While writing my latest post in the “Computer Folklore” series, I went off on a bit of a tangent. And I had to delete several paragraphs of story in order to get back on track.

The post is going to be all about how important it is for me to find meaning in my work. And how easily the work can completely fall apart if this need is not met.

I’ve recently had to re-wrestle with this story, because I think I’ve failed the Jewish-Christian Relations course I’ve been taking. It was, in part, an experiment. The professor who was originally going to teach the class has never given a talk or written a paper I didn’t appreciate. It turns out, she couldn’t; and I had plenty of time to cancel or to transfer to a different course, but I figured I’d play out the story the way it was shaping up, just to see where it went.