Simplify Decisions

March 16, 2026

The same day I received an essay from Om Malik on simplicity and renewal and from my meditation teacher on stripping away complexity, I downloaded the next podcast from Tim Ferriss. He asked five acquaintances to reply with thoughts about what they have done to simplify life in 2026.

I offer some thoughts that you may find helpful.

Maria Popova noticed that she found herself in long conversations that were not nourishing her life. So, she stopped giving time to those conversations.

Morgan Housel replied with a “do nothing” thesis. His wealth basically consists of house, cash, and funds. He invested in a number of diversified funds. Then, he no longer found himself needing to make constant decisions. “The fewer decisions, the better.”

Computer scientist, professor and writer Cal Newport asks, “What request deserves a yes when the default is no?”

Craig Mod quit alcohol and decided to concentrate on only one craft (he is a writer, photographer, and occasional leader of long walks through Japan and southeast Asia).

Debbie Millman stewed over the decision to leave the corporation she had helped found or accept the offer to become CEO. Her boss and mentor finally told her, “If it takes four months to decide, you probably don’t want it.”

Thinking about deciding once and eliminating future emotional drain for decisions, I think of Steve Jobs. On a trip to Japan, he noticed everyone at the companies wore a uniform. He returned home. Cleaned out his closet. Bought black mock-turtle shirts and jeans. That was his uniform. No daily decisions. [He didn’t have my wife, who constantly wants me to add to my wardrobe—you need more colors…]

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Simplify

March 13, 2026

I wrote yesterday about how the word “neo” contains the meaning of not just new but re-new—refresh, strip away accumulated crud that a philosophy (or a life) attracts to return to the simple truth.

The same day that the article appeared the provoked my thinking about renewal meaning return to the simple beginnings, my meditation teacher dropped this statement into the day’s meditation:

Strip away added complications returning to simple presence.

Jesus made everything seem so simple. Yet, the bar for achievement often seemed impossibly high for the normal human.

Forgetting the bar, think only on the simple. Throw away all accumulated justifications and fuzzy thinking. Look at the few things he spoke with clarity. Living with these leads to participation in God’s Kingdom.

  • Choose to change the direction of our life (the usual translation is the single word Repent)
  • Acknowledge the change leads to living with-God in the Kingdom
  • Orient our life toward always acknowledging God (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind)
  • Live out this Kingdom orientation with our changed life (Love your neighbor as yourself, and Love one another as I have loved you)

Simple, yet keeping it up requires practice and persistence. 

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Neo = Renew

March 12, 2026

Apple just released a new laptop. You can get one choosing from among five cool colors for $700 or less. The laptop is called MacBook Neo.

Neo means something more than “new.” More like “renewal.” Think of stripping away accumulated baggage returning to the basics. Simplifying things. 

Writers and podcasters who follow Apple are in love with this stripped down, but still powerful, computer. One of my favorites, Om Malik, wrote a thoughtful piece.

The neo-Platonists, especially Plotinus, remain among my favorite philosophers. They stripped several hundred years of accumulated gunk on Plato’s philosophy. The returned to the thinking that everything in the universe came from The One. They sound almost Christian without the theology.

Jesus announced the beginning of his ministry saying, “Change the direction of your life! The Kingdom of God is all around you, here, now.” I think you could look at that first word as a form of “neo.” Renew yourself. Strip away the accumulated gunk of the burdensome laws the Pharisees have loaded upon you. Step into God’s Kingdom. Or as we like to say, live a “with-God” life.

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Now What?

March 11, 2026

Some people worry that AI will put an end to writing. Maybe it will—for those who don’t think. Many of us, on the other hand, write to think.

I wrote yesterday to think through the horrible comment by a church leader somewhere up the road from me—Grace is for sinners; Laws are for Christians.

Yes, I am still shocked by that philosophy. One that would be hard to justify biblically. At least, from a New Testament perspective.

I’m still thinking about grace (and I wish the joke from Christmas Vacation would leave my memory). “Grace, she died years ago.”

Sorry for the digression.

There are other people who think that grace is like a vaccination (I guess they aren’t anti-vaxxers). One dose and you’re cured of the disease. Same as education for some.

As Paul guides our spiritual formation process in his Letter to the Romans, he devoted about a third of the text to discussing life after receiving grace. Read those last few chapters as a guide to living with Jesus after receiving your first big dose of grace.

After all, Matthew records Jesus’s teaching as “Change your life’s direction, for God’s Kingdom is right here.” (Usually rendered “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand.”)

I think we forget the “change your life” part. Living under Grace (and not Laws like the Pharisees whom Jesus battled) doesn’t prevent us from ever sinning (we could wish) but it does enable us to live differently. And better.

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Sinners and Christians

March 10, 2026

[Sitting at the second tee of our little golf course across the street from our house. Beautiful day for March 9. Typical northern Illinois 35mph wind.]

I swear I wasn’t eavesdropping on the conversation. The Starbucks has a long bench seat along the windows with small table aligned and a chair across from the seat. I took a seat with my Doppio Espresso with s dusting of cinnamon, plugged my air pods into my ears, and proceeded to listen to an engineering software press conference.

That over, I paused in quiet to compose my thoughts before writing. A young man and then an older man sat at the table beside mine. During that moment of quiet (for me), I clearly heard the young man talk about a church he was thinking of attending.

They told me that grace is for sinners, and laws are for Christians.

I am still shaken by that statement.

So, according to that unknown church, Christians are not sinners?

And, Christians are under the Law?

What version of the New Testament are they reading? Have they ever sat and read the Letter to the Romans straight through? Several times successively?

All are sinners. Some have grace and are forgiven. Forgiven doesn’t mean never going to sin again. It just means the past is forgiven. Speaking from personal experience, I need that forgiveness  probably more than once daily!

And what about the Letter to the Galatians where Paul clearly (OK, clearly for Paul) discusses freedom from the Law for Jesus Followers.

I think I could write a book fleshing out these thoughts. I’m beyond disturbed.

In fact, I’ve completed writing what will soon be a series of videos on my YouTube channel guiding people through the spiritual development process Paul outlines in Romans. The final third of the letter discusses how we live under grace. But he doesn’t tell us that we’ll never sin again. Or that we will be living under the Law. He disposed of that idea early in the letter.

Living under grace is liberating. Never cynical. Never tyrannical. Always helpful. Joyful.

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Change

March 9, 2026

“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” ― Maya Angelou

This thought is similar to the Serenity Prayer attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

My professor in graduate school hated that last part about accepting things you cannot change. But that is ancient wisdom. I use this thought when accosted by the daily deluge of news (which I mostly ignore). If I can’t do anything about it, why dwell on it? Live in the present moment.

I also like the tag that Angelou puts on the thought—Don’t complain. Once again, why waste that energy?

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Overthinking

March 6, 2026

Philosophers have devised “razors” that “shave off” unlikely explanations. I rather like Hanlon’s Razor—Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

The razor of the day today is another of my favorites, Occam’s razor. “Explanations that require fewer unjustified assumptions are more likely to be correct.” We usually shorten this to “the simplest explanation is often the best.”

The other day, I read this thought from Adam in The Pump App (my fitness newsletter). I worry people overthink fitness and want everything to be perfect when it never will be. When you use that much brainpower stressing and beating yourself up, you are wasting the energy you can use to get moving forward.

The same thought holds true for far too many of us in biblical study. We think too much. Maybe Jesus meant what he said. Maybe there isn’t an underlying devious theology beneath what Paul wrote in his letters. 

We do need to read a complete thought and put it into context. But there’s probably not anything beyond what Jesus said and what he did.

Don’t overthink your fitness experiences. Don’t overthink your various relationships. Don’t overthink Jesus. Take him for what he said. No more. No less.

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Humility

March 5, 2026

Some people worry about what other people are thinking about them. Or worry they are watching them.

Surprise! Almost no one is watching. Almost no one cares.

Some people think that the opportunity to talk or speak means they can talk about themselves.

Surprise! Most people aren’t really interested in listening to you talk about yourself. Unless it’s a caring friend or acquaintance who want sincerely to know how you are doing.

The Desert Fathers wrote often about humility. And it’s cousin, pride. They warned that we must be on guard. We must become self-aware. When we notice ourselves beginning to stray into self -absorption or focusing on ourselves rather than the other person, we must pause and refocus.

I write this not because I’m perfect, but because I have once again noticed how I was more focused on talking about me instead of listening.

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Being an Influence for Good

March 4, 2026

One weird path my career traveled over the past 10 years entailed becoming known as an “influencer.” I was an early blogger, twitter user, podcaster, YouTube podcaster in the industrial technology market. When Dell and then Hewlett Packard Enterprise were entering the Industrial Internet of Things market, they brought me into their influencer programs.

I didn’t let it get into my head. All the gigs ended after only a year or two. But they flew me around to lead customer discussion groups or write articles. Fun while it lasted.

I never saw myself getting into this big money influencer gig. In fact, I advise people to avoid almost all influencers on the Internet. I’ve seen real charlatans in my areas of interest such as spirituality or fitness or nutrition or AI.

Influencing aimed at helping others sincerely, rather than for profit, requires more than just glib talk on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok.

In influencing others, example is not the main thing; it’s the only thing. -Albert Schweitzer

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Look For Helpers

March 3, 2026

Mr. Rogers had a famous quote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ There are always helpers.”

Question for me…and for you.

Which describes us:

Do we ignore things?

Are we an obstacle?

Are we helping?

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