books I've read.

From How I rebooted my social life:

If I wanted a community, then I could build it myself. I mean, in principle, it shouldn’t be too hard to do. Community has been the foundation of all of human society since the dawn of our species, so the playbook for how to build one had already been figured out. I think it boils down to a few key ingredients: a community needs a common connection or interest. It needs a place for people to interact informally. And it needs a mechanism for new people to join, to prevent it from decaying over time.

From The Punk Rock Good Life:

Reading books before bed serves me. Doomscrolling doesn’t. Cooking hearty, protein-rich, simple meals serves me. Doomscrolling doesn’t. Buying new stuff rarely serves me, while repurposing old stuff or making my own stuff generally does.

Thoughts

I don't know if anyone else would find these writings useful. I'm not really planning on starting a newsletter – I just want a place to record what I'm doing, and do so publicly so that I'm forced to make it somewhat coherent. If there's ways you think I can improve, let me know in the comments!

Lydia's Weekly Lifestyle blog is for today's African girl, so no subject is taboo. My purpose is to share things that may interest today's African girl.

This week's contributors: Lydia, Pépé Pépinière, Titi. This week's subjects: 2026 Trends to expect in West Africa. Part 2, Waist Beads: More Than Just Jewelry, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), and Breakfast to Breakfast (B2B)

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2026 Trends to expect in West Africa. Part 2. 2026 in West Africa is all about pride, innovation, and self-expression. Whether you're stepping into the boardroom in a neo-Ankara suit or strolling through Osu, Victoria Island, or Plateau in breezy resort wear, one thing is clear: West Africa is ready to serve looks that speak boldly, culturally, and globally. Ready to create the next trend? The year is yours. The “Sustainable but Stylish” Revolution Eco-conscious fashion is no longer niche. In 2026, expect: Upcycled denim with patchwork artistry. Jute and kenaf fabrics reimagined for chic tailoring. Plant-dyed textiles. Circular fashion markets expanding across Accra, Lagos, and Abidjan. West Africans are embracing sustainability — but still slaying. Metallic Moments & Futuristic Glam: Nightlife fashion is stepping into the future. Think liquid metallic dresses, chrome-detail agbadas, iridescent mesh overlays, and holographic mini-bags. When the sun sets, West Africa is turning up the shine. Afro-Minimalism Rising: After years of maximalism, a calm wave is coming. Expect clean silhouettes, earthy tones, simple gold jewellery, and architectural garments inspired by modern African art. Afro-minimalism is for the chic, subtle, well-curated dresser. Streetwear with Heritage: West African streetwear is absorbing cultural inspo like never before — adinkra symbols, Fulani shapes, Tuareg indigo traditions, northern embroidery motifs, Ga prints, Yoruba bead colour codes. Young creatives are blending heritage and hype to produce streetwear that’s cultural, cool, and ready for global runways. Beauty Trends: Soft Glow + Bold Statements 2026 beauty in West Africa brings: Glass-skin-inspired melanin glow Chrome eyelids Brown ombré lips Sculptural braids and Fulani-inspired cornrows Ultra-short natural cuts Henna artistry returns in mainstream fashion. Community-Driven Fashion: Expect more fashion pop-ups, mobile ateliers, and community design collectives. West Africa’s fashion scene is becoming more collaborative, accessible, and youth-driven — and 2026 will be its most exciting year yet.

Waist Beads: More Than Just Jewelry. Waist beads are more than decorative accessories; they carry deep cultural, emotional and personal meaning for many women. Rooted in African traditions, they symbolize femininity, sensuality, protection, and self-awareness. But in this generation, ladies like to expose the waist beads by wearing it on their tummy, under a cropped top for others to see. What is really the right way to wear a waist bead? The right way to wear waist beads is to allow them to rest naturally on the waist or hips without squeezing the body or causing discomfort. They are traditionally worn directly on bare skin, hidden under clothing, so they move freely with the posture and body changes. We were made to believe that these waist beads helps give nice body shapes. How true is that? For some yes, and for some no. Some women choose fitted waist bead to help track weight fluctuations, while others prefer loose styles for comfort and self-expression. However they are worn, waist beads serve as a quiet reminder to honor the female body, embrace confidence, and celebrate beauty in its natural form.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that attacks the immune system, the part of your body that fights sickness. If it's not treated, it can make your body very weak. HIV spreads through certain body fluids like blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids and breast milk. This can happen through unprotected sex, sharing needles, or from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. At first, some people might feel like they have the flu, with fever, tiredness or body pain but many don't notice any symptoms for years. If HIV is not treated, it can turn into AIDS, which is when the immune system becomes very weak and serious infections can happen easily. There's no cure yet, but treatment called ART (antiretroviral therapy) can control the virus, keep people healthy and reduce the chance of passing it to others. You can protect yourself by using condoms, not sharing needles, getting tested regularly and taking PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) if you are at a high risk.

Breakfast to Breakfast (B2B), 6th Street off Osu Oxford Street, Accra. I recently ate at Breakfast to Breakfast at Osu and it was great. I had their Full English Breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes and toast. It was filling, tasty and cooked just right. They really blend breakfast with lunch and with snack options, so you can go there any time of day for different kinds of food, from pizza and wraps to wings and fresh juices. The menu is more diverse and good for breakfast, lunch or a casual dinner. The staff were friendly, the atmosphere was relaxed and the prices were fair. I'd definitely go back for another breakfast or late-night bite!

Lydia...

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I accept invitations and payments to write about certain products or events, things, and people, but I may refuse to accept and if my comments are negative then that's what I will publish, despite your payment. This is not a political newsletter. I do not discriminate on any basis whatsoever.

Ignition in the darkness bleeds light.

There is a knowing that that cannot be spoken— only entered.

Quietly crossed rubicon. Impossible distance, Collapsed to acceptance.

In a fantasy, resistance faltered And heat pressed in soft places Want squeezing in, naming voids.

Now; this life feels bound, in stasis years held, Ache pressing ache, without pretense.

Upon a time, tomorrow was lived for glory deferred, Endings promised by heaven.

Sunrise 'pon sunrise hopes: Your breath, Your nearness, Your sight,

smallest of proofs of life.

I am undone by you, Fears fulfilled Pull named in earnest.

And still, I remain. I want.

So we have just celebrated the New Year and I'm now trying to get a great setup for work.

Last year I gradually moved away from Obsidian, which had been my primary solution for managing knowledge. The main reason was the difficulty of using it across multiple devices. Their sync service was inefficient to handle conflicts and missing files, which occurred due to a security strategy of keeping my vault inside a VeraCrypt encrypted volume. Git Plugin was a great syncing alternative and presented no problem to me since I'm a power user but I ran into a serious limitations when trying to replicate the same secure setup on Android. As I couldn't install and use git properly in my smartphone along with encrypted volumes, I concluded that my Personal Knowledge Manager (PKM) should run as a web service.

I tried running Obsidian in a container using unofficial web server deployments, but the setup was fragile. Logseq was another option I had known for some time but they switched their storage strategy from a file-based system to a database, which doesn't fit my preference of using git and IDE to manage my content.

At the end of December, while searching for info about web access on the Obsidian Forum, I discovered Silver Bullet through a user suggestion. At first it seemed incomplete compared to Obsidian, but after taking a deeper look I realized it currently aligns better with what I expect from a PKM.

Silver Bullet Strong Points:

• Built as a Web Service and Container-friendly, was very easy to run
• Handles authentication, providing a necessary layer of security for those who want to access their deployment through the Internet
• Native query language, opposed to Obsidian that needs plugins to do so
• Fully Open Souce Software (FOSS)

It shares other functionalities that Obsidian have:

• a file based storage layer, which is very friendly to manage the same way as we do with code
• Extensible through addons (called plugs by the Silver Bullet Community)
• WYSIWYG live preview page while editing

Some functionality that currently I couldn't find yet on Silver Bullet

• Publishing options and how they could be managed within the app.
• A Notion database strategy to handle tables was recently implemented in Obsidian as Bases, I‘m not sure whether Silver Bullet has something similar implemented or if it’s on their Roadmap.
• In Obsidian, I had to use a lot of scripting to achieve a native behavior in Logseq which is to automatically aggregate content related to a page inside the page (i.e., pages with dynamic content loading). This seems to be a tracked feature because of this ongoing discussion

Well.. regarding to publishing, Today I discovered Write.as service and it matches what I’m looking for: simpler, clean pages with less distraction or intrusion. This aligns with my core values.

So this new year begins with some new cool tools to test. And it's only January 2nd!

Let's see what more will be uncovered to us in the next chapter.

Bye! Best Regards!

Endurance is not the same as living.

Written in moments of existential crisis just before dawn on a cold winter Thursday while I am living the dream of a lifetime by rooting in Madrid for a month. Proof that our state of mind and our state of being are often disconnected.

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We all live with something. None are whole. It is the great tragedy of our times that we can only see the outside, while the whole of existence generates in the unseen. Everyone hides somewhere. Under the rock of achievement, or in the cave of inebriation, wrapped in the blanket of transitory relationships, possibly under the rug of a creative life—or worst of all, tenacious progress through accepting things that should change. That need to.

Wolf? A lifetime lived in pain, punctuated by moments of anesthesia—brief mercies that soothe the scared little boy pulling strings from inside this aging hulk. The body greys, wrinkles, loosens its grip. It breaks down honestly. But the masters of fear do not age. Infinite creatures, they who refine—grow sharper, more intimate, more convincing.

The scared boy in me never stopped working. He learned early that survival meant vigilance, that relief came only in flashes: desire, touch, meaning, feeling useful. Not healing—just enough quiet to keep breathing. Keep spinning the wheel. So he stayed at the controls long past the point of reason, long past the point of strength.

Now the fears, honed to a razors edge, speak softly. They sound like wisdom. They say this is what a life amounts to: endurance, longing, small anesthetics against a vast ache. They insist there was never another way.

We cannot avoid this. Only go through it. How we hold ourselves is the only power we have against the scared marionette. I don't know if we can cut the strings and set the boy free—that feels like an impossible effort. Some lucky few, find the right key to their own lock. A soul who can open them, see us objectively and, honestly, tell us that we're okay.

If you find that rareness, and it is exceedingly rare, hold on. Trust it. Reciprocate. We are too hurried in our lives to take the time we need to find the keys to our locks and so we quickly align with the wrong key, or even other locks. Injustice of the worst kind: chosen and abided because that is the way.

But, do not despair, little bird. If you shroud your darkness, your fear under the comfort of little anesthesia's, life is not over. Just more difficult than it need be.

Sometimes—rarely—there is a moment of seeing. The strings. The hands that pull them. The difference between pain and identity. In that moment, the boy pauses. The body breathes. And the future, for just an instant, is not foreclosed—only unnamed.

Remember those moments. Our futures are not what we fear, what we carry. They are what we shape. Work to shape them in the light.

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