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Welcome to any new subscribers! In this newsletter I share a few things that I think provide a taste of truth, goodness, or beauty. Sharing something doesn't mean I agree with it, just that I think it's worth some of your attention. I love to learn from quite disparate sources, and I'm sure that will come across in what I share. Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here.​

The wine video is almost done! It’s been fun to do such a deep dive and I can’t wait to share it with you.

​Of Course Journalists Should Interview Autocrats is a helpful reflection on the fraught concept of “platforming.” Interviewing a murderous dictator could be conceived of as “giving a platform” to harmful ideas; it could also be seen as exposing evil to the light of day. Rebuilding productive discourse in the midst of the epistemic crisis will require us to move beyond the fear of “platforming” ideas we disagree with. Instead, let’s submit everything to healthy scrutiny and constructive conversation.

If you feel at a loss for words, consider these Five Short Prayers for Ukraine. It’s important that we remember the power of prayer at a time like this.

Have you heard of “second brain apps?” Evernote, Notion, and others invite you to store everything you might ever need to remember. Why let something slip out of your brain when you can keep it in your second brain?

I’ve benefited greatly from various kinds of organizational and productivity software, and currently use Notion to plan my YouTube videos, this newsletter, and various ideas that I’m allowing to percolate mid- to long-term. But, as with any tool, we should consider what the effects of second brain apps may be. Remember, no technology is neutral.

Psalm 31

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

in your righteousness deliver me!

Incline your ear to me;

rescue me speedily!

Be a rock of refuge for me,

a strong fortress to save me!

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For you are my rock and my fortress;

and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;

you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,

for you are my refuge.

Into your hand I commit my spirit;

you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

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I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,

but I trust in the Lord.

I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,

because you have seen my affliction;

you have known the distress of my soul,

and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;

you have set my feet in a broad place.

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Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;

my eye is wasted from grief;

my soul and my body also.

For my life is spent with sorrow,

and my years with sighing;

my strength fails because of my iniquity,

and my bones waste away.

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Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,

especially to my neighbors,

and an object of dread to my acquaintances;

those who see me in the street flee from me.

I have been forgotten like one who is dead;

I have become like a broken vessel.

For I hear the whispering of many—

terror on every side!—

as they scheme together against me,

as they plot to take my life.

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But I trust in you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hand;

rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

Make your face shine on your servant;

save me in your steadfast love!

O Lord, let me not be put to shame,

for I call upon you;

let the wicked be put to shame;

let them go silently to Sheol.

Let the lying lips be mute,

which speak insolently against the righteous

in pride and contempt.

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Oh, how abundant is your goodness,

which you have stored up for those who fear you

and worked for those who take refuge in you,

in the sight of the children of mankind!

In the cover of your presence you hide them

from the plots of men;

you store them in your shelter

from the strife of tongues.

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Blessed be the Lord,

for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

I had said in my alarm,

“I am cut off from your sight.”

But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy

when I cried to you for help.

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Love the Lord, all you his saints!

The Lord preserves the faithful

but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who wait for the Lord!

God bless,

Ralph

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