inspiration(1/3)
The greatest moments of prayer come in the midst of fumbling
To work on a book is for me very much the same thing as to pray. Both involve discipline. If the artist works only when he feels like it, he’s not apt to build up much of a body of work. Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of the artist is to listen to the work, and to go where it tells him to go.…
When the artist is truly the servant of the work the work is better than the artist
When the artist is truly the servant of the work, the work is better than the artist. Shakespeare knew how to listen to his work, and so he often wrote better than he could write; Bach composed more deeply, more truly than he knew; Rembrant’s brush put more of the human spirit on canvas than Rembrandt could comprehend. When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere.…
Before I can listen to God in prayer I must fumble through the prayers of words
Before I can listen to God in prayer, I must fumble through the prayers of words, of willful demands, the prayers of childish “Gimmes”, of “Help mes,” of “I want…” Until I tell God what I want, I have no way of knowing whether or not I truly want it. Unless I ask God for something, I do not know whether or not it is something for which I ought to ask, and I cannot add, “But if this is not your will for me, then your will is what I want, not mine.…
Relativity inspirational talk
(This was a paper written as an example of a speech meant to inspire action) I propose we make available our core product, Relativity, as a resource to obtain justice, not only to those who can afford our software, but to those who will never afford it. Before we look at my proposal, let’s spend a couple minutes reviewing current pro bono work and its relation to electronic discovery so we can grasp the weight of this opportunity.…