Posts Tagged ‘God’

3 astoundingly great tips for green-biblical living!

Friday, February 19th, 2010

What does it mean to be green?  How does your worldview fit with that description?

For me the key tenants of greenness that most accurately fits with my worldview are stewardship, efficiency and gratitude.

Stewardship because God has placed man in charge of the earth's care.

Efficiency because God has given each man a purpose but not quite enough time to accomplish it.

Gratitude because as Jesus gave his life for mine I am compelled do the same for others (and this means a lot more than going to Africa with a Bible in hand)!

With that here are 3 great tips to embracing such a green-biblical lifestyle.

  1. Multi-task in ways which actually allow you to produce more with the same amount of time. Multitasking usually doesn't work.  Writing a blog, writing programming code for work, and answering emails actually slows every task down when the overhead involved for your brain to switch tasks is accounted for.  Finding tasks which can be done at the same time may not only save you time, but effort as well.  And reduced effort/work/energy is a key tenant for greenness.  For example: instead of driving to work, ride to work on the bus.  While riding catch up on reading, email or if you get motion sick try getting to know your fellow passengers (or as a last resort be extremely rude and talk loudly on your cell phone).
  2. Plan ahead. Spur of the moment decisions are good when a.) running from bears b.) romancing a (wo)man.  Although intuition sees things that reason often doesn't, when it comes to making the most of your life on earth forethought is required.  With a little forethought and pre-planning not only will more be achieved through enhanced multitasking and work reduction but the end result will be increased available time and options (freedom!).  Usually forethought produces the most elegant, efficient and useful solution...and that's really green!
  3. Use and ReUse, never waste. It is estimated that if no food were thrown away the reduction in CO2 emissions would be equivalent to taking every 5th car off the road (not to mention the number of hungry people it could feed)!  For every new solar panel that's installed it takes 15 years to pay back it's cost.  However for every piece of construction material picked up from the recycled materials yard the payback is nearly instant!  Sadly, we live in a throw-away-culture[1] which thrives on replacing items and not repairing them...and so... nothing gets fully used.  So start a trend, thank God for your blessings, use those things which you have been blessed with, and when you can use them no more pass them on to someone else who can!
  4. Compost! Okay I said 3 but seriously...  you cannot be green unless you compost!  Composting is God's way of helping us differentiate ourselves from pigs... we don't have to wallow in our own refuse and excrement!
  5. Rest! Okay 5 tips... If we take 2 steps forward and 1 step back, we'll always be moving 1 step forward.  Is it any wonder then that on average we're awake 16 hours and asleep 8 (A ratio of 2:1 might I point out)? In green-biblical living the motto isn't "Work hard play hard" it should be "Work/Play hard, rest hard".  Alright!  Now get out there and take a nap, walk your dogs, read to your kids, drink some wine and cuddle with your spouse!

What do you think, what does it mean to be green?  How does your worldview compel you to act?

  1. Does it not seem absurd to anyone else that we spend so much effort to get materials from the ground, shape them into something useful, use them once or twice, and then put them back into the ground? [↩]

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unChristian - Recycling and the f-word

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

I've been reading one of the most insightful and interesting books over the last week suggested to me by my friend Andy, unChristian by David Kinnaman.  Amongst the statistics presented I found one truly sad set of figures:

While born again Christians are nearly just as likely (i.e. statistically insignificantly different) as anyone else in America to

  • engage in illicit sexual activity
  • get drunk, high or misuse prescription drugs
  • gamble
  • lie
  • be mean or vindictive to someone

They were actually less likely than everyone else to do the following

  • recycle (68% of born again Christians recycle compared to 79% of everyone else)[1]
  • use the f-word in public (28% born again, 39% everyone else)[2]

Folks, I personally apologize for my brethren who have told you that their lives are different because of Jesus but they aren't.

But I ask my brethren a simple question... if you would like to be like everyone else in all the ways that count would you at least do me and my children a favor and recycle and maybe drive your SUV a bit less while you're at it?

  1. Kinnaman 47 [↩]
  2. Kinnaman 47 [↩]

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Greentheo's green workout plan

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

A major part of a healthy lifestyle is excersize.   But for every active and healthy person there is at least one excersize and diet philosophy.  I thought I'd contribute my healthy and 'green' lifestyle and exercise ideas as well for any who might be interested.

Quick Summary

Over the years I've done many different types of workouts.  I've spent hours in the weight room (oh come on, we all wanted humongo pecs at at the age of 15 right?), to hours at the dojo and quite a few team and singular sports including football, soccer and basketball.  However, the most effective work-out simply is:

  1. 2-3 hours a week of more intense intense excersize.
  2. Doing only those excersizes that your body (not your narcissistic brain) asks you to do.
  3. Eating those things which your body asks you to eat in order to feed it and energize it to adequate levels.

First things first...

Proper excersize will not be possible without a good diet.  Again let's keep it simple and natural.  I recommend that the following diet be implimented immediately:

  1. Eat everything your body asks you to eat, no exceptions.  Try to think about it as little as possible.
  2. Okay one exception.  Eat as much USDA organic foods as possible... if you body wants chocolate, feed it organic rich happy chocolate and eat all you actually want... but no more than.  Want 2 plates of spaghetti for dinner?  Eat it... you'll have a tremendous source of energy for your next workout.  Pizza... do it!  Just make it organic and high quality. Don't even look at the label on the back it will only confuse your poor brain which in the end has very little on-the-fly analytic capabilities.  If we can't even hold more than 7 to 9 digits in our minds easily why should we be able to analyze something as complex as all the nutrients we need and want?[1]
  3. For every non-water beverage you consume drink the equivalent amount in plain ol' water.
  4. When hungry or thirsty, immediately drink a glass of water.

A workout guide

As with my guide to eating right let's try to keep the workout philosophy simple too.

  1. Listen to your body.  If your body wants less exercise, rest it.  If it wants more, go a bit harder.   The main thing is to do what your body asks, not what your narcissistic and confused brain thinks it needs to do to be the Olympian/model/He-Man it desires to be.
  2. Too much time in the gym is inefficient.  Keep your overall excersize time at about 3 hours per week.
  3. 2 gym workouts per week and 1 playing workout[2] is plenty to keep strong and fit.
  4. Your "playing" workout should always be done with a friend.  It's just much more fun that way and it builds a bond faster than most anything except well... "working out" with your spouse ;-)   ;-)
  5. For your gym workouts I suggest 1 hour workouts composed of 20 minutes of stretching, 20 minutes of intense cardio, and 20 minutes of upper body weight training.
  6. Stretching is so important it should be#1 on this list.  Always stretch, and always stretch each muscle group for 2 times as many seconds as your age.  Your joints and muscles will thank you when you get to the nursing home one day.
  7. Weight training should be done slowly with 1-2 minutes of rest in between sets, no more than 4 different weight training activities in your 20 minute period should be performed... 3 is ideal.
  8. No long distance running.  Your joints can't take it.   I know a few long distance nuts who can barely walk these days.  And it's not even that great of a workout in the end.
  9. If running is desired, try sprinting in the grass... and show some respect for the grass: take your shoes off.  Doesn't that feel good?  Consider that sprinting 17 x 100 yard dashes at an average time of 15 seconds each sprint is like running a 4:15 mile ... seriously ... only Ethiopians and horses can run that fast.
  10. Enjoy your activity whatever it is.  If you don't like it, try something else until you find something that excites you.  Currently I'm really excited about downhill mountain biking... I've rarely had so much fun or strength training for my calves and quads!

Last thoughts

When we listen to what our bodies want we will often be surprised by its desire for good things.   Working out and eating are no exception.   We were made to desire the good things of the earth and to enjoy recreation and liesure.  Go ahead... enjoy the good food, excercize and activities that God intended for you!

  1. And of course, feel free to go non-organic every now and then, McDonald's is the devil but I swear it tastes like Heaven! [↩]
  2. soccer, basketball, hiking, biking, skiing, yoga, martial arts... it doesn't really matter [↩]

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What to Invest in?

Monday, April 20th, 2009

With all the economic mayhem happening these days you might be wondering... "where can I put my money so that it will":

  • never lose 50% of it's value over night
  • beat inflation and a little more
  • remain highly liquidatable in case of emergency
  • remain usable in case of apocalypse and total societal breakdown

The idea most people have in regard to savings and investment is to develop a security blanket.

The Chinese government is thinking the same thing as it pushes for a new super sovereign currency[1].

So I came across this article which says  to put your money in:

  • 25% in U.S. stocks, to provide a strong return during times of prosperity.
  • 25% in long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, which do well during prosperity and during deflation (but which do poorly during other economic cycles).
  • 25% in cash in order to hedge against periods of “tight money” or recession.
  • 25% in precious metals (gold, specifically) in order to provide protection during periods of inflation.

But I disagree... let's look at the options.

U.S. Stocks

A diversified and broad selection of US stocks from the S&P 500 (the 500 largest companies in America) is a very safe and prosperous bet over the long term.  American companies have been and will continue to be some of the most innovative companies on the planet.  While some industries wane, others will wax.  Furthermore, the NYSE, NASDAQ and other trading arenas have some of the highest traffic, nearly guaranteeing a buyer for every seller.  My recommendation is to definitely put money in US stocks by purchasing index funds like the S&P 500 index.

The main advantages of US stocks is:

  1. Tracks with the US economy at large thus making the investment a hedge against inflation.
  2. A diversified portfolio does spread risk effectively.
  3. Stocks are not officially govt backed, but as we've seen... the larger the company the more likely subsidies and govt. protections will be involved.
  4. In booms and busts stocks can do well (Countrywide in the boom went way up, Netflix in the bust tripled).

To this I'd also like to add that European stock indexes are overall quite similar in advantage to the US.  Essentially, if the US and Europe can't make it... nobody can.

Long Term Treasury Bonds

These are also very safe investments in the near and far term.  They are extremely safe (if the govt defaults on it's loans then cashing out your bonds will be the least of your worries), and dependable.

But they have 2 very serious downsides.

  1. Buying a bond today for 30 years locks in an  interest rate.  Inflation may rise, but the interest rate wont.
  2. Many of the 'worst case scenarios' possible would render government bonds illiquid (same is mostly true for stocks).

Money Markets and 'Cash'

Cash and money markets are extremely liquid.  They are not much more than a savings account with a low interest rate.  And even though they are extremely safe, like treasury bills they:

  1. Don't protect against inflation
  2. Don't have a very high growth rate
  3. Many of the 'worst case scenarios' would render the fiat money in the money market account nearly useless

Gold!

Perhaps the most misleading of investment vehicles is Gold.  It is a widely held belief that in times of great disaster gold or precious metals would be the only 'super-sovereign' currency.  The belief is supported by the thought that humans assign inherent worth to gold.  They don't!

Furthermore, it is believed that gold hedges against inflation.  Because of the first assumption, that gold is inherently worth something, we think that gold must track with inflation on a nearly 1:1 basis.... it doesn't!

Thus gold has the following drawbacks:

  1. It doesn't hedge against inflation:
  2. Most of the demand for Gold comes from Jewelry and for making into bouillon coins.  In bad times it will become an illiquid commodity.
  3. It's growth is low on average.
  4. It's easy to steal ($20k of gold is far easier to steal than $20k of stocks)
  5. In time of great chaos it doesn't provide the function of a super-sovereign currency...real goods do[2].  Furthermore, if everyone used Gold as currency in the 'bad-times'  rampant inflation would occur relative to the supply of gold in circulation... thus rendering moot the potential of Gold to serve as a currency.

Gold is perhaps one of the most worthless investments in the market unless you know something about the supply and demand cycle of Gold.

So What's Left?

The following is a list of investments that I believe have the highest safety, return and hedge against inflation and Chaos.  It's difficult to say what the % of your portfolio should be in each area... so no percent is given.

  1. U.S and European stocks are highly liquid, move with inflation but are not nuclear-apocalypse proof. A good place to put money.
  2. Housing Rental Income - barring a communist take over (and even with one), people need a place to live.  The income tracks with inflation, but can be depressed in a housing glut or in a very low interest rate time period.  Regardless, housing is the largest purchase that the average person can make.  It's subsidized by the government in many ways and gives a large store of capital which appreciates with  inflation plus a little.  Add on to that the rents received over time and housing rental income can be a very good, safe and reliable investment.
  3. Education - the bulk of one's lifetime wealth comes from wages.  It is well established that wage level is tied in with education level.  Plus learning thins like farming, mechanics, and carpentry could either give a little extra cash when needed or provide post-apocalypse survival skills.
  4. Family - Price of going to the nursing home for retirement... $50k/year.  Cost of living with a family you love and who loves you back until you die[3]... priceless.  Blood ties run thick and they're worth having.
  5. Community/Friends/Civics - Nothing hedges against loneliness, hard times and even financial struggle than friends and a surrounding community.  By involving yourself in Civics you could also have a chance to set policies and change tax codes that directly affect your financial well being.  It only costs time.
  6. Land - As Lex Luther said in Super Man... they only thing they aren't making any more of is land.  Rather than putting money into gold, put it into arable farm land.
  7. Religion - Hey, this life might not be all there is right?  Better find the truth about the metaphysical world... and supposing that God is an active and personal God then it might not be so bad to have him on your side no matter the circumstance.  I hear it can be good for your health too.

There you have it, the Greentheo plan to fail proof investments that do grow over time.

  1. China has been running enormous dollar surpluses to keep the yuan-dollar ratio low.  This keeps goods flowing to America and it's economy growing more rapidly in the short term.  It also gave America extremely cheap credit. [↩]
  2. what do starving people need with Gold?  nothing... what they need is food and other "real goods" [↩]
  3. assuming you don't annoy the Hell out of them in your crotchety old age [↩]

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Compost and the problem of Evil

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Every serious gardener has a compost bin.  They throw their old, unused vegetables, egg shells and other miscellaneous vegetables in it.  And there it sits, dead and rotting for a whole year before it goes back into the garden... as an afterthought to most.

But what an awesome[1] experience it is to discover that what we cast aside as dead and rotting is truly alive and thriving!  What man has cast aside, God has infused with millions of tiny bacteria! And all those bacteria are busy making a feast of your left over broccoli stems and coffee grounds.

In fact they are so happy eating away at your refuse that the party literally gets hot!  The chore of walking out to stir the compost on a cold winter morning can only be  redeemed by the wonderful phenomenon of a steaming pile of old vegetables.  And yes, when you put your hand close to the pile it really is hot!

The bacteria eventually consume everything and turn it into the richest and most protective, life nurturing fertilizer.  Compost really can get just about anything to grow... anywhere (even Colorado).

It's cheap (actually it has negative cost),  and it's easy.  But on a large scale it makes up a tiny portion of the fertilizers used in agriculture.  It provides a chemical-free, and bioengineering-free growing medium that anyone in the world  can produce locally, efficiently and cheaply.  All gratis from the Lord.

And yet, who do we first blame for the evil of starvation?  Who do we first blame for the evil of cancer?  Who do we blame for wars which are usually driven by the economics of land and agriculture?

God may have cursed man to work the soil by the sweat of his brow, but then he gave us rich topsoil from compost to make it easier.  God may have punished women with the pains of child birth, but then he gave her pain killers to make it easier.  God may let it be dark and cold in the winter, but he gives us the warm sun to collect with the simplest of technology.  God gave us the ten commandments, and then gave us Jesus.  God allows our bodies to die, but our selves to be resurrected.

God is like that. He gives a righteous judgment and then gives us a pardon.   That's amazing grace.

So from whence comes evil? I'll start with myself....

  1. as in full of awe [↩]

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Posted in Green, Philosophy | 4 Comments »

How to fix School (and Work and Church)

Friday, September 12th, 2008

Andrew posted this over at the evilline blog and as I started getting carried away with my comment I decided to just write a post.

As I see it, the main problem with education and work is one of incentive.  Let's take another look at Maslow's heirarchy of needs.

  1. Self-Actualization - morality, creativity, spontenaity, problem solving
  2. Esteem - respect, confidence, achievement
  3. Love/Belonging - friendship, family, sexual intimacy
  4. Safety - security of body, health, employment, resources
  5. Physiology -  sleep, food, water, breathing, excretion

[Warning... semi-lengthy quasi-philosophical ideas to follow, read at your own risk]

Sailing

(more...)

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Posted in Entrepreneurship, Miscellaneous, Philosophy | 2 Comments »