On the day of Epiphany, God's people remember that the new King born of the line of David in Bethlehem came not only to rule the Jews, but also the nations. Sorcerers from the East, stargazers with their pagan ways, found the words of the prophet Micah. They believed, came, and knelt at the One who would unleash them from their sin. Epiphany, thus, ushers in a season of light in the midst of darkness. For many this day coincides with some of the darkest days of the year, those hours of bleak January wherein you cannot find a ray of sun. But, along the way, the unexpected Light of the God who entered our darkness to overcome it, shines according to his words.

The word epiphany comes from two Greek words: epi and phania. Epi is a preposition that means upon, onto, or near. The more exciting word phania comes from a much older Indo-European root that we would recognize as the word phos, from which we get fantasy, photocopy, and phosphorus and...photon torpedo. It's the word for "light," the essence of illumination. The day of Epiphania is the unveiling of the ultimate enlightenment of the world, and you, in the one man Jesus Christ.

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You may have noticed my absence from email the last couple of weeks. This has not exactly been of my choosing. A few days before Christmas my life fell apart when my laptop refused to power up. I still haven't received it back nor any of its content, but I'm onboarding a new machine and have the blessing of working with several other individuals to reboot and reenvision the newsletter. Amongst these and of preeminent position is the Shadow Broker, who you may know from my references on Saturday Morning Chill and/or the Mass Effect video game series. It doesn’t matter much. The long and short is that you will never be able to discover who she is, only that she is going to be a great help.

The Lection will Return

Also missing from this particular issue is the Old Testament Lectionary series. This is in part because as we reboot, I don’t know when the first issue will be ready and also because of the collapsed computer, I haven’t been able to work ahead on the content. But the hope is that it will return soon enough. Meanwhile, moving forward with the Mad Christian view on the world - through the lens of the Cross and Catechism - the following came across my plate in the midst of all the other chaos:

Waiting 'til You are Dead is Expensive

I’ve know for a long time that funeral homes are in the business of ripping people off. In the midst of their grief, people are ill prepared to say ‘No’ to hotbox emotional pressure tactics and cruel, guilt-driven sales pitches, selling them Cadillac quality with all of its good and bad. But learning that the entire industry is also monopolized by big business, causing local Mom and Pop parlors to close, while creating price controls and continuing the tactic of appearing friendly and helpful is even more fascinating. I learned about this weeks ago when in a podcast, The Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know, they referenced the ability to buy a casket on Walmart.com. This article from The Hustle goes in depth for those who want more information.

Just Because We Can('t Believe its [not Butter] Driverless)

This week I was sitting in a cigar shop when a gentleman began to ask me how much time I spent doing work by 'that window.'  I was enjoying the view and the sunshine on a cold winter’s day while trying to onboard a new Mac. We had a fascinating conversation in which the topic of driverless vehicles came up. He expressed his concerns and fears. I can't say that I disagree, but it seems the more I read about Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, the more I think that human error is the real thing we should fear. In either case, it doesn't matter.

The driverless age is already here and it will not slow down because there is money to be made. Just last week, a giant truck full of butter made the first self-driving haul. 40,000 lbs of that glorious Jersey-cow-creamy goodness made its way across the US from New York to Los Angeles with no hands on the wheel. Claiming a stake in the truck transport industry is too big an opportunity for computer tech to ignore. What does this mean for those who drive trucks? That remains to be seen, but this bit of tech wisdom has proven true in the past: tech does not remove jobs without creating new jobs.

Asymmetry, Minority Rule, and yet another Pagan Business Book Explaining Why Lutherans Abandoning Liturgy are Doomed to Obscurity

I’m also listening to a compelling book called "Skin in the Game” by Nassim Taleb, bestselling author of "Black Swan". It is refreshing to hear him sardonically bash some of the most elite intellectual bourgeoisie of our present age, attacking them with hard economics and math. It is a challenging listen (and the first book since I started using Audible that has convinced me I should read it instead of listening - buyer beware).

Taleb argues that fragility and time are the real driving principles of the universe as we see it, and also fearlessly calls out the violent nature of Sunni terrorism, but he also manages (so he thinks) to fully explain the Trinity and its "solution" in little less than half a page. All the same, more books like this would be of value to the world, for truth and science are not built by democracy but by facts, honesty and the test of time.

What comes next?

I don’t know. Building a team to get this newsletter moving will hopefully lead in to further things such as the release of the comic book "Ancient Legacy" with artist Adam Boggs. These are all small steps towards my big picture. In the meantime, my new book "Without Flesh" is released by CPH in little over a month. If you preorder now, you can get a special discount by using the code RevFisk at checkout.

And don't forget to PRE-ORDER my new book:

Without Flesh:  Why the Church is Dying

even though Jesus is Still Alive

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