What Defines You?

"Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk it;" Jeremiah 6:16

So, it’s 2026. And this blog was created in 2024. It’s been two years and life has changed a lot. I’m engaged, I have a corporate job, and I live in a new city. But also, probably more consequentially, the world has changed. It’s amazing what can happen in a short two years.

Why am I back now? And why I am I answering a question to the name of the blog after this much time?

I think, like many, the world feels so much more chaotic. And I’ve been thinking about this space more, and what to even say. And I’ve been getting closer to figuring that out slowly but never quite sure what this blog should be. I think I imagined it being so much more. Big, bold, and brash. Ready to say big things and cause a stir. But as the world goes in an increasingly frantic direction, I’ve realized, you and I, well, we need some reminders.

The scripture above from Jeremiah is where this blog idea came from. To remember where we came from and walk that good path. But what is that good path? What are the ancient ways?

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” - Genesis 1:27

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭31‬a

“Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭3

One of the most important parts of any story is where it starts, it gives you the set up for the world. It conveys what the narrator wants you to know about their story. Here, it’s clear God wants us to know that he believes creation is not just good, but very good. He believes in that so much that he stops the beautiful creative process and rests to just enjoy it, inviting us into that enjoyment.

But we don’t do that, do we? For a host of reasons, we don’t trust God when he calls us very good and we don’t rest.

Today, I was listening to a commentary on an interview from Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. The interviewer was asking him about the resource costs of the data centers used to operate AI. In an irritated response he remarks “It also takes a lot of energy to train a human.” He also says, “It takes like 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart.”

Now, I recognize that on its face, that doesn’t sound all that bad. Hence, why I recommend listening to his tone in his response and will leave an option to do so attached to this post. His tone is not someone stating mere fact, but of complete exasperation over how long it takes to “produce” a human. I believe the following quotes get at this better.

“It takes like 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart,” Altman continued. “And not only that, it took the very widespread evolution of the 100 billion people that have ever lived and learned not to get eaten by predators and learned how to figure out science and whatever, to produce you.”

Measured that way, “probably AI has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis” - Sam Altman.

I could go on a whole rant about tech-billionaires, their views of humanity, and how it’s bad. Blah blah blah. But you’ve already heard it a dozen times over, and I think the “produce you” and “energy efficiency basis” sections get at it well enough. And it’s not just these people in power who see people as numbers, products, and efficiency, it’s you and me. We see ourselves this way and, in turn, put that on others.

I’ve felt this very deeply working my corporate job. It’s so easy to tie my value to how much money I bring home and how much work I get through in a day. If I’m not doing 4 hours of overtime and getting through 3000 items of work a week, what good am I to myself or those who rely on me? And then I would get frustrated with a perception of coworkers who weren’t working hard enough (despite having no idea of their actual performance). Counciosuly frustrated, and subconsciously valuing them for their work output. It consumed me and I was really no better than the tech billionaire. All of that happening because I put my value into my work output and what the company values.

And that’s exactly why I’m here. To remind not just you, but me, of that ancient path. The path that does truly timelessly define us. It defines me as good. It defines me as someone made for rest. Having realized the wrong path I was going down, I knew I need to make some changes. One of the ways I’m resting is by taking the last week of the month and not doing a minute of overtime. This helps remind me that work is good and necessary, but I have enough from just a forty hour week’s worth of pay. It reminds me that if that’s true for me, then my coworkers also do not need to do the most output to have value. We have to rest in order to remember the ancient path of goodness.

You are made good. You are made to rest. If you aren’t living into that idea, I pray that you will find it. If you are living into your goodness, I pray it continues. And, if like me, you find it easy to slip out of that way of living, I pray you find your way back and that maybe these words help with that.

I can say pretty confidently that an earlier version of me wouldn’t forget that goodness. But I did forget, and you will too. And I say that not to condemn, but to comfort you that are not alone in that space of forgetting. But I submit to you, that you are timelessly defined by God’s goodness and rest.

Go in Peace

Shane

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b

References

Futurism - Sam Altman Fumes That It Takes Longer to Train a Human Than an AI, Plus They Eat All That Wasteful Food

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-fumes-longer-train-human-ai

OpenAI CEO Argues Energy Is More Wasteful On Humans Than AI, Goes Very Poorly…

https://youtu.be/Bg2VYEPiHHA?si=qBxaD2eWijOcPVsn

The BEMA Podcast

Season 1 - Episode 1: Trust the Story