tinvox

He/Him | Relationships matter. Investing your time, energy, and resources in others creates meaning. (And: DO WHATEVER ART YOU CAN!)

[tinvox]

10,000 Song Limit

10,000.

That's the limit for how many songs you can put on a single playlist in Spotify. That's a tidbit of info that regular, sane people don't need to know. BUT! I found this out the hard way when I discovered all the songs I'd been adding to my Listen-To playlist hadn't actually been added for months, because I'd gone over the limit, lol.

See, Spotify started this thing years ago, called Discover Weekly playlist. Every Monday, they'd update the playlist based on your listening habits, of song The Algorithm though you'd like. 30 songs.

I loved this jank! It reminded me of being a teen, and how you'd like these one or two songs, so you'd buy the CD album. And, the rest of the songs on the album? Maybe the first time you listened to them they didn't really stick for you. BUT! Because that's what you had in your car driving around, eventually you warmed to them and started to like them. Maybe they became like your favorite songs, after years of rediscovering the cd under the seat. Until you like, stepped on the CD or whatever. (You see, children, there used to be PHYSICAL MEDIA that held the songs that you would list--)

So everything was good. 30 songs, over a week? Totally manageable. BUT! Then Spotify was like, I heard you liked Discover Weekly so much, we made this thing called Release Radar playlist, updated every Friday. I was all like, "Sweet!" It was essentially the same as Discover Weekly, but instead of just songs-you-haven't-heard-yet, it was NEW-songs-you-haven't-heard-yet. And for vainglorious Olds, this was gold, cuz it gives the elusive sensation of being "with it" and "current".

Thing is… I do most of my music listening as background music to work and hobbying and things. And, weekends are mostly for doing stuff. Family activities, church, video games, movies, chores, etc. etc.

Stuff that I WASN'T listening to music during!

So er'ry Monday, I had 60 songs to get through in a week. And, some weeks, I hadn't REALLY had the time to get a feel for the playlists… BEFORE THEY WERE OVERWRITTEN BY THE NEXT WEEK!!

Finitude. The concept that things are limited. That things are impermanent. A regular, boring part of reality that again, regular, sane people just accept and prance about their lives not noticing, caring about, DREADING.

Lol, like, you have to understand, when I USED to play Minecraft, the idea that if I dug up a block of Dirt, if I left it there floating as a little icon, then after 5 to 15 minutes it would DISAPPEAR… FOREVER! Just gnawed at me!

The world would be diminished! Shrunk! Sure, it was only by one metric block of ENTIRELY DIGITAL NOT-REAL DIRT. But, I knew! And, after block of dirt after block of dirt (again, all not-real)… So I dutifully collected each block into chest, just in case, I might "need" it.

Years ago, I frequented Barnes & Noble. I'd be in there maybe two three times a week, sometimes. One day, I was wondering around the one (now deceased) off of Corporate Blvd., and it occurred to me there was SO MANY BOOKS. Like a lot. Like: MORE THAN YOU COULD READ IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE!

And… lol, that really bothered me. Like, of course everyone knows about the famous, well-known books. But, let's say there was this REALLY incredible book that never caught, and was just sitting on some discount rack, and… Things regular, sane people don't have to worry about!

So, THAT but songs. I was like, "What will happen to all of the unlistened to songs from Discover Weekly and Release Radar, personalized to my individual listening tastes?!!" Like, I had discovered some really great, personally meaningful songs from no-name artists CHOSEN for ME (by The Algorithm). SO: the Listen-To playlist was born.

And, it grew little by little, but, like some weekends, I'd be painting (little army men), or driving on road trips, and like, knock out BIG chunks of the Listen-To list, so it was within the realm of reasonable.

BUT! Then Spotify was all like, "Say, bruh? What if we made this new kind of generated playlist called "Daylist" that generated--" And, I was all like, "Spotify? Why you gotta do this? A playlist EVERYDAY is not manageable, I won't be able to--" And, Spotify was like, "No, dawg. You didn't let me finish. Daylist regenerates and overwrite itself like EVERY SIX HOURS."

…

AND, THAT'S the story of how I ended up maxing out my Listen-To playlist.

A digital dirt block disappearing (forever, which is a VERY LONG TIME) doesn't actually effect or harm me (I keep telling myself, over and over). But, nothing gnaws at me more than, (please understand dear reader, THIS is my personal Kryptonite) not being able to remember a song. Particularly when it applies to what's happening, or would reveal some sort of insight for current events or spirituality or… Songs. Songs about stuff.

I have a playlist (I have like so many playlists, y'all! For moods, for themes, for inspiration for specific projects, etc. etc.) called TOUCHSTONES, SPECIFICALLY for the songs that would ENTIRELY SHORT CIRCUIT MY BEING if I couldn't summon them from the aether at a moment's notice.

ALL-OF-THIS has been preface for ONE of the songs on this playlist.

I was minding my own business, half-watching (quarter-watching?) the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in what must have been 2015.

It was a advertisement for TOMS Shoes. TOMS famously donates one pair of shoes for every pair purchased: "When you buy a pair of TOMS, you're not just buying a pair of shoes. You're part of a movement that believes that we can change the world with our choices. Buying a pair gives a pair… Head over to TOMS.com to become part of the TOMS tribe."

For One, Another - TOMS TV Commercial

So, it makes sense for them to play a song that hangs lyrics like "We are how we treat each other" and uh, something about… It was a really cool song! I teared up and all the things. Footage of diverse people trying on their new kicks. OH NO! WHAT WAS THAT SONG?!!

I did all the things when you are trying to remember "The Song". Tried humming it. Tried searching for what I THOUGHT were the lyrics.

Eventually, I thought to search for the commercial itself, and eventually I found The Song.

Nothing More

by The Alternate Routes, featuring Lily Costner

To be humble, to be kind It is the giving of the peace in your mind To a stranger, to a friend… To give in such a way that has no end We are love We are one We are how we treat each other when the day is done We are peace We are war We are how we treat each other and nothing more To be bold, to be brave; It is the thinking that the heart can still be saved And the darkness can come quick; The Danger's in the Anger and the hanging on to it We are love We are one We are how we treat each other when the day is done We are peace We are war We are how we treat each other and nothing more Tell me what it is that you see A world that's filled with endless possibilities? Heroes don't look they used to, they look like you do We are love We are one We are how we treat each other when the day is done We are peace We are war We are how we treat each other and nothing more We are how we treat each other and nothing more We are how we treat each other

Yeah, the upswing was: The entire song was beautiful, and the rest was even more profound than the snippet I had heard.

This song became a personal sort of anthem. I saw my church circle through this lens. I had the opportunity to lead a bible study once a month on Wednesday nights, for mostly grandparent type persons. I would have this playing softly as they were walking in. It was aspirational. But, for these dear ones, it IS as I saw them: "Heroes don't look like they used to, they look like you do."

HEROES! Battlefields! All lined up, ready to face the enemy! Inspirational speeches about the uncertainty of the battle, but the righteousness of the cause! Bravery and courage and boldness over fear! Lord of the Rings! Braveheart! Gladiator! What we do in this life echoes in--

BUT! All of that is choreography and artifice and NOT what WE do. The things we must busy ourselves with are for life-living, not blood-letting. The way we live, and how we treat people, is what we say to folks everyday. All the good, all the bad, all that's peace and all that's war together… That's what we gift the world.

The way we invest our time (FINITE!), energy, and resources is what our heart becomes. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Being, ourselves, limited and finite creatures, anytime we find ourselves with time to be-with someone, the will to help with another's work, or bread to share with folks… That's a miracle! When the-needy can meet the needs of others, it's providence, it's holy.

The-needy: that's us! The-needy is all the kinds of folks there is!

The folks around us, our peeps that we care about, don't need us to charge across a muddy field, in slow motion, as a slow orchestral score plays, and a narrator calmly dictates the outcome of the climactic battle. They need us to cross the gulf of politeness vs awkwardness, The Great Valley of Cringe, and ask them if they're doing okay today, and if they need anything, or just to remind them they "Got This" and you're in their corner.

So, take it from me, someone neurotically fixated on the finitude of all-the-things (the heat-death of the universe IS scary y'all!), that the best way to keep everything permanently safe is to invest as much of it as you can into relationships, 'cuz we have it on good faith, THAT'S the only sort of thing you can take-with-you.

[tinvox]

Roman Empire as Kingdom of God

I can already tell at the outset of this piece that this will be a personal, heartfelt missive with likely limited utility but to a very small audience; But, it's the sort of thing I must get out, a literary exorcism, so to speak.

>>> Some Dudes ALWAYS Thinking About the Roman Empire A minister once explained to me that in His divine wisdom, God sent Jesus Christ to the earth specifically during Rome's rule over Judea, because the Roman Empire was a perfect symbol of God's own kingdom. [stares off into the middle distance] The conceptual evidence given for this outlook was the passage about the centurion of great faith and Paul's description of the armor of God. From Matthew 8: "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it." When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, 'Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith." The centurion came to Jesus asking that his slave be healed, Jesus said he would come and visit, and the centurion says if Jesus would only say it is done, it will be. To the centurion, like himself, Christ was "also a man under authority". I think this is a natural, universal habit of man, to see ourselves in others, to wrap a perceived subject in clothes we can understand. Even the divine. By acclaiming the faith of the centurion, the logic went, that Jesus agreed with and authorized the centurion's perception of things. I think that is certainly one way to interpret this exchange. But! many people understood Jesus and his ministry in entirely different ways. I would posit that: in the narratives of Christ's interactions with folks, he often met them at their point of understanding. That he was willing to receive folks from where they were at. I would caution that he was not contained or constrained by one, single view of him.

From Ephesians 6: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power; put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness and lace up your sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The minister pointed to this scripture and emphasized that this symbolic suit of armor was inspired by the Roman centurion armor that all the readers of the letter to the church in Ephesus would have been familiar with, what with the whole having been conquered and occupying imperial patrols to enforce Roman rule.

Much to-do was made of the fact that there was no "back armor" listed, as the army of the Lord never retreats, it must stand firm, ever marching forward quenching the fiery darts of the enemy, and so on. A sort of spiritual "burning of the boats" mentality, the only chance of survival is holding ranks and processing. As an erstwhile English literature educator, I feel it is incumbent upon me to point out that, a LOT of people have a hard time with symbolic, metaphorical language. Specifically, that in a metaphor, a quality OF one thing is being used to explain a quality IN another. People often struggle with the concept that this supposed to be a ONE-WAY transference of meaning. Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God are to be such vital aspects of our lives that we metaphorical wrap them around us; As identifying and necessary to our daily lives as arms and armor for a soldier. But, folks will often get confused and see metaphors as having two-way meaning transference. In this instance, it looks like, "The holy things of God are like armor and weapons, the armor of the day for winners and rulers (obviously, that's us, guys) were Roman armor and weapons, so ancillary info about Roman style armor and weapons can give us further insights into the holy things of God. Here is a brief treatise on the three tier infantry formation of the Roman Empire and how that applies in church governance, never admitting fault or defeat and..." etc. etc., so on and soforth. That's not how it works!!! This phenomenon is often in direct effect for folks who were presented perspectives from the pulpit when discussions of sound interpretation arise. "I don't care what people think is right, I just believe the whole Bible!" But, whenever they read the passage about the "armor of God" all these ancillary tidbits, "no back armor", "turtle formation", and other things bubble up. Our perceptions and preferences filter our interpretation, with or without personal effort to interpret well. If there is NO effort, then whatever your pump has been primed with, so to speak, will steer your whole outlook.

[tinvox]

WHAT AM I DOING?!!

Hi! I'm Darren! And, I have no idea what I'm doing! But, I'm inviting readers along anyway for the thrilling adventure of "figuring it out". And, not JUST as moral support for me figuring out what I'm doing here, lol.

Also, the BIG FIGURING IT OUT, what are WE doing HERE?!! Which is like Nth degree vague: "Human experience, what's up with that?" But, I think a lot of the "answer" boils down to: What do we WANT to do? Are there things we SHOULD do? Hey, like, what're some things we can do? There's so many things to do! How do we choose?

Because, if you can't decide on purpose what you're doing there's a roiling ocean of minutiae and obligations to decide for us. And, then one day you wake up and are all like: "HEY! WHAT AM I DOING?"

Hi! I'm Darren, come along with me, and let's find some things we want to do!