Don’t follow Tolkien. Build on his insight.
We don’t need another dream about Gondorian elves. We need men who understand the times and prophesy.
By prophesy I do not mean add to the canon, nor read the bones and omens. God help us! No. I only mean speak the Word of God without fear in the face of every shame and terror. This is who the prophets were of old, and this is your heritage.
דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י מַלְכִּי־צֶֽדֶק
You only need to see it for it to change you.
Rule is dispersed.
Rule is a chain of trust.
Trust is love of place.
SOS Discipline - Daily Proverb and Red Letter Reader
To the wicked man, the poor are a statistic. cf Pr. 28:15
Happiness is knowing your place. cf Mt. 6:27
First, establish stability. Second, wait for opportunity. cf Sun Tzu 4.1
From Today’s Stack
The Armamentarium, a mobile smithy and arsenal, sat in a field bordered by a gullet outside of camp. A wagon train of wood and steel, defensive positions held circled and on the ready for emergency circumstances at all hours of the day. The central cart, a behemoth of metalwork, cabinetry and canvas, took a team of twelve oxen to pull on its eight massive wheels. No less than a third of the marvel, built of hinges and swings, mechanically opened to expand the forge. It’s fine smokestack, running up through the overhang, sent up a perpetual pillar. Hiding an army is impossible, but ensuring it is well outfitted is the utmost necessity.
The rest was a panoply of lock boxes, wrought iron chests, cabinets and endless secret compartments, all storing ordnance and mystery. Few recruits came this close. Weapons in need of repair were handled via superior.
Earth drew near to the pounding of hammers, matched by the heaving sigh of the bellows pumping.
The Gist
I first read How to Take Smart Notes during the lockdowns of 2020. At the time I was heavily into other productivity endeavors such as David Allen’s Getting Things Done.
Bungling through a horde of software suites and task managers over a decade of information work, I hunted for anything I could get my aching carpal tunnel onto in the hopes of claiming a leg up on data overload. I wasted oodles of dollars on subscriptions and licenses, and even more time converting files from system to system.
So, when the Luhmann method proposed a deeper capacity for analog information value in both management and output, I leapt at the promise. Could it really be true? Could I check out from the mental slavery of digitization and life a simpler, more productive life just by using more paper?
All that I wanted was to get my head above water.
Little did I realize that the “Smart Note” approach would land me in a whirlwind of 6x4 notecards that hasn’t yet set me down. I live a maximum capacity life and I want a system capable of managing me. Two years later, after a second read through, it became clear that Smart Noting for Total Life Management was not the point of the original author. But while maintaining a toe in the water of my digital footprint for the sake of my day job, it was working.
After three years, now, I believe I can give you the GIST without much fear of overstating my cases.
The Gist: to know wisdom, seize discipline.
1 Write down (“take note of”) that which you “notice.”
2 Later, after the right amount of time, judge its true value.
3 Translate, elaborate and/or activate it to greater value.
4 Repeat.
If you do not already know, if this is your first time, take out a piece of paper, find something to write with. Take note, but not word for word. Make a list. Summarize.
For now, save that note for later. And, trust yourself. That’s really all that it takes.
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