Shane Liesegang, SJ
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sjml.bsky.social
Shane Liesegang, SJ
@sjml.bsky.social
590 followers 320 following 2.1K posts
🎭 theater kid turned 🎮 game dev turned ✝️ Jesuit [scholastic+deacon]

past: skyrim, fallout, god of war, novitiate, philosophy/political econ, refugee aid (🇱🇧🇮🇶🇯🇴🇸🇾), theology, starfield, migrant care (🇵🇭)
present: theology in Boston

https://shaneliesegang.com
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sjml.bsky.social
seems legit, right? I know I've definitely seen dotfiles so impressive I wanted to hire the person
dubious email to me with the subject "your repos / availability": Hi, Shane, Came across your GitHub checking out alternatives, beschi, and dotfiles. Honest truth is most project managers don't get the code part, but seems like you do. I'm helping a client in New York, they need a "technical bridge" for the dev team. Basically need someone to keep things moving and handle coordination without getting in the way. It's remote, flexible (like 1-2 hours/day). Since you have the context, figured you'd be a better fit than a standard non-tech PM. Open to chatting? Talk soon, [redacted signature]
February 4, 2026 at 5:01 PM
sjml.bsky.social
nobody has ever experienced greater exhilaration than Terra Branford taking her green hair down and letting it blow in the airship breeze as sea birds fly in formation with her entire crew
from the finale of FF6, Terra has taken down her ponytail and is standing at the prow of the airship letting it blow; you can't hear the music but it's glorious
February 4, 2026 at 4:38 PM
sjml.bsky.social
DDR4 *has* also spiked, though... maybe not as much, but like
PCPartPicker pricing graph for a 32GB 2x16 Corsair DDR4 set showing a >2x increase in price since October
February 4, 2026 at 1:57 AM
sjml.bsky.social
the "who killed Hannibal?" meme where the first panel has SSPX shooting SSPX with the gun labeled "latae sententiae excommunication" and the second panel questioning "Why would Rome do this?"
February 4, 2026 at 12:46 AM
sjml.bsky.social
ok when he starts going like this I can see why people get mad at him, and I doubt it was any clearer in the German
The multiplicity of divine mysteries, such as is silently presupposed, cannot therefore rely on the multiplicity of created realities. But then the real question is whether a plurality of mysteries is possible in the naive form of the concept as taken for granted in the conventional treatment of mystery. Must not a multiplicity of mysteries, if it is to be shown to be _possible_ with its essential _limitation_, be derived from the notion of the one single absolute mystery, which is the one God as related to created knowledge?
February 2, 2026 at 3:34 PM
sjml.bsky.social
I grant that I can only read Rahner in translation, so a good amount of heavy lifting here is being done by his translators (the Kruger brothers) but his reputation as an overly-brainy abstract writer seems unfair when he also turns out gorgeous little passages like this on WORDS themselves.
There are words which divide and words which unite; words which explain the whole by breaking it up, and words which at once conjure up that whole and produce it in the listening person (not only in his intellect); words which can be artificially created by oneself and given an arbitrary definition, and words which are accepted, which were always given, which enlighten _us_ and not we them, which have power over us, because they are a gift from God and not the products of man. There are words which delimit and isolate, and words which make a single thing transparent to the infinity of all reality; words which are clear, because they are shallow and without mystery; words which are obscure, because they evoke the over-brilliant mystery of the things expressed; words which are sufficient for the head, because they can be used to acquire mastery over things, and words which spring up out of the heart, prostrate in reverence and adoration before the mystery which overpowers us; words which illuminate something small, because they encircle with their light a part of reality, and words which make us wise, because they allow the manifold to harmonize in the one. The words which by their charm forge a unity, make reality first present to us, make us subject to them, spring from our hearts, come to us as a gift and transport us — these I would like to call _primordial_ words (_Urworte_). The others could be called manufactured, technical utility-words. Naturally, words cannot be divided into these two classes once and for all. The division refers to the destiny of words rather than dividing them _a priori_ into two already separate classes. There are innumerable words which, according as they are used by man, ascend or more frequently descend from one category to the other. When the poet or St Francis exclaims ‘water’, he means something greater and more comprehensive than when the chemist, degrading the word, calls his H,O ‘water’. You cannot write H,O for the water to which the soul of man is likened. Yet the water which is seen by man, praised by the poet and used in baptism by the Christian, is not a poetic glorification of the chemist’s ‘water’, as though he were the true realist; on the contrary, the ‘water’ of the chemist is a narrowed down, technified and secondary derivative of the water of mankind. In the word as used by the chemist a primordial word has been fated — with a fate which contains that-of humanity through millennia — to sink to the level of a technical word of utility, and in its fall it has lost more than half its content.
February 1, 2026 at 10:25 PM
sjml.bsky.social
All the readings today feed into these themes of justice and reversal of the ordering of what amounts to power in this world. From the second reading:
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.
February 1, 2026 at 5:43 PM
sjml.bsky.social
this passage from Wittgenstein almost caused a fistfight in one of my philosophy classes, and I really wish we had already established "Large Boulder the Size of a Small Boulder Day" before then because I would have enjoyed tossing that into the discussion like Eris's apple
Wittgenstein's _Philosophical Investigations_, p. 25, §50: One would, however, like to say: existence cannot be attributed to an element, for if it did not exists one could not even name it and so one could say nothing at all of it.—But let us consider an analogous case. <highlight>There is one thing of which one can say neither that it is one metre long, nor that it is not one metre long, and that is the standard metre in Paris.</highlight>—But this is, of course, not to ascribe any extraordinary property to it, but only to mark its peculiar role in the language-game of measuring with a metre-rule.—Let us imagine samples of colour being preserved in Paris like the standard metre. We define: “sepia” means the colour of the standard sepia which is there kept hermetically sealed. Then it will make no sense to say of this sample either that it is of this colour or that it is not.
January 27, 2026 at 2:11 PM
sjml.bsky.social
Best part of yesterday's timelapse (8:15am-3am) is the ghostly figures who attempt a mid-storm shovel that is quickly forgotten like tears in rain… You can also spot an equally futile snowblower run! (Original is here if Bluesky's compression mangles it shaneliesegang.com/tmp/2026-01-...)
January 26, 2026 at 6:08 PM
sjml.bsky.social
The video of this pastor has (rightly) been floating around but I'm really interested in this passage from his article (which is also good). How many people find they are drawn in by the compassion of Christ but then go along with its twisting? I want to hear more about how he got over that discord.
Falwell’s gospel differed distinctly from the one I had initially responded to, the one with a compassionate Jesus who blessed the poor, the forgotten, and the persecuted. Falwell’s message, while sprinkled with side references to marginalized people, implied they may have caused their own problems. Instead of calling upon believers to be peacemakers and to love one another, as Jesus did, Falwell’s Christians were modern­-day­ crusaders conquering an evil, secular world. I embraced his challenge, feeling I could remedy the ills that beset our country, from drug use to premarital sex.
January 26, 2026 at 2:45 PM
sjml.bsky.social
my group chats are good for me
iMessage screenshot. me: "...this shit in Minneapolis has me bordering on the kind of rage that is not befitting a man of God" interlocutor: "I think this is exactly the kind of rage befitting a man of God." I have put a heart on the second message
January 24, 2026 at 10:35 PM
sjml.bsky.social
I'm sorry, did they build a BARRICADE?!
from the last shot of the quoted video, showing a bunch of yellow tables overturned in the street blocking it off
January 24, 2026 at 10:11 PM
sjml.bsky.social
Kudos to the actual news agencies for leaving clarity in the headlines about who did what. Google's summary headline elides agency and is a bit fashy. Don't know how much they've put LLMs into the Google News pipeline, but curious as to how this summary was composed.
Google's summary headline: "Reports of another shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis" Grouped stories from: * The Guardian: "Minneapolis shooting live: officials give update after man shot by federal officers dies" * CNN: "Live updates: Man shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis" * New York Times: "Minneapolis Live Updates: Federal Agents Shoot and Kill a 37-Year Old Man" * Yahoo News: "US Homeland Security: Person shot dead by officer in Minneapolis"
January 24, 2026 at 7:35 PM
sjml.bsky.social
Doing my house job the day before a major storm. Pray for me. “I am a leaf on the wind…”
COSTCO
January 24, 2026 at 4:39 PM
sjml.bsky.social
no Kris it's not worth it (but you're right she is great)
January 23, 2026 at 8:08 PM
sjml.bsky.social
Taking confessions practicum, I have to memorize (a) the formula of absolution [and if you listened to my track on Wake Up Dead Man you know is my FAVE] and (b) the Ten Commandments by number because some penitents just say the numbers. So I have 'em by to my mirror to recite while I brush my teeth.
Two pieces of paper posted next to a bathroom mirror. The top one is the Roman Catholic formula of absolution: "God, the Father of mercies, through the Death and Resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace. And I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The bottom has the Ten Commandments as listed in Deuteronomy, following the traditional grouping of St. Augustine: 1. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. 4. Honor your Father and your Mother. 5. You shall not kill. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
January 21, 2026 at 12:50 AM
sjml.bsky.social
this gives me an excuse to post the awesome photo of 9 year-old Katie Ledecky being SO PUMPED to meet Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps is seated at a convention table signing autographs; a very young but recognizable Kate Ledecky is smiling the biggest smile imaginable while looking at the camera
January 19, 2026 at 5:14 PM
sjml.bsky.social
(earlier this morning it was giving Thomas Kinkade, but I hadn't looked out the window yet)
6:45 am shot where the sun hasn't really risen yet and the lamps are giving it a kind of mildly cloying serenity 7am shot where there's more ambient light giving a kind of purplish hue but the sidewalk lights are still giving some vibes
January 19, 2026 at 3:15 PM
sjml.bsky.social
"Kombucha Girl" meme where she is dubious at "raging against the dying of the light" but intrigued by "raging against the machine"
January 19, 2026 at 2:45 PM
sjml.bsky.social
now *that's* the real stuff
tree covered in several inches of snow
January 19, 2026 at 2:11 PM
sjml.bsky.social
large stylized salmon-colored on black text saying in all caps, "Jimmy Carter sold his peanut farm"
January 18, 2026 at 8:18 PM
sjml.bsky.social
Last night I helped with the inculturation process of several of my international Jesuit housemates by introducing them to Taco Bell.

They liked it! Next they have expressed an interest in Popeyes.
a group of five Jesuits in winter coats standing in Taco Bell
January 18, 2026 at 2:39 PM
sjml.bsky.social
“If you’re going to follow Jesus, you better look good on wood.” — Dan Berrigan, SJ

(shown below getting arrested for protesting against two different US wars, 35 years apart)
famous photo of Fr. Dan Berrigan, SJ giving a peace sign while wearing handcuffs after he was arrested for his actions protesting the war in Vietnam in 1968 the same Fr. Berrigan getting arrested again, this time for protesting against the war in Iraq in 2003
January 18, 2026 at 1:25 PM
sjml.bsky.social
triangle kimbaps I found in convenience stores all over Asia are amazing feats of package engineering (the seaweed stays dry until you open it!) AND absurdly delicious AND pretty cheap!

the ones at my HMart are so dry+uninspired I am now one of those insufferable "it's way better over there" types
an assortment of convenience store triangle kimbaps from 7-Eleven, including Red Salmon & Salt, Tuna Mayonnaise, Pickled Plum, Spicy Pollock Roe, and Kelp & Soy Sauce
January 17, 2026 at 7:10 PM
sjml.bsky.social
For anyone digging in on a weekend project, here's an excerpt from Karl Rahner's “Prayer for Creative Thinkers” (Theological Investigations v8, 1954)
Give them the courage to distinguish and to decide. They do not need to be so very subtle, but their work must manifest the fact that an undivided heart has wrought them, one which, while it is open to everything, still in everything seeks you and seeks everything in you, recognising no craven compromise of peace between the good and the evil, the light and the darkness. Give them the courage constantly to begin anew, because only so do they find their source in that which is true from all eternity. Let them say what your Spirit has given into their hearts, rather than that which would make pleasant hearing to those who represent the forces of all that is average. When they make experience of the fact that all their work is in vain, of the frustration of their creativity and the insensitivity of their age, let them believe even then that in your sight what seems to be so futile is not futile, that you have regarded their work with delight, and have gently taken their heart when it was breaking into your own.
January 17, 2026 at 3:19 PM