If you are new to this site, please know that it is just a random collection of my various writings and observations. It is not systematic, and it may not be particularly helpful. Nevertheless, I have begun to add this information as a means of providing access to my work. I am grateful that you have taken the time to visit.
- Flint McGlaughlin
Observations/Reflections: On Improving the Conversion Sequence
Status: Dictated but Not Reviewed
Published: 07/02/09
Written: May 2009
Dictated By: Flint McGlaughlin
The conversion sequence is actually a function of understanding the offer. We are not optimizing the product, we are optimizing the offer. As such, we are focused on two aspects: the content and the presentation.
It may be possible to devise a heuristic wherein the optimization of the content is essentially an explanation of value proposition; and then the optimization of the presentation is mitigating against three negative factors: Confusion, aggravation and anxiety.
I have a feeling that we are close to developing something far more potent than our already successful approach.
Observations/Reflections: On Affirming Truths that I Have Learnt from My Historic Study of the Puritans
Status: Dictated but Not Reviewed
Published: 06/29/09
Written: 02/14/09
Dictated By: Flint McGlaughlin
In my recent study of the Puritan pastors and their theology, I have noted a number of truths that resonate with my own practice. Some have spurred me to intensify what I am doing, some have encouraged me to do something new, but most have simply affirmed my direction.
I will list some of these randomly from memory, later I may go back and make a more exhaustive list.
Observations/Reflections: On Gerard Manley Hopkins and His Narrative Prose
Status: Dictated but Not Reviewed
Published: 06/24/09
Written: 04/27/09
Dictated By: Flint McGlaughlin
I have been studying Hopkins in depth. As I reflect on the way he uses meter and sound, it occurs to me, yet again, that my endless project to enfold narrative with poetic rhythms and structures is still possible.
There is a way to bring rhythm and rhyme to this structure of prose. It must be subtle enough to avoid surface detection, but powerful enough to evoke the sublayers of pathos.
Hopkins' experimentation with sound and meter encourages me.
Observations/Reflections: Genesis 1:28
Status: Dictated but Not Reviewed
Published: 06/22/09
Written: June 2009
Dictated By: Flint McGlaughlin
The phrase "be fruitful and multiply" in Genesis 1:28 is often seen as a Great Commission verse. I believe this is a proper interpretation in as far as it goes, but I also believe that this interpretation unduly restricts the full power of this verse. Within this phrase lies the force of the entire human mission. It is the key to understanding how you reflect the glory of God.
For some time I have been reflecting on G1. The more I reflect, the more I realize the sheer significance of physicality in the plan of creation. The manifestation of God's creative force in creating spirit is as legitimate as in creating flesh. In other words, the act of giving life to spirit is no less than the act of giving life to flesh.
This is also true as it relates to inanimate objects. It is important to note this point, so that one may consider the sheer emphasis of creation in G1. The emphasis is on the material, the physical.
When you combine these last two points, you are able to note that there is a significant theological expression in G1. I am still grappling with its implications. Nevertheless, I find it leads to a fresh understanding of God's intent for mankind.
Observations/Reflections: On the Conjunction of Vectors
Status: Dictated but Not Reviewed
Published: 06/21/09
Written: June 2009
Dictated By: Flint McGlaughlin
If we think of basic quantities like N1, N2, N3 as representing or delineating a line element or vector, rather than a hyperplane or vection, we can begin to trace out how Grassmann's algebra helps us to envision the idea of the plane element.
October 29, 2003
Undivided yet the same,
My heart is more than two.
How can I fix the past a whole
When all I am I do?
I need to make the pieces one.
But this defeats my will.
If grace be grace, I need its taste,
Or else I flounder still.
The Psalmist asked for what I ask
He won it too, I'm sure.
The Danish Saint wrote of the same;
His heart, I think, was pure.
But I am left to scribble verse,
And ponder what I miss.
One part of who I am is true,
So I will write with this.
- Flint McGlaughlin
Among the multiplicity of differing opinions about ultimate truth, there should be at least general agreement that there is a multiplicity of differing opinions. Everyone does not agree. Furthermore, most would agree with this proposition: that at least in some ways the contrary positions cannot all be true. And while there may be those who disagree with this proposition, their argument is negated by the fact that there are others that disagree with their insistence to the contrary - and surely these last two positions are contradictory. Such conundrums multiply uncertainty.
When I was a child, in a moment of personal crisis, I etched out these words: "Everything is uncertain." Then I crossed out the word "is". Then I crossed out the word "everything". Then I set down my pen and wept. In time, it occurred to me that the notion of "everything" and of "is" represented some form of being and of doing (subject/predicate). From there, I concluded that I am "being" and that my effort to ascertain is "doing". Eventually, I restored all three words of my simple sentence, and in a way, I have never moved past them. It is true I have embraced a life of faith, but not from the victory over uncertainty, but rather because of it.
Indeed, I have taken my uncertainty as the basis for the only notion that I could fully embrace: There seems to be many things I cannot do/know, thus I perceive that I am limited - that is I am incipient. This perception leads me to contemplate the most remarkable possibility that has ever passed through my mind: the possibility of the unlimited - that is the ultimate. These thoughts can be expressed in two terse propositions:
My response to these propositions is both emotional and intellectual. On an emotional level I experience a kind of terrified awe. What if there is <U> and what if <U> is against me? I am just >i<. Thus I am ultimately vulnerable. On an intellectual level I experience a kind of profound wonder. What does it mean to be incipient and what does it mean to be ultimate? Thus, the conjunction and the differential of EP1 and EP2 form the foundation of my entire theological inquiry. Moreover, the fear of and the attraction to the possibility of <U> form the motivation of my inquiry...
- Flint McGlaughlin
In death and age there are secrets hid,
A shroud yet veiled by time.
And the fleeting years hide a prophet's word
Learned late by the youthful mind.
For the elder eyes but scarce reveal
The hope, the pain, the truth.
What manner of Fein hath ravaged their prime,
And stole the wine of their youth?
Can we divine your future?
Oh yes...
For in part we have been there too.
Can you escape our grieving?
Not so...
In our heart we are young as you.
In the palace of age the regals gather,
Their throne enshrined on wheels.
Their sumptuous feast a bland confection,
Their play a tepid thrill.
The mighty days have all but vanished.
Forgotten? No, but dim.
Still a certain truth grows ever certain,
And clear, if also grim.
Can we divine your future?
Oh yes...
For in part we have been there too.
Can you escape our grieving?
Not so...
In our heart we are young as you.
The void of the grave is quick to consume
A truth learned late by its prey...
What's here will pass.
What's past will be.
Till all shall pass away.
- Flint McGlaughlin
Anger, tears, a boiling cauldron,
Seething with steam from a waterless pot.
Anguish, pain, a reckless defending,
Festering wound from a weaponless shot.
Someone please send for the surgeon; someone please send for the knife.
If only a piercing incision, could carve out this cancer of strife.
Weeping, Shame, a tangled regret,
Choked on the lips, just an unspoken thought.
Sorrow, fear, itself a reprisal,
The furnace is cold but the coals are still hot.
No surgeon can vent this word poison; no knife can stay this grim fate.
The serum must come from the venom, and soon... for it's almost too late.
- Flint McGlaughlin
Observations/Reflections: The Difference Between Specialized Knowledge and High Intelligence
Status: Dictated but Not Reviewed
Published: 04/29/09
Written: 02/02/09
Dictated By: Flint McGlaughlin
One must be careful not to confuse specialized knowledge with high intelligence. It's easy to be impressed with a dense document, detailed with specialized language and concepts (particularly if they are mathematical). One might read this document and assume that the writer is highly intelligent but this is not always the case. There is a substantial difference between one with specialized knowledge and one with high intelligence. There is an ever greater difference between one with specialized knowledge and one with creative intelligence. One must learn to detect the distinctions.
Copyright © 2009 Flint McGlaughlin. All rights reserved.
